Dear all,
I know a few questions have already appeared on the forum about e-assessment, so apologies if I’m going over old ground, but we would be grateful if you are able to share some of your experiences of e-assessments pre and during the Covid-19 period, including what worked well for you, and any challenges you faced. We’ll collate our findings and share with the group, and we’d be happy to incorporate any findings from the other questions that were posted previously, so we have a complete picture of e-assessment activity in the sector.
Some of the issues we’ve noted that have already been identified on the forum include an increase in misconduct issues and the delivery of invigilated online exams.
I realise this is a relatively long set of questions, so we’ve prioritised our top ones (1-13). Please answer these if you can, but we’d really appreciate feedback on as many as you’re able to answer. We’d be happy to set up calls with anyone who would be interested in discussing any of these issues further, or would be prepared to share their experiences in more depth.
For clarity, the assumption is that e-assessments held during the lockdown period were conducted remotely, in the sense that students took them in their home. If you conducted e-assessments prior to lockdown, or you’re planning on holding more e-assessments in the future when we return to a ‘new normal’, can you specify whether this will involve students using a device on campus, in an invigilated exam hall, or whether they‘ll take the exam remotely, using a personal or University issue device.
Please excuse any weird formatting - this started life as a grid, but hasn't translated well!
1. What percentage (roughly) of your exams were e-assessments prior to Covid-19?
2. What percentage (roughly) of your exams were e-assessments during the recent exam period?
3. How were the e-assessments delivered in terms of timings?
* Over a 24-hour period?
* A defined window within 24 hours starting when the student started the exam?
* A timed exam that all students took at the same time?
* Something else?
4. In light of your experience over the past few months, will you modify this approach for future exam periods?
5. Were any e-assessments delivered on university devices or were all students able to use their own? Or was there a mixture? Additionally:
* Was any subject specific software/equipment needed? (eg webcam)
* How did you ensure that all students had the required device spec/equipment to undertake the e-assessment?
* Did any adjustments (eg assistive software) have to be made for specific groups of students?
6. Has there been an increase in issues around cheating/collusion/use of essay mills etc – if so, was this for any particular subject areas?
Additionally:
* How have these been managed? – eg additional vivas etc
7. Can you comment on how you managed Maths exams - did you do anything differently for this type of assessment (short, yes/no type
answers), and/or did you face any particular challenges?
8. Were your e-assessments ‘open book’ and how was this defined for students in terms of what could/could not be used, and any restrictions –
eg non-use of internet? Additionally:
* How was this monitored?
9. Did you use any online proctoring/invigilation during the e-assessments? Additionally:
* Was this for any specific subjects?
* If so, what form did this take? (eg contract with external company or using MS Teams etc), 1-1 invigilation, random checks, or post checks
for irregularities?
* Were there any issues eg with blocking access to required programmes/internet?
10. Were any e-assessment software services used? (eg Wiseflow, Speedwell etc). Additionally:
* Were they useful?
* Would you consider using any going forward – if so, for which aspect of e-assessments?
11. If you could share one piece of best practice on running e-assessments, what would it be?
12. If you could share one piece of bad practice on running e-assessments, what would it be?
13. What will you be doing differently in terms of e-assessment for future exam periods? (when we return to some sort of normality)
14. During Covid-19, were exam formats changed when moved to e-assessments (eg essay to MCQ etc)? Additionally:
* Was there a pedagogic reason for this?/Decisions based on the subject etc?
* If you plan on introducing more e-assessment in the future, will you be looking to introduce different assessment formats?
15. How much/what sort of guidance were you able to give to students around any changes to exam formats, how to take e-exams, the
consequences of collusion/cheating etc? Can you share any resources you may have?
16. Were any issues with time zones encountered and how were these managed?
17. Have regulations on misconduct had to be changed as a result? Will this be considered going forward? If so, how? Additionally:
* Would it be useful for Universities to explore the potential for collaboration to agree a code of conduct regarding essay mill companies and companies such as CHEGG or similar?
18. Was there an ID check system in place to verify who took the e-assessments? If so, how did this work?
19. Were any additional measures implemented for students with specific needs/requirements? What did these involve?
20. Were there any specific challenges for any particular subjects in your institution?
Please email your responses to Eirona Morgan - [log in to unmask] Whilst our default position will be to anonymise HEIs when we collate/circulate our findings, if you are happy for your institution's name to be included please let us know - where possible I'd like to share experiences and progress with other HEIs as we all develop our e-assessment provision.
Many thanks,
Kathryn Connor
Associate Director, Academic Regulation, Policy & Compliance
King's College London
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