Shifting to Remote or Online Exams

The goal for any exam is to accurately assess student learning without adding the burden of stress brought on by inequities in technology access or financial difficulties. Here are some factors to consider:

Assessments should measure course learning outcomes
Equal access for all students
Communicate plans to your students

Step 1: Revisit your course learning outcomes

What outcomes do you feel that you must assess? Which ones have you already assessed in other ways? And are there some that you can eliminate under these circumstances? Also, determine acceptable evidence to measure the learning. Once you decide these details, you will have a better idea of what to include on the exam.

Step 2: Revisit your exam

After you decide which learning outcomes must be assessed in the exam, create/revise your assessment to make sure the exam addresses the learning outcomes you identified in Step 1.

Here are some tips on exam construction: Tools for Teaching, Chapter 39, Test and Quizzes, pp. 362-374.

Step 3: Consider accessibility

Consider how students will take the exam. Keep in mind that browser lockdown software may hinder students in ways that are unrelated to academic integrity. Therefore, you will want to consider test items that require students to show understanding of or apply content rather than knowledge-based questions that can be answered with a quick search engine query (See the Tools for Teaching chapter, linked above, for guidance on this).

Also, if you are requiring diagrams and charts, keep in mind that students may not have access to the technology tools needed to scan or photograph such documents, so you will want to consider other alternatives to this. Make sure that your materials are Accessible to all students. Accessibility Resources are available on the Transition your Face-to-Face Course to Online Instruction page.

Step 4: Consider alternatives to proctored online exams

Here are some suggestions for modifying your exam for the present learning contexts.

Series of quizzes: offer a low-stakes opportunity for students to demonstrate mastery of material, and give you ongoing information about student understanding. Frequent quizzing has also been shown to reinforce student understanding. Randomize questions in quizzes, to make cheating more difficult.
Student-developed quiz questions: writing quiz questions both builds and demonstrates students' understanding of the material. This assignment can be structured as a collaborative group activity.
Open-book, take-home assessments: many disciplines already have a tradition of take-home exams, typically involving more conceptual or applied questions that students cannot quickly look up in a textbook.
Fact sheet: students create a one-page fact sheet on a topic. Students must select relevant facts and explain them clearly and concisely.
For essay exams: create an assignment in Canvas and have students submit their response there. If you have several essay questions, create separate assignments. You may also have several options and allow students to select which essay question they will respond to. Consider open book for this assessment, as well, and design questions that cannot be quickly looked up in course materials.

More details about alternatives to tests and quizzes can be found in the Tools for Teaching book chapter, linked above.

Step 5: Appropriately address academic integrity

Whenever possible, avoid technology solutions designed to maintain testing integrity. This software often has unintended consequences that need to be considered. These include concerns about access, student privacy, and increased levels of student anxiety.

Additional Considerations

If you are using software to proctor a test or lock down browsing, please consider:

You and your students need to be informed about who can access data collected by non-University supported online proctoring solution, particularly since a student may not have consented to release of their data when they registered for a face-to-face course that is now online.
Some students also may not have the technology needed for the proctoring software to work (i.e. camera, high-speed internet connection or bandwidth, microphone).
Online proctoring services were not designed for the scale of use they are experiencing now and students could experience system crashes that result in inaccurate test results.

Learn more about using Proctortrack or Respondus Lockdown Browser with Canvas.

Step 6: Clearly communicate the exam procedures and expectations

As soon as you can, communicate the exam procedures and expectations to your students. Highlight how the revised final exam is different from the original syllabus description. You may also want to explain why you made these changes and how they will benefit student learning under these circumstances.

Would you like to talk with someone about your exam? Contact the Center for Integrated Professional Development and a coordinator would be happy to help.

References

Davis, B. G. (2009). Tools for Teaching (2nd ed.). John Wiley & Sons.

Kurz, L. (2020, March 18). Handling exams when your course unexpectedly moves online. Center for Innovative Teaching at Indiana University Bloomington. https://blogs.iu.edu/citl/2020/03/13/exams-online/#.XpUC2Jl7nIV

Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences. (2020). Remote exams and assessments: Tips for exams and alternative assessments. https://sasoue.rutgers.edu/teaching-learning/remote-exams-assessment#10-alternatives-to-exams