Online Quizzes and Exams

[HigherEd7]

Has anyone just appointed one day during the week for your students to take a quiz or exam instead of the 7-day time window? This would be the same as taking your exam in the regular classroom.

Also, I normally give 60 seconds to answer a multiple choice question. I have been reading that the standard for online exams should be 30-45 seconds per multiple choice question and exams should take no longer than 30 minutes to complete.

https://www.uregina.ca/cce/assets/docs/pdf/distance-online/instructional-design/strategies_to_reduce_cheating.pdf

[the_geneticist]

Yes, I give students a window of time to take quizzes (24 hours) with a set time-limit (15 minutes & autosubmits) and a set due date & time.  I also double-check that the answers are NOT available until after the due date.  For some stupid reason our CMS has "show answers" as the default.

I think it's perfectly reasonable to have a set "exam day" where the students choose when in that 24-hour period to take the exam.  You might have to warn them that you aren't available for help or questions that entire time.  Something like "I will be sitting in my Zoom meeting room from X:00-Y:00 if you have questions, I will answer emails from Q:00-R:00, but outside of those times I will not be available".

As far as how much time, give them at least 50% more time per question than it takes you to actually read and answer the question.  I don't know if your multiple-choice questions are really long with complex answers or shorter with one word answers.  Don't just trust what some random website claims is best-practice.  For all you know, that instructor is writing questions like "what is the capital of Brazil?" or "what is 5 percent of 12?". 

The 30 minutes per exam is part of the "test early & often" mindset.  Meaning that you'd give a short test test every unit/week/whatever rather than 2-3 for the entire course.  Decide how many questions you are using, time yourself, and give the students more time.

[arcturus]

Perhaps you would benefit from re-reading the other threads you have started about this topic?

http://thefora.org/index.php?topic=1114.0

http://thefora.org/index.php?topic=1606.0

http://thefora.org/index.php?topic=1063.0

http://thefora.org/index.php?topic=966.0

[downer]

Perhaps you would benefit from re-reading the other threads you have started about this topic?

http://thefora.org/index.php?topic=1114.0

http://thefora.org/index.php?topic=1606.0

http://thefora.org/index.php?topic=1063.0

http://thefora.org/index.php?topic=966.0

Great point!

[HigherEd7]

Perhaps you would benefit from re-reading the other threads you have started about this topic?

http://thefora.org/index.php?topic=1114.0

http://thefora.org/index.php?topic=1606.0

http://thefora.org/index.php?topic=1063.0

http://thefora.org/index.php?topic=966.0

Thank you for the response! I must have forgot some of my older posts.........I will go back and see what some of the others have said.

[HigherEd7]

Yes, I give students a window of time to take quizzes (24 hours) with a set time-limit (15 minutes & autosubmits) and a set due date & time.  I also double-check that the answers are NOT available until after the due date.  For some stupid reason our CMS has "show answers" as the default.

I think it's perfectly reasonable to have a set "exam day" where the students choose when in that 24-hour period to take the exam.  You might have to warn them that you aren't available for help or questions that entire time.  Something like "I will be sitting in my Zoom meeting room from X:00-Y:00 if you have questions, I will answer emails from Q:00-R:00, but outside of those times I will not be available".

As far as how much time, give them at least 50% more time per question than it takes you to actually read and answer the question.  I don't know if your multiple-choice questions are really long with complex answers or shorter with one word answers.  Don't just trust what some random website claims is best-practice.  For all you know, that instructor is writing questions like "what is the capital of Brazil?" or "what is 5 percent of 12?". 

The 30 minutes per exam is part of the "test early & often" mindset.  Meaning that you'd give a short test test every unit/week/whatever rather than 2-3 for the entire course.  Decide how many questions you are using, time yourself, and give the students more time.

Thanks for the response and advice.

[HigherEd7]

Yes, I give students a window of time to take quizzes (24 hours) with a set time-limit (15 minutes & autosubmits) and a set due date & time.  I also double-check that the answers are NOT available until after the due date.  For some stupid reason our CMS has "show answers" as the default.

