This guide aims to provide you with some useful tips when undertaking take-away/open book and online exams remotely. We understand that this may be a new way of taking exams for you so we hope this guide, and the support measures we have put in place, will help.
It is important that you engage authentically in the assessment of your learning and that all exams are fair. This Guide also provides advice on how to avoid actions that may impact on your assessment or exam such as plagiarism.
If you have concerns about access to IT resources to participate in online exams please speak to your personal tutor and module coordinator well in advance of the exam.
Take-away exam papers
A take-away exam paper, also referred to as open-book exam, is an assessment where you have a set period of time, or a ‘window’ in which to complete and submit the exam questions or tasks.
You may be permitted to access your lecture notes, book references and other resources, such as a calculator, whilst undertaking the exam.
Important
Check your assessment brief to make sure that you know what you can access and what you can’t, and if there are specific requirements to reference your open book resources. If you are required to reference these resources and you don’t, you will have committed the assessment offence of plagiarism.
Remember…
Whilst you have a time window, time can quickly slip away so don’t spend too long reading past lecture notes or finding that perfect reference source. Learn your material as you would for any exam and be confident, answer what you know without reference to materials.
The examiner wants to know what you understand, and how you analyse and apply your knowledge. Avoid falling into a poor academic conduct trap of copying text – it could impact the marks that you receive and could be viewed as plagiarism.
Top Tips
- Pace yourself like any exam
- Don’t obsess over digging through resources – this can be distracting and waste valuable time
- Don’t copy text
- Don’t share questions or your answers, and don’t receive answers from someone. Also avoid discussing how to answer/approach the assessment tasks until the exam time period is over – your knowledge is your intellectual property which you have worked hard to develop! The sharing of answers and receiving of them is cheating. Protect yourself against this, as both the sender and receiver will be penalised under examination misconduct.
- Follow any instructions provided for the use of Turnitin
See Mind Map below for a visual display of how to approach take-away/open-book exams.
Online exams
An online exam is typically an unseen exam on a specific day with a more stringent set time limit. This will normally follow more traditional exam conditions with no access to reference materials or tools.
Top Tips
In advance of the exam:
- Set up your exam area – you may not have ideal conditions, but try to find a quiet room with good internet, and space around you.
- Check your technology works.
- Check you know where the exam is located on the VLE.
- Keep a note of who your Virtual Invigilator is, with contact details, and the times they will be invigilating.
- Make sure everyone in your household knows that you are taking the exam and that it is important, and ask them not to interrupt you.
During the exam:
- Pace yourself like any exam.
- Don’t obsess over fancy or non-cooperating formatting – this can waste valuable time.
- Don’t share questions or your answers, and don’t receive answers from someone. Also avoid discussing how to answer/approach the assessment tasks until the exam time period is over – your knowledge is your intellectual property which you have worked hard to develop!
- The sharing of answers and receiving of them is cheating. Protect yourself against this, as both the sender and receiver will be penalised under examination misconduct.
Exam support from ASDAC
We are very aware of the challenges this can present for you. We understand that this takes a lot of energy to adjust to the new way of working both practically and mentally. ASDAC will continue to be available to you remotely and you can contact us in confidence to discuss how you can be supported through these changes. We can refer for support through our Specialist Study Skills and Strategies tutors, or you may wish to speak with a Disability Officer or Adviser about how your adjustments impact on this form of assessment. You can also access Assistive Software through the VPN eg. Mindview, Claro Read, Audio Notetaker - but a word of caution - only use this if you have the experience or have undertaken the training. We also have resources to support you on the ASDAC Moodle site which are available to all students.
You can contact us at asdac@port.ac.uk.
Virtual invigilator
For some online exams there will be an assigned Virtual Invigilator. Depending on how long the exam is open for, the Invigilator may be available by telephone, text or email for the first hour, and again towards the end of the exam period.
The Invigilator will be available for you to contact if you have any queries or need to report any issues during the exam, for example you are taken ill during the exam.
Technical support
Having technical problems? Don’t despair – we understand that you will be using a range of home devices. If you experience a technical problem during the exam, do the following:
- Where possible, take a screenshot of the problem, or take a picture from your phone.
- If your exam has been assigned a virtual invigilator report the problem.
- Log the problem with the University’s Information Service Desk Live Chat or telephone them on 00 44 (0)23 9284 7777
Good to know
As a safety-net, the University has extended its extenuating circumstances criteria to cater for IT problems during an exam. If you cannot complete the exam due to technical issues, submit an Extenuating Circumstances Form immediately.
Feeling ill during an exam
If you become ill during the exam and you can't continue, you will need to submit an extenuating circumstances form immediately after the exam. Where you have submitted an extenuating circumstance for an exam left due to illness, the original exam mark will be recorded as zero.
Please note: if you feel ill during an exam but decide to carry on to complete and submit the exam you will not be able to claim extenuating circumstances.
Academic misconduct
We know that you are under pressure during this time, but it is important that you protect yourself against academic misconduct in all its forms. As mentioned already, it is essential that all examinations, no matter the format, are fair. This is what you deserve and what your academic community deserves.
If someone is suspected of cheating, then that person may be asked to provide a verbal response to questions as part of the investigation process.
All suspected cases of academic misconduct will be investigated and penalties will apply where relevant.