Alternative forms of assessment

The current Coronavirus is requiring universities to find rapid but reasonable alternatives to face-to-face assessments in situations when staff or students cannot attend in person. This Quick Guide aims to offer some suggestions on in-session adjustments that might be made to assure the standards of students’ achievements. However, it needs to be recognized that, in ideal circumstances, none of these would be quick fixes but are likely to need considerable planning, training and activity on behalf of the university to ensure they are viable for staff and students. Any alternatives should endeavour to “be as close as possible to the current unit running in face-to-face mode” (University of Sydney*) and should maintain the balance of formative and summative assessment accessible.

In these difficult times, experts advise it’s easier to stick to low-tech and text-based systems and recommend the simpler the better. It is also important to recognise that university staff, including learning support staff and administrators, may themselves be affected by illness or by disruptions in childcare or other family support. It is important that any changes to assessment are communicated and explained to both students and all those involved in assessment of learning outcomes.

The current outbreak is likely to impact students’ final assessments and beyond, so we need to aim to alleviate the inevitable disruption of study as well as consequent awarding of marks and degrees that are likely to be caused by university campus closures. Most universities, therefore, may wish to make strenuous but reasonable efforts to mitigate subsequent disadvantages students might experience.

In our view there are two basic strategies programme teams might adopt:

Change the mode of submission

Work that was formerly submitted in hard copy could now be submitted electronically, ideally through established university e-submission systems but also, in the final resort, via email to a named contact. Many of you are already using e-submission processes for coursework, including narrated PowerPoints or similar for submitting student presentations. Where students can make video recordings, these can be submitted electronically, however, some work, such as artefacts, will still be problematic.

Offer alternative assessment formats

The table below provides some manageable alternatives to consider, together with some important considerations.  What are suggested here are some reasonable adjustments to be used in times of crisis, which will not exactly replicate the original assessments, but may offer your students some manageable alternatives in challenging times. Below the table we have included some links to resources* that you may find useful.

• Prior to the exam, explain clearly to your students that they have access to their resources (clarify what resources those will be – textbook, study notes, ppts, etc.)
• With open book exams, students often think they don’t need to study, but that’s not the case. Consider giving a practice exam with a few questions (5-10) to demonstrate that students do need to study and also to help set expectations of how time consuming it can be to look for answers when you don’t know where to look. Place emphasis on students needing to understand the context of the material to be able to answer questions. 
• Along with the previous point, give enough questions that completing the exam within the 2 hours will be tight, so that students don’t have ample time to randomly search their books for the answers. In UM Learn, enforce the time limit (Restrictions tab in Quiz set up)
• Write tough questions that use application and analysis so students have to show they understand the concepts, rather than basic information and memorization that can be easily Googled. 
• If you have a large class, make questions all auto-gradable (no Long Answer) – multiple choice, true/false and multi-select type questions can all be auto-graded. Rather than spending time grading, spend the extra effort upfront to write good, tough questions with strong distractors. 
• Consider randomizing your questions and/or using question pools to help vary the questions each student gets. This will limit opportunities for sharing questions and answers, especially if students will not all be taking the exam at the exact same time.
• Provide clear instructions at the beginning of the exam (on the starting page) to reiterate what resources they can use, how long they have, how many questions will be asked, and what type of questions. This helps students manage their own time.

Here’s a really good resource, Exam Prep: Strategies for open book exams, to pass along to students, to help them be more successful when taking open book exams.

Adapted from: Higher Education, Lyndsay Duncan.

With hard work, imagination and co-operation by students, it can be the case that alternatives are established in a short space of time that can certainly equal and may even improve on the current methodology. However, it is crucially important that decisions are based on sound pedagogic considerations and that they match the scale and level of the learning outcomes the program teams are committed to by the course documentation. It is also important to remember that both staff and students may be working outside their comfort zones, and that support be provided for those struggling with new approaches. As with all forms of assessment, account will need to be taken of reasonable adjustments for all students with temporary or long-term health conditions, disabilities and additional needs.

Brown University advice on supportive approaches in times of disruption

Edinburgh Napier quick guides on assessment and feedback matters: see particularly  ‘Alternatives to traditional exams’ which has some useful ideas

Harvard University

*London School of Economics (LSE) Toolkit advice on Take- Home Assessment

*Manchester Metropolitan University advice-leaflet

*Microsoft office advice (scroll down for assessment-specific guidance)

See also substantial resource on all aspects of resources on learning and assessment curated by Daniel Stanford at DePaul University

(Adapted from: Contingency planning: exploring rapid alternatives to face-to-face assessment by Sally Brown and Kay Sambell)