I think it's perfectly reasonable to have a set "exam day" where the students choose when in that 24-hour period to take the exam.  You might have to warn them that you aren't available for help or questions that entire time.  Something like "I will be sitting in my Zoom meeting room from X:00-Y:00 if you have questions, I will answer emails from Q:00-R:00, but outside of those times I will not be available".

As far as how much time, give them at least 50% more time per question than it takes you to actually read and answer the question.  I don't know if your multiple-choice questions are really long with complex answers or shorter with one word answers.  Don't just trust what some random website claims is best-practice.  For all you know, that instructor is writing questions like "what is the capital of Brazil?" or "what is 5 percent of 12?". 

The 30 minutes per exam is part of the "test early & often" mindset.  Meaning that you'd give a short test test every unit/week/whatever rather than 2-3 for the entire course.  Decide how many questions you are using, time yourself, and give the students more time.

Did you receive any complaints from the using 24 hour test window?

[Caracal]

I wouldn't do that this semester. Remember that your students might be dealing with all kinds of challenges this year. Depending on where you teach, some may have kids who are doing school from home, or they may be having to pitch in to help with care of siblings or other family members. Students taking an online, asynchronous class are likely to have the expectation that they will have some flexibility in terms of when they do their work. Requiring students to take an exam in one 24 hour period is quite likely to make things much more difficult for some students.

I'd think carefully about what the actual benefits of this are. Would it really make cheating that much more difficult? Are the exams open note? Would it be possible to have a different exam format that might more effectively disincentivize cheating?

[the_geneticist]

I wouldn't do that this semester. Remember that your students might be dealing with all kinds of challenges this year. Depending on where you teach, some may have kids who are doing school from home, or they may be having to pitch in to help with care of siblings or other family members. Students taking an online, asynchronous class are likely to have the expectation that they will have some flexibility in terms of when they do their work. Requiring students to take an exam in one 24 hour period is quite likely to make things much more difficult for some students.

I'd think carefully about what the actual benefits of this are. Would it really make cheating that much more difficult? Are the exams open note? Would it be possible to have a different exam format that might more effectively disincentivize cheating?

Our students knew that they were taking an online course when they registered and asynchronous =/= self-paced.  I think if the date for exams is in the syllabus, it's reasonable to expect them to all take the exam on the same day and give them the choice of when to take it.  If a student contacted me and said they had an unavoidable conflict (childcare emergency, health crisis, etc.), I'd arrange for them to take a different version on a different day.  Same as for an in person class.  In my experience, if you give students too much time to complete a task, then they will procrastinate.  For me, it's not a concern about cheating so much as a concern about time management.  Unless I'm told that we can't have firm due dates & deadlines, I will insist that exams occur as scheduled.

[clean]

I have used Examity to proctor the major exams. Because of COVID19 social distancing requirements where most of the proctors are located,  Examity now wants at least 48 hours available for the exams.  In the past, even 100% online classes would have given the exams (different versions, mind you) on one day, and in short time blocks.  (Students could start between 9 and 930 Am or 9 and 930 pm, for instance).  Now I have set the exams for the 48 hour window, but created pools of questions (where there are 20 questions for each chapter, and the computer picks say 5 from that pool of 20). 
In the past, I was discouraged from this technique because some faculty had experienced grade appeals by students who claimed that the computer selected all the 'hard' questions so that student's score was lower than it would have been if the computer had picked the 'easy' questions. (Of course, 'hard' questions would be defined as questions that the student didnt know the answer to- explaining why the student got it wrong).

But under the current situation with Examity, I will take the risk that the computer conspires to pick the 'wrong' questions. 

[Hegemony]

I always give my online exams a deadline, but no particular window of time beyond the length of the whole module. So that might mean students have been 3 and 7 days to take them. They are set up to be cheat-resistant (different questions for different students, limited time to finish once started, etc.). The scores suggest that the students are not cheating, or at least not successfully! 

