November 18, 2013, 12:23 pm
Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) schools have started prepping their students for the first-ever open text-based assessment (OTBA) in March 2014.
In a first-of-its-kind, CBSE board will assess students of Class IX and XI and evaluate their understanding level to situational problems, ability to solve a problem and provide innovative opinions and suggestions.
Open text exam will be held in four subjects -- English, social sciences, Hindi and mathematics. OTBA will be out of 10 marks and be conducted as part of their annual exams.
CBSE board has already supplied textual materials -- which maybe in the form of an article, a case study, a diagram, a concept map, a picture or a cartoon, problem or situation based on the concepts -- in September and all questions will be from the given material.
"We are relying on the sample papers sent by CBSE and are trying to ensure that students apply their knowledge and skills while responding to the queries. We are also inspiring students to think out-of-the-box," said Kakkanad Christhujayanthi Public School principal Saji Varghese.
"We will divide students into groups of five each. They have to discuss the issue amongst themselves and come out with answers. For this exam, students need to develop a little bit of creativity, subject knowledge and ability to analyze things," said Thammanam Nalanda Public School principal Jayasri Nair.
To make the new concept a hit, teachers are expected to provide a bridge between theory and practice. They have been asked to encourage student participation in learning process through discussion, analysis, self-reflection and critical thinking.
Besides, they need to assign the text material to students in groups so that they can read and understand, view it from different perspectives, brainstorm main ideas in class or even do further research outside the class.
