Comparing Online and Paper Exams: Performances and Perceptions of Saudi Students

Abstract

 Abstract-This paper investigates the effects of online exams on students' achievements and the students' perceptions of online and paper exams after taking an experimental online and paper based exams. Carefully designed exams that included various types of questions were attempted by male students in the faculty of computers and information technology and female students in the faculty of Education and Arts. The Moodle Quiz tool was used to design and conduct the online exams. The results of the online exams were compared with similar designed paper based exams. The students' performances in exams were measured in each question type (MCQ, TF, short, essay, numerical, and descriptive). Surprisingly, the mean and standard deviation statistical results were found to be similar between both paper based and online exams in the MCQ, TF, and numerical type of questions; while the essay questions results indicated that the students preferred to answer on paper rather than type on the computer screen. In the followed survey about their experiences with both exams, the students indicated to prefer certain aspects of online exams such as automatic results and feedback. Index Terms-Paper exams, online exams, experimental exams, Moodle quiz, question types.