Remote examination

We can all continue to develop and improve our skills. Many people still feel some uncertainty about, among other things, the forms of examination. What opportunities are there for digital examinations? What happens if the connection to the internet goes down? Unsupervised examinations, doesn't that increase the opportunities for cheating?

As a first guide to how to choose the form of examination, you can use this bulleted list to help you with this. It may not fill all possible options, but it does raise some important points to think about.

Things to consider before choosing a form of examination

• How can I ensure a legally secure examination? There are several different forms of examination to choose from and there is a higher risk of cheating when the student does not have a supervised examination. However, in some cases, you can open up the examination and allow books, a so-called open book examination, or also allow students to discuss with each other. Read more about how to handle cheating for each description of the different forms of examination.
• An important aspect to consider is what is to be examined. In some cases, multiple-choice questions are suitable, and in other cases, essay questions are more suitable. Start from how your learning objectives are formulated, what level of learning is to be achieved upon completion of the course. To minimize the risk of cheating, it is good to start from the higher levels in Bloom's revised taxonomy, i.e. to analyze, evaluate or create something. Own reflections, reasoned opinions and conclusions, as well as substantiated reasoning that is linked to lectures, specific course literature or other specific events, make it more difficult to cheat.   
• How is the examination described in the syllabus? You must also check that the form of examination is supported in the course syllabus. It must state how the course will be examined. 

Below you can read about different alternatives to digital examinations with descriptions of their strengths and weaknesses.

Individual examination

Digital take-home exam – Inspera and Canvas

Inspera is a tool for digital exams that provides the opportunity to conduct digital take-home exams. There are several advantages to completing the examination via Inspera. You can also use tests (Quiz) in Canvas. At a take-home exam, you are not as bound by the fact that the students are not allowed to search for and read different sources, but instead you can take advantage of the fact that they have that opportunity. Therefore, digital take-home exams are well suited when you want to examine at the upper levels according to Bloom's taxonomy, i.e. when you want the students in the examination to analyse, evaluate or create something.

Digital exam - multiple choice questions

Both in Inspera and in Canvas you have the opportunity to ask multiple-choice questions and essay questions. Multiple-choice questions are suitable if you are going to graduate at the lower levels according to Bloom's taxonomy, that is, when you want students to remember, understand and apply. For example, multiple-choice questions are used in the case of tests, such as a knowledge reconciliation (formative evaluation) where the student can retake the examination several times. You can also mix multiple-choice questions with essay questions. Both Inspera and Canvas give you the opportunity to build question banks and randomize questions from it. 

Group examination

Oral examination

Oral examinations can be used as individual examinations, group examinations or as supplementary examinations. It is a good complement to other forms of examination and facilitates a legally secure assessment. You can take the oral examination on campus, in the e-meeting service Zoom or in Microsoft Teams. The choice should be based on what suits the target group and the task best. Regardless, it's always good to have a backup plan prepared. Prepare yourself by having a clear basis for what you are going to assess and make sure that the students have good knowledge of how the examination will be conducted and how you will assess their performance.

Contact

New technology can worry both teachers and students. As a teacher, you have the opportunity to ask both pedagogical and technical questions. For pedagogical questions, write to PUkontakt@miun.se and for questions about Inspera and how it works to use, contact inspera@miun.se  It is good if students are given the opportunity to test the technology before they use new technology in an examination context. For example, you can set up a test examination both in Inspera and in Canvas and give them the opportunity to test Zoom before the examination.

For more information: 
Digital exams - Inspera
Canva's guides
Zoom's support page about breakout rooms
Zoom's support page about quizzes/polls
Zoom's instructional videos on YouTube