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I've
been a professor of criminal justice at the University of Alabama since
1977. No pedagogical tool has more positively altered the way I teach
or the way my students learn than ExamView.
Analytical
thinking is affected by how deeply students process new knowledge. The
technology of ExamView helps my students learn to think about things
they know in relationship to other things. Because of ExamView, my students
are more likely to remember the information when they need to use it
later.
I
first adopted ExamView in Summer 2000 using the print and online study
guide features. Since then, I've learned how easy it is to incorporate
the study guides as a regular learning tool together with online testing
in my on-campus enhanced multimedia courses and those I offer through
distance education.
Consider
the benefits of ExamView: For me, the new technology raises the bar
on the analytical thinking I want to engender in my students who are
technologically savvy. For my graduate research assistant, automatic
scoring (including completion questions!) means she can spend more time
on microteaching. For my students, there's feedback on the study guides,
instant exam results, and
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grades
are imported to an electronic gradebook on my web site for viewing
online 24 hours/day. For parents who make the sacrifice of sending
a child to college, ExamView is assurance that tomorrow's technology
is a vital part in students' learning today. And for my department,
the savings on paper and copying for study guides and examinations
is phenomenal.
I'm
not finished learning about ExamView. My next goal is to incorporate
hypertext links in study guides and examinations. Consider the excitement
during an examination when students link to the web site of the U.S.
Supreme Court (www.supremecourtus.gov)
to answer questions about yesterday's Court opinion or analyze crime
data released yesterday on the FBI's web site (www.fbi.gov).
These are my challenges for increasing my instructional performance
and using the technology of ExamView to enhance my students' learning
and analytical thinking.
John Ortiz Smykla, Ph.D.
Professor of Criminal Justice
College of Arts and Science
The University of Alabama
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