Design Principles for Open Book Open Web Examinations

The central premise of this paper is that, as an assessment instrument, the final examination has become something of an anachronism. Little has changed in the centuries that universities have been in existence and, even with the advent of sophisticated information and communication technologies, at the end of semester, the vast majority of students still find themselves sitting in rows in invigilated examination halls, answering questions with paper and a ball-point pen. Quite aside from the fact these are tools that are rarely used these days, the assessment tasks that students are presented with are seldom representative of any authentic, ‘real-world’ setting. This paper outlines some key design principles for the construction of open book open web (OBOW) type examinations and argues that this is a format more in keeping with modern learning theory.