I have to vent...

[jfmmgm]

Like many schools, mine is making a big push toward more fully online classes ("Distance Ed"), so I submitted an application to our Curriculum Committee to have one of my classes approved for "DE."

They balked at the application when they saw that a good deal of each student's grade would be through online exams, because they felt it was easy to cheat. I pointed out to them that students take the same online exams (with the same weight) in my traditional face-to-face class. I also told them that the online exams were officially approved for my traditional class by the (same) committee only two years ago.

Their response to these inconvenient truths? "But this is a DE course. They might cheat."

[Parasaurolophus]

But... DE means the students aren't around to take the exam in person. WTF?

[the_geneticist]

Did the committee have suggestions for other exam formats?  Does the school pay for a proctoring service that you could use?

If the face-to-face students were taking their exam online while sitting in a classroom space (handed a laptops instead of handed an exam), then I could understand their concern.

But unless they come up with a list of acceptable ways to evaluate students that is equivalent to an exam, they are going to have to refuse ALL distance learning classes that would normally have exams.  Can the students give a presentation, write a manuscript/essay/proposal, design a product, give a recital?