{"id":120225,"date":"2020-11-25T17:53:47","date_gmt":"2020-11-25T16:53:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=120225"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:25:15","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:25:15","slug":"psychology-students-demand-full-online-access-to-the-exam-reviews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2020\/11\/25\/psychology-students-demand-full-online-access-to-the-exam-reviews\/","title":{"rendered":"Psychology students demand full access to the online exam reviews"},"content":{"rendered":"

Since March this year, psychology students have been given online access to the exams they have taken, without being able to see the actual questions and their own answers. They only get to see a percentage of the number of correctly answered multiple-choice questions per subject section. Owing to this limited access, students feel that they are unable to learn from their mistakes. Similarly, the low success rate for resits is, according to the students, due to a lack of access to these reviews. Some claim that this causes them to lag behind in their studies.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>

Given that the faculty wants to prevent \u2018the exam questions from ending up on the streets\u2019, it is not providing full online review, says Bram Steijn, vice dean of education at the Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences (ESSB), which also encompasses the Psychology degree programme. \u201cThere is a lot of work involved in making new multiple-choice questions and the lecturers\u2019 workload is already far too high,\u201d he explains. \u201cWhat\u2019s more, the number of questions you can come up with is not endless.\u201d Steijn adds that students can access their answers to open essay questions.<\/p>\n

As far as Steijn is concerned, this approach meets the aim of access to exam papers, which is to provide feedback on how the exam was drawn up. \u201cIn a way, you could say that this approach is even better than providing insight in terms of questions, because at the end of the day, it is all about learning objectives and not about specific questions,\u201d he points out. \u201cWhen taking exams, you don\u2019t want students to have learned the questions by heart, but you want them to be able to properly answer a range of questions about a particular learning objective.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t
\n\t\t\u2018There is a lot of work involved in making new multiple-choice questions and the lecturers\u2019 workload is already far too high\u2019\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t–<\/span>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tVice Dean of Education Bram Steijn\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption>\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

Not a learning opportunity<\/h2>

According to a number of students, this approach to providing access does not constitute a learning opportunity. \u201cWe do not know which questions we have answered right or wrong. How can we learn from our mistakes if we don\u2019t even know what mistakes we\u2019ve made?\u201d responds student S.<\/p>\n

Together with four other fellow students, the student outlines the problems relating to the disclosure policy of their study programme when it comes to exam papers. They would like to remain anonymous, because they \u2018don\u2019t feel safe\u2019 criticising their own study programme in public. The names of the students are known to the editors. Two of them have also submitted an official complaint to the Examination Board.<\/p>\n

After the limited access to their exams, students can still submit their questions online to their teacher. They will then answer their questions collectively. \u201cBut this means of communication is not effective at all. After a couple of weeks, we no longer know what was in the exam, let alone our answers,\u201d student D finds.<\/p>\n\n\t

\n\t\t\n\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Watch EM TV<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t