A Comparison between Paper-and-Pencil and Paperless Assessment

Research in language assessment has led to great findings, including environmentally-friendly and economical techniques (Breland, Lee, & Murake, 2005; Bangs, 2011) which are greatly welcomed in Iranian classrooms (Simin & Heidari, 2013; Heidari, 2014). However, the maintenance, money, and time needed to purchase, oversee, and repair related facilities are unfavorable (Jalali & Dousti, 2014). To minimize the above, this study sought to create an innovative achievement test suitable for its blended learning program. Through technology and innovation, existing paper-and-pencil tests were altered to paperless assessment in which the question paper was eliminated. In six phases, the practicality, reliability, and validity were examined to ensure it yielded constructive results. Facilities such as big-screen TVs and digitally customized test formats were added to eliminate sight-related complaints, and the timing of viewings was standardized. Cronbach’s Alpha was used to examine the reliability of the achievement tests and face validity was also checked by assessment experts. All of the tests proved to be reliable and valid. Raw test scores were collected and two-way ANOVA was used for each level to compare the paper-and-pencil and paperless test scores of the students. The results showed that paperless tests did not have a significant difference with their paper-and-pencil format. The main benefit was deemed to be its environmentally-friendly nature, decreasing the amount of paper wasted. Paperless assessment can be used in other learning situations in order to decrease costs, help preserve the environment, and increase security through providing more test versions.

کلیدواژه ها:

Assessment ، Achievement Test ، Practicality ، Innovation ، Paperless Tests