Re-thinking your final exam

As a result of our move to online delivery, many faculty now find themselves in a situation where they may be identifying some challenges for their current final assessment plans. For some, tests and exams that would have been administered face-to-face are no longer an option and they are trying to identify alternative approaches or alternative assessments. The good news is that there are many options available for faculty that could support the learning goals and provide learners with an opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge, skills, and abilities. 

The first step is to reflect on the reason why a test or exam was chosen as a final assessment. There may well be some administrative benefits to testing, but tests and exams are not always representative of the outcomes of experiential learning. There is a difference between ‘knowing’ something and ‘doing’ something. The large majority of outcomes for our learners are active and require them to demonstrate their ability to complete actions of increasing levels of difficulty. These demonstrations become more meaningful for learners if they have an artefact or something practical they can share with potential employers. It is difficult to do that with a test or exam. 

If, based, on the reflection, the determination is that the test or exam needs to go ahead, then accommodations will need to be made to ensure that learners are not penalized for issues that are not part of the learning goal. Consider the following: 

    • Do all of your learners have access to a computer and an internet connection, especially one that will allow them to remain connected for the duration of the test?
    • Think about providing the test as a Word document that can be downloaded completed off-line and then uploaded as an assignment. 
    • Will all of your learners be able to be in front of a device at a rigidly specific time of day, even if it is previously scheduled class time? 
    • Think about opening the test for a longer window of time, such as 48 or 72 hours, to provide learners the flexibility to access the test at a time when they are not juggling other responsibilities. 
    • Do any of your learners require accommodations for test-taking? 
    • Think about removing the time limit from the test to allow all learners the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge at their own pace. 
    • Can you provide learners with more than one attempt to complete their test? 
    • Think about telling your learners they have two attempts at the test. If they have trouble with the technology on the first attempt, learners can use the second attempt to fix this. It saves you from having to re-set the test for each learner who experiences a technical issue. 
    • Can the test be open-book? 
    • Think about creating an environment in which learners are allowed to use their notes and textbooks. If the test is part of the learning process, then the opportunity to find the answers increases their knowledge and continues their learning. There is also an opportunity to increase the difficulty level of the questions.  

Resources for moving tests into Brightspace as either a quiz or an assignment can be found here: 

If, based, on the reflection, the opportunity for a more authentic assessment presents itself and there is interest in allowing learners to demonstrate their abilities in a more meaningful fashion, the following resources may be useful: 

Alternative assessments provide us with an opportunity to make learning accessible, meaningful, and enduring for learners by providing them with multiple ways to transfer new information into useful strategies for their careers.