Exams and Assessments

Using the Quiz tool on Canvas for quizzes and exams (assume open notes, open book)

Settings to reduce cheating:

• As little as 1 minute per question

• Shuffle question order by adding them to a Question Bank. This also enables having different students seeing different questions - each student sees a subset of the questions in each bank.

• One question displayed at a time

• Answer and move on - no going back over questions (set option to Lock answer)

  • Note that this option makes it difficult for students to manage their time during the exam, increasing stress and decreasing performance. It may not be a good option in many cases.

• Scheduled during a short time period

• Do not show answers when finished

You can manage the time allowed for individual students after the quiz is published to accommodate SDC time extensions. Or make different versions for students with extra time (same questions, different time settings).

We encourage you to include a statement of integrity that students must affirm before taking the exam (e.g., as the first question on the exam).

See the High-Stakes Exams section of this page for more information.

Start each online quiz with a Code of Conduct pledge.

Sample Pledge:

My course materials, including this quiz, are protected by U.S. copyright law and by University policy. I am the exclusive owner of the copyright in those materials I create.

You may not reproduce, distribute or display (post/upload) course materials in any way — whether or not a fee is charged — without my express prior written consent. You also may not allow others to do so. If you do so, you may be subject to student conduct proceedings under the UC Davis Code of Academic Conduct.

As you start this quiz, please remind yourself that as a student at UC Davis, you hold yourself to a high standard of integrity. By taking this online quiz, you reaffirm your pledge to act ethically by honoring the UC Davis Code of Academic Conduct

Check each box as your pledge that you are doing your own work.

If you can not honestly check each of these responses, please email me at vlcross@ucdavis.edu to explain your situation.

I pledge that I am an honest student with academic integrity and I will not cheat on this quiz

These answers are my own work.

I will not give any other student assistance on this quiz

I understand that to submit work that is not my own and pretend that it is mine is a violation of the UC Davis code of conduct and will be reported to Student Judicial Affairs.

I understand that suspected misconduct on this quiz will be reported to the Office of Student Support and Judicial Affairs and, if established, will result in disciplinary sanctions up through Dismissal from the University and a grade penalty up to a grade of “F” for the course.

Canvas Pro Tip

If you are going to use a pledge on many assignments then you want to delve into Question Banks. Create a bank called Pledge with just the one pledge 'question'. The example above is Multiple Answer with all the options 'correct'. Then, on each assessment, +NewQuestionGroup > Link to Question Bank > Pick 1 Question > Worth 0 points.

The advantage of this is that you then have only one copy of the question. If you edit the pledge, it will update in all future assessments.

• In general, you may want to reduce reliance on high-stakes exams. For example, you might have weekly quizzes and make them a large portion of the grade. (This does not eliminate the possibility of cheating, but keep in mind that this is just for one quarter!)

• If possible, use the electronic version of take-home exams (open book, open note, etc.). This minimizes the possibility of cheating. This will mainly be useful in smaller classes.

  • Make sure that the grading will not result in an undue burden on your TAs.

• If you choose some non-proctored solution, you should not use the same exam questions in future quarters. Students may make copies of the questions (e.g., by taking screenshots) and share them with future students.

• If you continue to use standard closed-note, closed-book, multiple-choice exams, they will need to be proctored. (Examity)

  • Many students may not have access to an actual computer or a private room for testing

  • Remote proctoring opens many technical and access issues. CEE and ATS are working on solutions.

  • Another approach that will likely be available soon is the Respondus Lockdown Browser

    • It prevents students from using any other software on their computers while taking an exam

    • However, it is not a perfect solution, because students can use their smartphones to access electronic materials during the exam, to take pictures of the questions on their screens, etc.

  • Stay tuned for more information

• You might want to have Zoom running during exams so that students can “drop in” to ask questions

• We encourage you to include a statement of integrity that students must affirm before taking the exam (e.g., as the first question on the exam).

Expect open book, open notes

Canvas quizzes could be used for multiple choice, fill in, matching, essay questions.

Follow low-stakes guidelines to minimize cheating.

Avoids requirement of using Examity for proctoring.

Stay tuned for campus information about purchasing TurnItIn to detect duplicate answers.

We do not have a good solution for giving students exam feedback remotely without showing them the questions in a format where they could copy the intellectual property.

To ensure privacy, don't discuss a student's exam during open office hours. Use a breakout room or schedule individual appointments.

Peer Grading: Canvas assignments can be set for peers to give feedback and grade using rubrics.

Examples:

Have students upload an image that relates to course material and explain how it is relevant

Discussion board (for a small seminar course). Have multiple weekly deadlines to enable interaction - interaction is unlikely to happen spontaneously. Turns out all of our students are deadline junkies. e.g., Every student will submit a xxx word posting by Wednesday 11:59pm; every student will respond to 3 other students by Saturday 11:59pm.

Brief short answer essay questions weekly that are graded as 0 (didn’t complete it), 1 (completed it but was inaccurate), 2 (some inaccuracies but some pieces are correct), or 3 (correct answer). Limit the amount of space they have to write and emphasize brevity as being important if you’re teaching a large class.

Have students write multiple choice questions.

Have students create a 1 minute video explaining a key concept - you will be amazed at what they will produce!

Use SONA online participation for extra credit

Find out what resources are available through the textbook publisher

• Invite up to 50 students to a Zoom meeting.

• Create up to 50 break out rooms. Create as many as you might need because you can't add more later.

• As the students join the meeting, assign each student into their own breakout room.

• Oversight

  • Students turn on their camera.

  • Allow each student to share their screen and instruct them to share their screen.

  • At this point, Examity has the student move the computer around to demonstrate the they are alone in a room and do not have other devices out

• Tell them that you will pop into rooms over the course of the exam. Allude to the fact that you will 'monitor' their screens and video.

• If students have questions, they can send a message to the host and you can join them in their break out room