DU’s open book online exam: 35K take test, many face glitches

Around 35,000 Delhi University college students of ultimate yr under-graduate and post-graduate programs appeared for the online open-book check, a primary such evaluation train undertaken by the varsity as a result of coronavirus pandemic. However, many college students complained that there have been glitches through the examination and have been additionally unsure about whether or not or not they managed to add their reply sheets.

The exams started at 7.30 a.m. and have been held in three shifts – from 7.30 a.m. to 11.30 a.m, 11.30 a.m. to three.30 p.m and three.30 p.m. to 7.30 p.m. The exams will finish on August 31.

According to the brand new train, the scholars needed to obtain the query paper from the web site and write the solutions inside three hours. One hour was devoted for importing and scanning the reply sheets. The varsity has stated it’s choosing the open book exams as a one-time measure in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Many college students have been harried as they weren’t certain if their reply sheets have been uploaded.

Zubair Khan, enrolled within the BA Programme course on the School of Open Learning (SOL), appeared for his Hindi examination. He stated when he opened the portal to obtain his query paper, he discovered two units — one in every of Hindi and one other of the paper scheduled for August 13. “I sent mails to the SOL but there was no response. I consulted a professor who advised me to attempt the paper scheduled for today.” Another pupil, Deepak Gupta, stated he was unsure if he had efficiently uploaded his reply sheets earlier than the scheduled time of 11.30 a.m.

“It was 11.28 am by the time I finished creating PDF files (of my answer sheets). I tried to upload them but they didn’t get uploaded. I have mailed them to the designated ID but do not know whether they will be accepted,” he added.

A pupil of B.Sc Physical Science, who didn’t want to be recognized, stated the paper was fairly powerful and in a state of affairs when courses couldn’t occur correctly, it was unjust for college students to have to seem for exams.

Abha Dev Habib, a professor of Miranda House school, stated most college students in her class didn’t get a affirmation mail after importing their reply sheets. The college students then mailed their reply sheets to the varsity web site and bought an auto-generated response. Pankaj Garg, a professor at Rajdhani College, stated the primary drawback that college students confronted was in importing the reply sheets.

“They faced problems in uploading PDF files and some of the students said if they could upload answers to two questions, they could not upload the answers to the third. They were not sure whether their answer sheets were uploaded. The college received answer sheets on email post 11.30 am, which was the scheduled time,” he stated.

The instructing school have their very own set of issues, Garg stated, mentioning that academics will face points whereas evaluating the solutions.

“There is a fair possibility that there would be swapping of the pages while scanning and uploading, this would disturb the sequence…. Teachers have to be very very careful in connecting all those pages which belong to the same question,” he stated.

While scanning, some pages could get blurred, he stated, including, it will be troublesome to learn them rigorously and to hook up with the following web page and therefore the continuity of the reply could be misplaced.

For academics, essentially the most difficult level could be marking of pages. “It seems evaluation would take much longer,” he pressured.

The exams have been postponed a number of occasions. The Delhi University Teachers’ Association had been demanding that the exams be scrapped and the scholars evaluated on the idea of earlier performances and an inner evaluation.

The Kashmiri college students, who moved again to their properties within the valley through the lockdown, had points associated to 2G connectivity which was sluggish and unstable.

The open book examination is altogether a brand new expertise for college students and academics. Teachers felt that the online open book exams gained’t be a possible choice in the long term since they don’t seem to be credible, as college students search assist from their mates, and in addition raised doubts on how they might consider the scholars.

Arun Attri, a professor of Shaheed Bhagat Singh College, stated the exams have ended uncertainty for over two lakh college students who now know that since they’ve taken the exams, they’ll get their outcomes and might apply for his or her Masters.

However, he stated online exams aren’t a possible choice in the long term for DU which is understood for its commerce and humanities programs.

“The exams might be feasible for engineering and science students but they won’t serve the purpose for commerce and humanities courses. They are more like assignments than exams,” he opined.

A professor, requesting anonymity, stated they learnt that college students have been sharing solutions on whatsapp and dishonest was occurring.

Another professor, who additionally didn’t want to be recognized, questioned how they’ll consider the scholars for the reason that varsity has not but issued any pointers on the identical. The professor additionally claimed the scholars who work exhausting have been being pressurised by their mates to share solutions on whatsapp.