the avalanche

An unseen practice exam was scheduled in class time for a first year, first semester, Divinity course-Christian Theology 1 (these students had not previously taken any University exams). The exam consisted of two questions (both questions were on the same topic with only the required approach varying. Both were judged to be of equal level of 'difficulty'), and all the students were asked to respond to the questions in the same order (A first and then B). About half the class, seated towards the back of the room, were directed to type their first response, and the other half to handwrite their first answer. Then half way through the class, students were directed to switch to the second question, and to use the other mode of composition. The room layout was far from ideal with the students seated fairly close to each other.
The typed scripts were created using Exam4 software produced by Exegrity.1 This software runs on the students own laptop (mac or windows), 'locks' down the machine preventing access to the hard-drive or Internet and provides a simple word processor. All the students taking part in the practice exam were able to provide a laptop, although we had offered to provide loan machines to those who were not able (or unwilling) to use their own. Power was provided to each machine if required. The questions were provided on paper, only the mode of writing was changed.
Handwritten answers were collected on paper; typewritten responses were collected on USB sticks and printed. Both questions were marked by a single experienced marker, and feedback provided to the students within two weeks. A total of 55 students attended the practice exam. 25 students typed their first answer, and 30 students handwrote their first answer.
Students were informally observed during the practice examination, making a note of approximately how many were actively writing at different times, and additional information was collected from students before and after the practice via