The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is planning to experience innovative evaluation in school education by conducting open-book exams (OBE). According to the officials, the open book trial exams will be conducted in selected schools for classes 9 to 12 later this year. However, there is no plan to adapt this format in the class 10th and 12th board exams. The idea was floated in the last governing body meeting of the Board conducted in December 2023.
'The CBSE is planning a pilot run of open-book assessments in selected schools, targeting subjects — English, Mathematics, and Science for Classes 9 and 10, and English, Mathematics, and Biology for Classes 11 and 12. The aim is to gauge the time taken by students to complete these tests and gather feedback from stakeholders. The plan is in line with recommendations made in the National Curriculum Framework. These tests would undergo a pilot phase in schools to evaluate various aspects such as completion time, suitability for formative and summative assessment, and stakeholders' perceptions, ' said a senior board official reported by news agency PTI.
What is Open Book Exam?
In this exam, students will be allowed to carry their notes, textbooks, or other study materials and refer to them during the exam. This exam will aim to assess higher-order thinking skills, application, analysis, critical and creative thinking, and problem-solving abilities. While the design, development, and review of Open Book Tests are proposed to be completed by June 2024, the pilot testing of the materials in schools is being planned for November-December 2024.
According to an official, the method of conducting open exams could be used in internal exams to promote innovative thinking among students. However, it is only an ideation phase, and there is no plan to adopt the OBE format in the CBSE class 10 and 12 board examinations.
Earlier, the board had experimented with an Open Text-Based Assessment (OTBA) format for the year-end exams of Classes 9 and 11 for three years from 2014-15 to 2016-17, but it was scrapped based on negative feedback from stakeholders.
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Curriculum Committee highlights the importance of high-quality textbooks
Based on their experience, the curriculum committee emphasized the importance of high-quality textbooks and suggested involving teachers in the initial OBE trials to ensure standards similar to advanced placement exams. During the governing body meeting, the board also discussed the possibility of having teachers take the open-book exams first to understand the potential of multiple answers in OBE questions. The CBSE chairman stressed the need to learn from Delhi University's experiences to effectively prepare for CBSE's OBE.
(With Inputs from PTI)
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