DCE Exam Options 2016

Open Book Exams

Un-Timed Open Book Exam

Create your exam using a Canvas “Assignment” rather than a Canvas “Quiz.” You can both distribute the exam document and have students upload their responses to the Canvas assignment.

The Pros  Easy to administer  Convenient for students  Any question and answer format possible  Handwritten answers are possible

The Cons  No exam security or cheating protection  No automatic grading

The Handwritten Caveat

You can ask students to print out the exam so that they can hand write answers. They will then need to scan it or photograph it with a phone and upload the file. You should give students plenty of chances to practice this method before the exam begins. (Consider using it to submit all homework assignments.)

Timed Open Book Exams

Create a Canvas “Quiz” with one “file upload” question. You can put a time limit on the quiz and include the exam document in your question, which students can’t see until they begin the quiz and start the timer. Students upload their answers to the quiz.

The Pros  Easy to administer  Convenient for students  Any question and answer format possible  Handwritten answers are possible

The Cons  No exam security or cheating protection  No automatic grading

The Handwritten Caveat You can ask students to print out the exam so that they can hand write answers. They will then need to scan it or photograph it with a phone and upload the file. You should give students plenty of chances to practice this method before the exam begins. (Consider using it to submit all homework assignments.) You will also want to give them extra time on the exam for printing and scanning/photographing. Make it explicit to them that you have included time for this. And make sure to let them know at the beginning of the semester that they’ll need to be able to scan or photograph for exams so that they can plan to have the equipment available in a place they’d actually want to take an exam (i.e. They probably don’t want to take their exam at FedEx!)

Open Book Tests Built as Canvas Quizzes

Build your exam using the Canvas “Quiz” tool. Choose from multiple choice, essay, matching, fill in the blank, etc. Students take the exam in Canvas.

The Pros  Easy to administer  Convenient for students  Easy to grade—auto grading available for some question types

The Cons  No exam security or cheating protection  No handwritten responses

Proctored Exams

Proctorio: Proctored Online Exams

Build your exam using the Canvas “Quiz” tool, just like you would for an open book exam. Then get in touch with Sarah Ledoux at [email protected] to create a Proctorio account for your class at least two weeks before the exam.

Proctorio will  Allow you to set rules for your exam such as students cannot use notes or cannot navigate away from the exam.  Verify your students’ identities by asking them to hold an ID up to their webcam.  Film them through their webcam while taking the exam and give you a “heat map” of possible problem spots that you can check out.

The Pros  Easy to administer  Convenient for students  Easy to grade—auto grading available for some question types  Exam security and cheating protection

The Cons  No handwritten responses

On-Campus and Remote Proctored Exams

Students can choose whether to come to campus to take an exam or find a proctor in their area (note: this is a change in policy—students who live in New England are no longer required to come to campus). Students take exams on paper and you collect in-person exams while proctors fax the remote exams to the exam services office, which gets them to you.

The Pros  Exam security and cheating protection  Handwritten answers easy  Any question type and response format

The Cons  Less east to administer  Inconvenient and potentially expensive for students  Getting and returning exams inconvenient  No automatic grading