Participatory Evaluation, Accountability and Quality of Perfo ...

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Abstract

This paper is based on the findings of two experiments this author (faculty) conducted from 1997. One experiment was with the Post graduate students of Master of Computer Applications (MCA) a three years masters degree program offered in Indian Universities. The second experiment was with under graduate students in engineering (B.Tech - Bachelor of Technology – a four years first degree program). Both these experiments were conducted at the SNDT Women’s University, Mumbai India. The first experiment was asking the students to set questions for their internal examinations. The faculty chooses and adapts the questions given by the students to cover all aspects of educational testing and learning objectives. The experiment was an eye opener for students about how to study and how much there is to study. The subsequent performance was also considerably better than the performance when students were not involved in paper setting. This experiment was repeated several times from 1997. The second experiment is asking the students to evaluate their own answer papers after the faculty evaluated them but not putting the marks on the answer papers. This experiment had considerable impact on the students from the point of view of what is expected and what is written by them. It also gave them a feeling of fairness and justice. The details of the experiments, the contributions, the impact, the weaknesses, the learning for the students and the faculty are discussed in the paper.