Teachers' Perceptions of Shifting from Traditional Exams to Creative Student Responses: A Study of the Bangladeshi Education System

Abstract

This research examines the Bangladeshi education system and compares the efficacy of traditional tests to those incorporating creative tasks. In order to concurrently collect both quantitative and qualitative data the participants (77 teachers) were administered a self-complete questionnaire followed by qualitative interviews with a sub-sample of 20 participants. To this end, the study set out to identify teachers’ attitudes to both forms of assessment as well as the difficulties that are experienced when using the two assessment types. The paired sample t-test quantification responses indicated the two methods did not differ significantly in terms of perceived effectiveness (p = 0.215). But, it was noted that creative assessments had a meaningful positive impact on the student engagement than the traditional ones. Consequent research qualitatively revealed that dearth of resources, insufficient qualification of teachers, short time availability, and parents and students’ non-acceptance as being important factors that hindered the proper use of creative assessments. This is also supported by the claims of teachers for a varied approach and encompassing the constructive and conventional styles to achieve meaningful integration between the theoretical and the practical lectures. On the basis of the research presented in this paper, the following governmental policy strategies are recommended: More funding, better training, time to plan, peer support, and community engagement. In this way, the identified barriers can be approached by policies to improve the Bangladeshi context in education to replace traditional methods with innovative and diverse assessment approaches for students’ 21st-century learning.