Assessments and Exams

When planning online assessments, look forward, then design backward. In other words, resist the urge to create your content first, then write test questions afterwards. Begin by identifying the relevant outcomes or competencies you want your students to attain, then imagine how they might demonstrate their proficiency in the real world. Will it be solving equations and showing their work? Writing a persuasive paper, or delivering a speech? What is it that you see your students achieving, after taking your course, even a year or two down the road? Forward-looking assessments begin by identifying situational outcomes designed to assess students’ abilities to apply standard-driven knowledge and skills to real-world challenges. ODE can help you explore tools and services that might help your students create these rich artifacts.

Assignment and Exam Development

This short video walks you through assessment development and provides you with alternatives to online testing. It contains suggestions that might make grading of writing-intensive assessments more efficient. We also introduce the plagiarism tool that's built into Blackboard.

Watch (11min): Methods and Tools for Online Assessments

Most online courses use some form of online testing. This video is meant to guide your decisions about adding a test for either evaluative purposes or as a simple way to engage your students.

Watch (12min): Methods for Online Testing

Minimize Cheating

Pedagogical Suggestions

Plan for frequent, low-stakes assessment rather than the midterm & final exam approach. The higher the stakes, the higher the urge to cheat.
Use a mix of objective (e.g. multiple choice, true/false) and subjective (e.g. short answer, essay) question types in your assessments.

Pools and Random Blocks

Seek out publisher test banks to minimize the number of questions you have to create.
Draw a unique subset of questions for each student using Random Blocks in tests.
Randomize answer order (to enable this, you must edit each question individually).

Test Settings

Set a timer and have the test save and submit when the time runs out.
Limit test availability date/time.
Limit the feedback that is available to students immediately after they submit (e.g. correct answers). If you choose, those can be revealed after everyone has taken the assessment.
Present questions one at a time (makes copying/pasting more time consuming).
Randomize the question order.

Note: These last two, when used in conjunction, will prevent two students from taking the test together at the same time with the intent to share answers.

Respondus LockDown Browser and Respondus Monitor

Enable the use of Respondus tools for tests by expanding the Course Tools menu in your course, then selecting Respondus LockDown Browser.
Students can download the LockDown Browser at: http://go.umflint.edu/lockdown
Enable webcam recording of test session with Respondus Monitor. If you suspect a student has cheated during their test, you can watch the video of them taking it.

Live Proctoring

Respondus LockDown has a built-in function to record students while they take their exams which instructors can review afterward. (See: Respondus Monitor.) For those instructors who wish to monitor students live during an exam while still utilizing the LockDown Browser, it is possible to have an active Zoom meeting during the exam.

Guide: Live Proctoring - Zoom + Respondus LockDown

Assessment Resources

Assignments

Tests

Respondus

Test Creation: Installing and Using Respondus

Test Security: Respondus Lockdown Browser

Chromebooks do not allow installation of the Respondus LockDown Browser for students.
Respondus regularly hosts webinars for additional training with its products.

Grading and Annotation

Canvas SpeedGrader

SpeedGrader allows you to provide inline feedback to students and offers a robust feature set to provide customizable feedback to students. Features include annotation tools, freehand drawing tools, various color selections, and much more.

Learn More:Canvas SpeedGrader

Watch(6min): How to Use BB Annotate

Canvas Grades

The gradebook allows you to collect, grade, and provide feedback for your assessments. You will find help and resources below for many of the common tasks you might encounter in the grade center.

How To: Enter Grades

How To: Grade with a Rubric

How To: Weight Grades