Last Friday, we had an online discussion about alternatives to final exams. We decided to host this session because we had been getting many questions from instructors concerned about what they were going to do for final exams in an online format.
You can request to view a recording of the session by contacting: it@landfood.ubc.ca.
In an email to instructors from LFS leadership, the following four alternatives to in-person written exams were mentioned:
- Online Exams
- Take Home Exams
- Alternative Assignments
- No Final Exams
We discussed the pros and cons of each option and then participants had a chance to ask questions and share their own ideas for replacing the final exam.
Final Exams
We started by critically evaluating traditional final exams. While they are familiar to all of us and the “safest” option, the reality is that they cause anxiety, aren’t very flexible in terms of scheduling, and students don’t like them very much.
Online Exams
Using Canvas Quizzes for final exams is the most popular option that instructors are looking at right now. It allows instructors to assess students in a similar way to the in-person final exam, but in an online format.
Some of the bonuses of using Canvas Quizzes include:
- Close-ended type questions (e.g. mulitiple choice) are automatically graded.
- Randomization can be set up in three different ways:
- Strict time limits can be used to prevent students from going over time and require them to study the material before the quiz.
Some of the potential drawbacks of using Canvas Quizzes include:
- They must be open book. There is no way to prevent students from looking at their notes during the exam.
- Technical issues can happen, although the system auto-saves every second so they will not lose anything.
- Secure Testing software, such as Proctorio, can be a problematic for students and add unnecessary complexity to your exam (see section below).
Questions from participants ranged from “how to” type questions around question randomization to concerns about students’ internet connections while taking the quiz.
In regards to connection issues, Canvas auto-saves every second so that they will not lose everything if their internet goes down. Students should also be able to keep doing the quiz if they are temporarily disconnected and go back into a quiz if their browser crashes or they accidentally exit Canvas for any reason.
There is also a Quiz Log that may tell you more information about a student’s quiz attempt, such as if and when they got disconnected during the quiz and had to re-enter, although it is not perfect and does not capture every technical issue.
For those instructors with students in China, as far as we are aware at the present time, the Great Firewall of China does not block anything in Canvas and shouldn’t interfere with students taking quizzes.
Proctorio
Proctorio was presented as a “solution” for final exams, but its important to be clear about what it does. We don’t recommend using this software unless you understand its benefits and limitations.
Benefits include:
- Extends the functionality of your Canvas Quiz.
- Taking students through a verification process at the beginning of the exam in which they must hold their ID card up to the camera to verify that the person taking the test is the same person.
- Preventing students from accessing other material on their computer during the quiz.
- Recording students using their computer’s webcam and microphone.
- Flagging videos with “suspicious” behaviour, such as multiple people, students looking off camera, and students talking to another person during the exam.
Limitations include:
- Must be used with Canvas Classic Quizzes. Cannot be used alone or with Canvas New Quizzes.
- Secure Testing software does not prevent cheating. Your quiz will be open book. Students can easily fool the system by placing study notes off camera and the video may not pick up on it.
- Adds an extra layer of complexity to your exam.
- Some students may not meet the minimum system requirements if they are using an older and/or non-English operating system.
- The browser add-on for Chrome requires a high level of access to students’ browsers.
- Some students may not want their homes filmed.
- If some students cannot or will not use the software, it defeats the purpose of using it.
Arts ISIT have compiled a more comprehensive list of features, advantages, limitations, and tips here.
Take Home Exams
The most feasible option for take home exams would be to use the Canvas Assignment tool. This type of exam could be called a “Final Essay” instead. Although in the “olden days” this type of exam was distributed and submitted using non-electronic “snail mail”, the Canvas Assignment tool simplifies the collection process and allows instructors to use the Canvas Speedgrader to annotate students’ submissions. Students also have more time and freedom to express themselves, but marking time can be increased significantly, especially if you originally planned to have an exam with multiple choice questions.
Alternate Assignments
Some options for alternative assignments include the following:
- Oral Exams/Interviews
- Showcase Portfolio/Poster/Fact Sheet
- Allow students to choose from more than one of the previous options
- Allow students to propose a project to demonstrate their learning in the course
While many of these options likely cannot be used by instructors teaching this term and may require more marking time, instructors may want to consider them for the next Summer term, which UBC has informed us will be fully online.
No Final Exam
If you had other assignments in your course that you feel have already adequately assessed your students’ learning, you may be able to just cancel your final exam. Students will probably prefer this option. However, your other assignments will have to be given greater weights. If students did poorly or missed earlier assignments in the course and were planning on using the final exam to boost their grades, they can always withdraw late or switch to a pass/fail option. One of our participants also discussed still having the online final exam to assess students’ learning, but making it worth less due to the change in format.
Support
If you still have questions related to final exams, please contact it@landfood.ubc.ca.