A part of 5.2 Lightning Talk session

Eckhard Schumann, Associate Professor, Teaching Stream, Management, UTM

This session is a reflection on a decision to replace traditional exams where students work strictly in isolation, with similar exams, but allowing and encouraging students to actively collaborate during the exam in informal groups.

Traditional test and exams have always been a central part of assessment of students specializing in Accounting. The path to becoming a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) includes 3 vigorous 5-hour exams over three days (Common Final Exam – CFE). Although other formats of assessment, including assignments, group projects and presentations have become part of the assessment process in accounting programs over the last several years, traditional tests and exams, where students are required to work in strict isolation under “exam conditions” against the clock, still form the backbone of the assessment process.

MGT420 – Critical Thinking, Analysis and Decision-making II is a capstone course taken by all 4th-year Accounting Specialist students at the University of Toronto Mississauga. (Most major universities in Ontario have a similar course). Until recently, assessment in the course mimicked the CFE format, including two 3-hour exams and one 5-hour exam, each consisting of an integrated case simulation. The exams were written under “exam conditions”. Specifically, students were not allowed to collaborate in any way during the exams.

The instructor decided to redesign the assessments of the course for the January 2020 term. The three exams were replaced by three in-class test (still consisting of the same integrated cases). Students still had to submit individual answers. The major difference was that students were not only allowed to, but actively encouraged, to work together in informal groups to complete the tests.

This assessment format was repeated in 2021 under online conditions.

The instructor will discuss the successes and challenges of this assessment redesign.