At first, the idea of an open book exam for final-year university students doesn't seem quite right. Surely exams should be a very serious affair, conducted in a strict invigilated room under the watch of eagle-eyed examiners?
Taking detailed notes into an exam or, if you could imagine it, knowing the questions you will be asked before sitting the test must be blatant cheating, you would think.
Far from it says Mike Reddy, a senior lecturer in computing and engineering at the University of Wales, Newport. Dr Reddy caused some ripples this week when it emerged that he had allowed his final-year students to set their own exams.
But it wasn't as simple as Dr Reddy spoon-feeding his students to ensure they cleared the last hurdle. Rather, Dr Reddy- who is a member of the government's Plagiarism Advisory Service, wanted to move away from the traditional method of students racing the clock to get as much down on their exam paper as physically possible.
Dr Reddy is part of an emerging group of academics searching for alternative assessments methods that best suit the students. Lecturers are experimenting with role-play, group work and assessment by student peers. But their methods have critics.
Alan Smithers, director for Education and Employment Research, warned that such exercises could lead to a dumbing down of standards, Prof Smithers told today's Times Higher Education Supplement that exams "should be taken out of the hands of individual universities".
There is a need for written unseen exams for many university subjects. But should university exams be focused on testing students' memory or assessing students' understanding of the subjects they have learned?
