Open Book Exam – Significance and Challenges – Explained Pointwise

The CBSE has decided to introduce open book assessment in class 9 from 2026-27 after a pilot study showed strong teacher support for the idea. CBSE conducted a pilot comprehensive study to assess the viability of implementing Open Book Exam (OBE) for students from classes 9 to 12 in November-December 2023 for subjects like English, Mathematics and Science for Classes 9 and 10, and English, Mathematics and Biology for Classes 11 and 12.

What is Open Book Examination (OBE)? What is the History of OBE in India?

Open Book Examination: This is an examination pattern where students are allowed to refer to their books and notes to answer questions during the examination. An OBE allows students to use approved materials such as textbooks & class notes during assessment, rather than mainly testing their memory. In an OBE, the challenge for the examinee lies in knowing where to look, making sense of the material & applying it to the problem at hand. OBE evaluate whether students can interpret ideas effectively. 

Types of Open Book Examination (OBE): There are 2 types of open book examination.

1. Restricted open book assessment: Students are allowed to refer only the study material approved by the exam-conducting authority.
2. Free type open book assessment: Students are allowed to bring any material of their choice.
   

OBE not a new concept for Indian Students: Open-book exams are not a new idea for India.

1. 2014: CBSE introduced Open Text Based Assessment (OBTA) which was implemented in Class 9 (Hindi, English, Mathematics, Science, and Social Science) and Class 11 (Economics, Biology, and Geography).
   It was aimed to ease the burden of memorization and promote information processing skills. However, it was discontinued in the 2017-18 academic year due to its failure to develop critical thinking skills among students.
2. 2019: All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) permitted open book exams in engineering colleges following a recommendation from an advisory body.
3. 2020 & 2021 COVID-19 Lockdown: Various Central Universities, like Delhi University, Jamia Millia Islamia, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Aligarh Muslim University, IIT Delhi, IIT Indore, and IIT Bombay have conducted open book tests to evaluate students.

Why CBSE introduced Open Books Examination(OBE) in India?

1. Transformation of Culture of assessment in line with NEP 2020: The National Education Policy 2020 has recommended for moving away from rote memorization & towards competency-based learning. CBSE is exploring Open Book Examination (OBE) as an alternative for regular exams.
2. On the lines of National Curriculum Framework: The CBSE has proposed open book assessment based on the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) released last year. The National Curriculum Framework for School Education has highlighted the need to reform the current assessment process, which is  ‘focused on measuring rote learning’. To change that, it calls for different learning styles & give students feedback, while still aiming to improve overall learning outcomes. 

What are the advantages of Open Book Examination (OBE) in India?

1. Shift of Focus from ‘rote learning’ to ‘conceptual understanding’: Open Book Examination will help the students focus on core concepts, high-order foundational skills, and self-peer assessments. Various studies conducted on the OBE system in different countries have found out that OBE has have a positive impact on internalization of concept rather than just memorization. According to a Norwegian study conducted in 2000, students taking OBEs are more likely to look for connections between ideas instead of just recalling the facts. 
2. Promotion of critical and creative thinking: OBE helps to assessment of learner readiness, application of course content to real-life scenarios, analysis of case studies and connection of content with real-world situations.
3. Prevents the proliferation of coaching industry-: The examination system using an open book would prevent the proliferation of board-exam based coaching industry.
4. Encourages Resource Management Skills: Through the use of Open Book method of examination, students learn to efficiently navigate and use reference materials. This leads to the development of a valuable skill in quickly finding relevant information, which is of great help in academic and professional settings.
5. Reduction in examination related stress of Students: According to a 2021 study involving medical students from All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Bhubaneswar, it was found that open book exams were less stressful. OBE will reduce the exam related cases of student suicides in India. 

What are the Challenges/limitation with the system of OBE?

1. Challenge for Indian Teachers: There is lack of creativity on part of Indian school teachers to design innovative Open Book assessments. Questions in an open book exam, unlike a traditional exam, cannot be direct.
2. Reduction in student’s motivation for studies: Students often get complacent in an open book examination assessment system, by completely ignoring the strong memorization or critical thinking skills.
3. Challenges of Time Management: Students may spend too much time searching for information in their materials leading to incomplete or rushed answers.
4. Exacerbation of inequality among students: The availability of different resources can create inequality among students. Students with better access to high-quality materials may have an advantage over their peers.
5. Logistical Challenges: Organizing and administering OBEs can be logistically difficult for the teachers, with the students trying to bring too many books into the exam environment.
6. Risk of plagiarism: There are risks of plagiarism, with students being tempted to copy answers or use unauthorized materials.
7. Despite early experiments, OBEs remain rare in high-stakes school exams for e.g. standardized tests such as US’s SATs & UK’s GCSEs – still require closed-book answers.

What Should be the way Forward?

1. Implementation of Yashpal Committee Report: The Yashpal Committee Report, ‘Learning Without Burden’, had recommended reducing the burden of exams and introduction of measures like OBEs to reduce the ‘catch up’ syndrome.
   (Catch up syndrome is the popular belief that India needs to catch up with the explosion of knowledge had occurred in the West through strict curriculum and rigorous examinations).
2. Development of spirit of critical pedagogy: Teachers must engage in a meaningful dialogue with young students. They should remove their whole attention from “completing” the official syllabus in time.
3. Training of students: Students must be trained on how to write an open book exam, and develop the necessary skills of analyzing concepts to get the benefits of Open Book Exam.
4. Training of teachers: Teachers must be trained on formulating comprehensive, unique questions for an OBE, different from the formulaic and archaic questions in a regular exam.

Conclusion:

OBEs can become a game changer for the education system of our country, however for real gains, it requires specific training such as teaching students how to break down a question, analyze the concept & apply them, instead of merely looking up answers.