I do notice that students who take the exams early — sometimes even on the first day of the module! — tend to do better on them. Those are the students who are really motivated. Often those students are our majors and I know them in real life from other classes, so I know they are not just cheating and getting uncharacteristically good results.

Anyway, my finding is that if you narrow the time too much, you will be peppered with emails asking for exceptions. Sometimes for silly reasons, and oftentimes for good reasons. And then you have to respond to each email, and make a decision. (If student says he is in the hospital for COVID, what kind of proof should you demand? Etc.)  Big hassle. Much better to leave a larger window for them to take the exams, and cut down on the barrage of email.

[Caracal]

I always give my online exams a deadline, but no particular window of time beyond the length of the whole module. So that might mean students have been 3 and 7 days to take them. They are set up to be cheat-resistant (different questions for different students, limited time to finish once started, etc.). The scores suggest that the students are not cheating, or at least not successfully! 

I do notice that students who take the exams early — sometimes even on the first day of the module! — tend to do better on them. Those are the students who are really motivated. Often those students are our majors and I know them in real life from other classes, so I know they are not just cheating and getting uncharacteristically good results.

Anyway, my finding is that if you narrow the time too much, you will be peppered with emails asking for exceptions. Sometimes for silly reasons, and oftentimes for good reasons. And then you have to respond to each email, and make a decision. (If student says he is in the hospital for COVID, what kind of proof should you demand? Etc.)  Big hassle. Much better to leave a larger window for them to take the exams, and cut down on the barrage of email.

This is the thing about most "nice" policies. It is nice for the students to build in flexibility but it also saves the instructor a lot of trouble.

[the_geneticist]

I always give my online exams a deadline, but no particular window of time beyond the length of the whole module. So that might mean students have been 3 and 7 days to take them. They are set up to be cheat-resistant (different questions for different students, limited time to finish once started, etc.). The scores suggest that the students are not cheating, or at least not successfully! 

I do notice that students who take the exams early — sometimes even on the first day of the module! — tend to do better on them. Those are the students who are really motivated. Often those students are our majors and I know them in real life from other classes, so I know they are not just cheating and getting uncharacteristically good results.

Anyway, my finding is that if you narrow the time too much, you will be peppered with emails asking for exceptions. Sometimes for silly reasons, and oftentimes for good reasons. And then you have to respond to each email, and make a decision. (If student says he is in the hospital for COVID, what kind of proof should you demand? Etc.)  Big hassle. Much better to leave a larger window for them to take the exams, and cut down on the barrage of email.

This is the thing about most "nice" policies. It is nice for the students to build in flexibility but it also saves the instructor a lot of trouble.

I suppose I should clarify that this is a final exam.  The registrar lists the exam as taking place on a certain day at a certain time.  Some instructors are sticking to offering the final in that exact time slot only (can't imagine the volume of emails . . ).  It also doesn't help that I took over this class in week 2 and the syllabus just listed the final as "Tuesday, [date], [XX] points".  So, I'm giving them all day on Tuesday.

[MarathonRunner]

Do your students with accommodations get extra time? What about low income students who may have to work during the only 24 hours your quiz or exam is available?

[clean]

Do your students with accommodations get extra time? What about low income students who may have to work during the only 24 hours your quiz or exam is available?

Accommodations are easy to set up in the Blackboard shell.

low income, or even high income students are unlikely to work for 24 hours and NOT have some ability to take a quiz.  It may be a bit more difficult with an exam scheduled to last 2 hours, but as with students covered by Disability Services, exceptions can be made. 
For me, only the highest set of quizzes count (I usually give 7 to 10 and the top 5 to 7 count, so they drop 2 or 3 low quizzes anyway).  IF someone knows that they will be unavailable (for instance in the oil field, miles from a wifi connection), then they can schedule the exam for before they leave.
Anyway, currently Examity wants a 48 hour window, so the likelihood someone will be out for that long is slim.  (though I have had some military students tell me that, and we certainly made accommodations!)