CHENNAI: First among engineering colleges in Tamil Nadu after IIT and NIT, PSG College of Technology(Autonomous) in Coimbatore has introduced open book exam for BE and B.Tech courses.
“We have introduced the open book exam in the Choice Based Credit System (CBCS) from this year. We will give a problem to students and ask them to bring any book to solve it,” said R.Rudramoorthy, college principal, and chairman, AICTE, southern region.
He was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of Pan IIT Leadership Series (PALS) summit here on Wednesday. “In internal assessment, out of 50 marks, 10 marks will be awarded for open book exam. There is no right or wrong answer. Their method of approach in solving a problem is being evaluated,” he said.
Answering a question, he said, “The open book exam is definitely part of student learning skill. We should understand what they learnt and the capability they possess.”
He also stressed the need for decentralisation of administration to bring changes like open book exam. “With the centralised examination system for more than 500 engineering colleges, Anna University is struggling to prepare the question paper and doing the monitoring work. The MHRD and UGC have already taken steps to bring more autonomous colleges,” he added.
T.V.Geetha, director, Centre for Academic Courses, Anna University, said, “Bringing the open book exam is an important aspect of exam reforms. We have started that process. We will start at the assessment level and then go along.”
At present, IIT-Madras is doing it at an experimental level for design-based courses where students need to refer more than one book. “Several departments are conducting the open book exams in IIT-Madras,” professors said.
