Allahabad: Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) authorities have decided to launch new assessment concept i.e., Open Text Based Assessment (OTBA) for classes IXth and XIth. In order to integrate analytical and theoretical skills, thus moving away from memorization, OTBA will be introduced in March, 2014 Examination of these two classes.
As per sources, the board has instructed to all the schools coming under its ambit, that OTBA for Class IX in March, 2014, would be applicable to all the main subjects. This will be a part of Summative Assessment (SA) II, scheduled to be held in March, 2014. Before the commencement of SA-II, the textual material will be provided to all schools.
According to the notification issued by the board, the main objective of introducing this element is to provide new opportunities for students to apply theoretical concepts to a real life situation by encouraging active and group learning in the class. The text material / case-studies for both the Classes IX and XI will be supplied to all schools by December, 2013.
Shalini Dikshit, Principal KV New Cant, stated, we have been given the instructions to follow the decision of the board as it has been introduced after much deliberation and every pro and con has been weighed upon. She also said, the students who are presently in class IX and XI would be giving their SA-II exam based on this new concept.
The textual material will be framed in the form of an article, a case study, a diagram, a concept / mind map, a picture or a cartoon, problem / situation, based on the concepts taught to the students during second term. It will cover around 15-20% of the course in all the main subjects, and also include the value based questions.
As per instructions, the textual material will be totally related to selected concepts picked from the syllabi as OTBA will have questions of higher order thinking skills, and of which some of them will be subjective, creative and open ended. The textual material will also be available while answering the questions during the assessment.
As per board’s instructions, OTBA for Class XI will be applicable to Economics, Biology and Geography subjects only. According to the board, the teachers will play an important role to provide a bridge between theory and practice. The text / case studies are designed to promote active participation of students requiring them to engage in active learning process through discussion, analytical thinking, self-reflection and critical thinking.
