Testing, Proctoring, and Alternative Assessments

The current catalog of training and workshops related to assessment is available through the TLOS Professional Development Network.

Individual consultations are also available. CETL can provide assistance with developing and designing assessments. TLOS can provide assistance with tools and techniques for effectively administering assessments.

Communicating and collaborating at a distance can be facilitated using tools such as Zoom for real-time conversations. Collaborating and guiding GTAs can also be supported through shared Google resources (e.g., documents, drives), or using unpublished pages in a Canvas course site, which are visible only to instructors in the course. When determining the tools and processes to be used to communicate and collaborate with your GTA, remember to be clear and establish consistent practices for sharing information, storing resources, and maintaining contact with one another. The best support you can provide is to be available, responsive, and patient when needed.

Academic dishonesty affects all students. You can help to promote that understanding in your course early by working to establish a sense of class community, particularly when all or part of the course is being conducted online. Key elements of successful online learning communities include honesty, responsiveness, respect, openness, and empowerment. You can establish these as the guides for your class community with a simple statement in your syllabus such as, “All students participating in this course are asked to be open to all perspectives and empowered to be honest in their timely responses to all questions, conversations, and discussions in a manner that is respectful and remains relevant to the topic or topics under discussion. In addition, students are expected to read and abide by the Virginia Tech Principles of Community.”

You can also create an “expectations” statement specifically outlining the expectations of your class community with regard to academic integrity, as well as the conduct of your course pertaining to aspects including participation, communication, and response time.

*Reference: Palloff, R. M., & Pratt, K. (1999). Building learning communities in cyberspace. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Inc., Publishers.

When the class size permits, you may want to use essay questions, problem-solving exercises, portfolios, and other assessment methods that require students to apply and synthesize concepts covered in your course. These types of assignments typically take longer to grade, but they also are less prone to cheating. Another useful practice is to use a variety of assessment practices in different combinations; over the course of the semester, this approach will benefit students who have consistently worked to learn the course content.

Large classes pose additional challenges for assessment due to the increased time required for grading essays, problem-solving exercise, or other learning activities, and due to the difficulty of monitoring many students during an exam. In addition to employing the strategies discussed throughout this page, it may be useful to use more frequent, shorter, and lower-stakes quizzes, in lieu of a few large, long exams.

There is no technology that can eliminate all possibility of students receiving assistance during online testing, but steps can be taken to discourage such practices. The use of Respondus Monitor can identify a student through a webcam, but it does require comparison to an image of the student that must be checked by the instructor. Zoom video conferencing can be used during assessments to view the person at the computer taking the exam; however, it does not eliminate the possibility of students checking notes or receiving help from others either out of camera range or online.

Before using any technology that requires students to be on camera, carefully consider your reasons for doing so, and communicate that expectation clearly and well in advance of the assessment. Be sensitive to students who have concerns about privacy and recognize that students returning to VT are not required to have a webcam unless it is listed as required technology by the course, program, department, or college. (Webcams are listed as a required technology for incoming freshmen starting in Fall 2020.)

There is no method to entirely eliminate the possibility of students receiving assistance during online testing, or referring to materials outside of view of the webcam. A mixture of strategies can make such behavior more cumbersome and challenging than preparing for the assessment. Using tools like Respondus Monitor and LockDown Browser, large question pools, random question selection, randomization of multiple choice options, and short time limits per question can do much to discourage cheating.

For services using a webcam, microphone, and a live proctor who monitors activity remotely in real-time, faculty can discuss with their departments and colleges options for those services through providers such as Smarter Services, Examity, and ProctorU, for which either a VT license or statewide license is currently active. Some instructors have used Zoom video conferencing during a testing period to be able to view the person at the computer taking the exam; this can be helpful as the instructor is available for questions during the test and the student is visible (if the webcam is activated), but it also has its own challenges and does not eliminate the possibility of students checking notes or receiving help from others, either in person or online. Students returning to VT are not required to have a webcam unless it is listed as required technology by the course, program, department, or college. (Webcams are listed as a required technology for incoming freshmen starting in Fall 2020.)

TLOS discontinued the proctoring forms service on May 1, 2023 due to limited use. If you are using Respondus Monitor, you can provide students with a password that will allow them to take the exam without a webcam enabled.

If you are using Respondus Monitor, you can provide students with a password that will allow them to take the exam without a webcam enabled. TLOS discontinued the proctoring forms service on May 1, 2023 due to limited use.

Yes. Faculty members and departments have the responsibility to assist students with disabilities by designing for accessibility and implementing accommodations to ensure that students have the same opportunity as their peers. Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) has developed resources for faculty, staff, and university departments to help them aid students with disabilities. See additional guidelines about accessibility and accommodations.

For all information on assessment for students with accommodations, please contact Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) at 540-231-3788 or ssd@vt.edu. See additional guidelines about accessibility and accommodations.

Assessments can be formative (informing student progress) or summative (evaluating the extent to which learning outcomes have been reached). Alternatives to quizzes and tests for assessment include project- or problem-based assessments in which students assimilate what has been learned and apply it to the creation of a new product or a response to a problem. Using a portfolio for assessment allows for multiple artifacts to be contributed toward a broader summative assessment. Project- or problem-based assessments either individually or as a portfolio are best implemented through the use of well-constructed assignment instructions and grading rubrics. Additional guidelines and resources are available from the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning.

Alternative assessments are best graded through the use of a well-constructed grading rubric that considers all elements of the assessment, as well as the essential characteristics of the highest level of performance or achievement of the learning outcomes being assessed, with logically scaffolded levels leading up to that highest level. The rubric should be clear and concise, so that subjectivity is reduced to a minimum, and accompanied by feedback to students in a comments section.

For assistance with designing rubrics, request a consultation with the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning. For assistance with creating rubrics in Canvas, submit a 4Help incident (login required) and reference this specific topic.

Several VT groups will provide resources for instructors investigating the use of project- or problem-based alternatives to testing for assessment; the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, Technology-enhanced Learning and Online Strategies, and University Libraries work collaboratively to support faculty. To access these resources and support, please submit a 4Help incident (login required) and reference this specific topic.

Large classes present unique challenges for assessments. Group work can reduce the number of assignments to be graded, but group work also presents its own challenges. Peer review for formative assessment can reduce the time and effort invested by instructors for managing non-testing alternative assessments. Both group work and peer review assignments can be learning activities as well as assessment processes, but they do require careful design. For assistance with designing alternative assessments in large classes, request a consultation with the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning. For assistance with the technology applications used for assessment, submit a 4Help incident (login required) and reference this specific topic

VT has licensed EquatIO as a solution for including equations in online testing. For more information, refer to the list of Licensed Tools and Support Resources on this page.