Digital learning assessment and examination

MyCourses includes a variety of assignments and activities that can be used to assess student learning. The most typical ones used for exams are Assignment and Quiz. 

The Assignment activity is suitable for different kinds of texts or downloaded files.

The Quiz activity is suitable for different types of questions, such as multiple-choice, arithmetic, or essay.

In MyCourses, you can also use the Turnitin return box. Turnitin's return box makes it possible to give competence assessments anonymously.

A remotely proctored exam is one where a student completing the exam is supervised remotely in real time. The student as well as the supervisor must use only programmes and tools approved by Aalto University IT services.

A teacher uses:

• The Microsoft Teams video conferencing tool for proctoring
• The MyCourses exam workspace for creating the exam.

A student uses:

• MyCourses to complete the exam
• Microsoft Teams to confirm their identity.

EXAM is an electronic assessment service that gives students greater flexibility in completing exams and saves teachers and administrator the time they usually spend on organising on-campus exams.

EXAM is a full exam-administration system and is connected to physical exam studios at the campus that are monitored by cameras.

A teacher can uses EXAM to:

• create and schedule exams
• assess student exams.

A student can use EXAM to:

• reserve a personal exam time and a room
• complete an exam.

Turnitin is a tool for preventing plagiarism and enhancing writing skills. In practice, it is a submission box for student papers.

Turnitin checks submitted texts against comparison databases (repositories) for similarity issues and then generates a similarity report. The comparison databases include web pages, student papers and library databases and publications. While the similarity report shows similarities, it does not demonstrate plagiarism per se. The reports have to be interpreted carefully.

Turnitin is also used to give feedback and grades.

The Aalto University Code of Academic Integrity for the rights and responsibilities of students and teachers as regards typical forms of plagiarism, how to handle suspicions of plagiarism, and the possible consequences of plagiarism.

Safe Exam Browser is a secure web browser environment that allows you to conduct electronic exams safely. It controls access to system functions, other websites, and applications, preventing unauthorized resources from being used during an exam. SEB runs on a local Windows or macOS computer and is connected via the internet to a learning management system (LMS) or an e-assessment system. 

MyCourses offers a quiz mode that is specifically compatible with SEB. Students can bring their own laptops to a classroom and take the exam using SEB, which prevents them from accessing unauthorized resources during the exam. However, it is important to give clear instructions to students and to test the system before the exam to ensure that their laptops are compatible with SEB. Additionally, you should have someone present in the room to monitor students and answer any questions or address technical problems. It is also a good idea to have paper exams available as a backup in case of unexpected technical issues. Instructions On-Campus Exams with SEB