Cuts in psychology impact exam format

Responding to budget issues, the University’s Department of Psychology has decided to experiment with conducting exams online, replacing the more costly Scantron sheets.

Some professors have successfully conducted their exams online, but others have run into significant problems that have provoked mixed responses from students, said Lee Jussim, chair of the Department of Psychology.

Tracy Ng, a School of Arts and Sciences sophomore, said the new online format would cause trouble for students taking exams.

Ng said two of her professors saved enough Scantron sheets to allow the students to have paper exams for their final — but for another course, Ng will be taking all her exams online.

“It’s the most direct effect in a way. This is our testing, and tests make up a lot of our grade. I can tell there is a lot of hassle, a lot of unforeseeable things happening, so a lot of things are out of control,” she said.

Although the switch has financial benefits for the department, Ng said it still has its drawbacks, since the influx of students on the network caused it to recently malfunction.

“We tried to take the exams in class and that was a fail because RUWireless couldn’t handle all of us,” she said. “I feel like the system is not really ready. Right now, it’s just a quick fix … kind of like putting a Band-Aid on a massive wound.”

The School of Arts and Sciences’ shrinking budget caused the department’s financial issues, Jussim said. Recently, the Department of Psychology has relied on its reserve account — funds they independently saved over time.

“No one has said we have no budget … but we are operating on fumes. I don’t expect that to be permanent … they know we have reserves, so at least for the short term, we can survive on this,” Jussim said.

Ng said earlier in the semester, two courses conducting the online exams at the same time caused the Sakai system to crash.

The online exam format prohibits test-takers from returning to previous questions to change their answer, which is another issue for students, Ng said.

Jussim said the department understands students’ concerns and will work to figure out how to make better use of the online methods. Their primary concern is to ensure that the switch from print to online runs smoothly and effectively — showing students how to use the new format is secondary.

“The most relevant thing is, it does provide appropriate testing of what you learned in the course,” he said. “The issue is whether it’s a valid assessment of what you know, and if you can do that for less [money], then there is no reason for us not to do that.”

Richard Falk, acting executive dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, said moving the exams online will be cheaper, but the department will consider the wellbeing of students before doing so.

“We look at [whether] this [is] an effective way to teach the students,” he said. “We can’t be driven by the finances, we look at the most effective way for students to learn, and that’s the way we want to do the teaching. Money is a factor, but it doesn’t override.”

Natan Santacruz, a School of Arts and Sciences sophomore, said the department teaches psychology students like him about scientific method and the importance of conducting tests properly. He said the University should apply these techniques to their decision-making.

“We’re taught how studies need validity, [meaning] that tests should measure what you say they’re measuring, and the education system isn’t doing a great job … measuring students’ knowledge,” he said. “If we’re not doing a good job as it is, I don’t understand why they would limit themselves even further.”

Santacruz said his psychology class of 300 already uses online exams.

“What bothered me was they were spending billions … that they didn’t need to spend moving the athletic programs to a different conference,” he said. “That’s an unnecessary expenditure, especially if they are having such financial difficulties … the University is perfectly comfortable spending all kinds of money in other areas.”

Contrary to rumors, the department will not lose all funding, but their budget has significantly diminished, Jussim said.

He said the University’s efforts to compensate for the decline in funding from state subsidies and faculty raises have attributed to the cuts.

“I have entirely … different opinions about it,” he said. “If you don’t have the money, you cannot give the money, I get that. But at the same time it has been very difficult trying to run the department on essentially no budget.”

The department has endured these cuts with the help of their reserve funds, while the School of Arts and Sciences evaluates what can be done to address the issue in the future, he said.

“SAS is in the process of rethinking how it does budgeting, and I am sure we will have some budget next year,” he said. “I know [what] SAS says, and I believe them — that they are committed to providing budgets that we can operate with … they recognize that we can’t operate this way.”

In order to resolve the problem, the school has to figure out an effective way to lessen the amount of money given to the department, while ensuring they still have enough, Falk said.

“Because of state cuts … it’s been more difficult to do the funding we want, but in no cases has the department been cut off from funding,” Falk said. “They have reserves to carry them through and … the dean’s office is committed to funding the undergraduate [education] that we need to.”

He said the funds the department receives from winter and summer sessions in addition to donations will be adequate for carrying them through the shortage.

“I have a budget committee forum to look at how the department should be funded in the future, and I would say the first goal is to cover the cost of undergraduate [education],” he said. “That’s the principle. So there is no danger that psychology cannot cover these costs.”