This semester many faculty have had to rethink how they will assess student learning. How do I do assessment online? How do I make tests fair, or reduce student stress? Here are some approaches that faculty are taking.

1. Reduce incentives to cheat by decreasing assessment stress

Lowering time anxiety - this could look like eliminating time limits, or giving longer time limits - particularly good for folks with limited WiFi or unexpected life events! Read more on Canvas quiz time limit settings.
Lowering grade anxiety - this could look like breaking major assessments down into several smaller ones, so the whole semester grade doesn’t rest on one big test or project. It could also look like offering re-takes or revisions.
Lowering communication anxiety. Some students have never considered renegotiating a deadline as an option, and may simply drop a course when they get behind. Explicitly telling students about your policies on due date flexibility, re-takes or revisions can help those, like first-generation students, who may not know these “hidden rules” of college (hat tip to Breana Bayraktar on these categories).

2. Redesign assessments entirely

Open-Book tests. Outside of school, it is very rare for students not to have access to resources (books, internet, calculator, etc.) to answer questions. Open-book tests ask students to move beyond memorization and apply concepts or synthesize ideas.
Exam alternatives - Exam alternatives include things like presentations, multimedia projects, portfolios, self-evaluation, oral exams, annotated bibliographies or short answers. Read more on exam alternatives here.
Authentic Assessment - these ask students to look at real-world problems and demand higher-order thinking and creativity. They could include case analysis, community-based projects, debates, written assessments, or model design. Find more examples of authentic assessment here.

Redesigning assessments takes expertise and time- which we know is an especially scarce resource. Contact an SSU instructional designer if you’re interested in support for redesigning an assessment.

3. Using cheating-deterrence strategies

A cheating acknowledgement statement. Surprisingly, cheating is somewhat rare, and simply asking students to affirm that they are not cheating, or to acknowledge the consequences of cheating, reduces cheating even more. Who knew?
Use Canvas settings such as question banks, random question order, or multiple question types to individualize tests and deter cheating. Read more about quiz settings for academic integrity.
Reducing the amount of time students have per question or shortening the test-taking window reduces opportunities to cheat -although it can also unfortunately increase student stress. 50-90 seconds per question is considered average. For this strategy, consider offering retakes if students lose connectivity or encounter another barrier during the exam.

4. Proctoring technology

Salem State has invested in remote proctoring software called LockDown Browser. This is actually comprised of two independent programs: LockDown Browser, which freezes students in a browser while they are taking an exam, and Respondus Monitor, which records students taking an exam, and uses AI to flag irregularities that might indicate cheating. The LockDown Browser program is stand-alone, and can be used without the video monitoring program.

If you are interested in learning to use these programs, including tips for communicating with students, visit our Lockdown Browser Resource.

To read more about remote proctoring software, which has stirred controversy, check out these articles:

Read about how some top schools like Harvard, Stanford and UC Berkeley decided against using remote proctoring technology, and what they’re doing instead.
This New York Times article offers anecdotes illustrating some of the ethical and practical concerns around this software, including outsized impacts on students of color and students with disabilities. For more on ethical concerns, see Shea Swagger’s article.