Information
concerning the rules of conducting online examinations by the Teaching Units
of Wroclaw Medical University
The ongoing epidemic of SARS-CoV-2 virus causes that all Teaching Units conducting classes at Wroclaw Medical University in the summer semester of the academic year 2019/2020 must be prepared for the possibility of conducting final tests and/or exams electronically. Final tests and/or examinations conducted remotely are subject to the rules contained in the Study Regulations. This Information constitutes a supplementation of these rules or their modification resulting from the existing conditions.
Remote examinations may take two main forms: tests or oral exams. Examinations conducted under simulation conditions may constitute a separate category. In such a case, a separate instruction will be provided. The decision on the manner of obtaining credit/conducting examinations is made by the person responsible for a given course (coordinator in the case of coordinated courses) and communicated to students at least two weeks before the start of the examination session. Except for examinations conducted before the due date, the form of the examination must be the same for all students completing a given course.
- rules of the examination must be published together with the announcement concerning the form of the examination. This information should be published on the unit's website, under the Didactics tab. Due to the current situation, it seems appropriate to limit examinations conducted before the due date to a minimum. decision to conduct an examination before the due date is made by the person responsible for a given course/coordinator individually for each student applying for it. According to the Study Regulations, the basic criterion for admission to the examination before the due date is to obtain a credit in the given subject.
Test examinations
It is recommended that the "Testportal" (www.testportal.pl). be used to conduct final tests/examinations in the form of tests in all departments of the Medical University. Instructions on how to use this portal will be published in a separate document. Access licenses to the portal will be purchased by the Faculty for persons responsible for the examination, indicated by the persons responsible for the given course/coordinators. It is planned to purchase one license for a given course.
The experience gathered so far with regard to remote manner of conducting final tests or examinations shows (unfortunately) that some students try to take advantage of all the opportunities arising from the current situation to use prohibited assistance when taking final tests/examinations, which is forbidden in the Study Regulations and at the same shows the low ethical level of these students. In order to prevent such situations, it is essential that the following principles are observed when conducting remote tests:
- the test can be accessed by a student who uses an email address belonging to the @student.umed.wroc.pl domain. The use of a different email address should categorically eliminate the possibility of such a person taking part in the test.
- students can log in to a given test after obtaining an individual access code sent to the student's address (in the @student.umed.wroc.pl domain); the student should begin the test within no more than 7.5 – 10 minutes after the access codes are sent by the portal. Beginning the test after more than 10 minutes from the sending out of the access codes should be considered as being late for the test and result in the invalidation of the test results for a given student.
- under the test conditions, there must be a defined time for solving a single question (identical for all questions in the test). This time should be determined reasonably, but at the same time it should be as short as possible. The questions in the test should be prepared in such a way that the expected response time is similar and no longer than 1 – 1.5 minutes. Allowing students a longer period of time to respond automatically increases the likelihood of receiving prohibited assistance.
- the system must force students to move on to the next question after a certain time, denying the possibility of returning to the previous questions.
- a single logout from the system by a student during the test must be recorded, logging out more than once should automatically ban the student from continuing the test.
It is recommended to conduct also a final test or a smaller test in a given course before the examination. This will allow the examiner to analyse the problems that arise, in particular the conditions under which the examination test is conducted in such a way as to limit as far as possible the possibilities for students to receive prohibited assistance.
Oral exams
Oral exams should be conducted using the BBB platform, as only students registered in the CSA (Central Authorisation System) have access to it. Exams should be conducted individually, i.e. the examiner conducts an exam with only one student at a time. It is possible for multiple exams to be conducted simultaneously by examiners appointed for this purpose. The person responsible for the course/coordinator shall appoint the examiners. Lecturers of the Teaching Units (or persons appointed by the Unit Manager) should prepare an examination schedule, which is assigned to each student taking the examination by the day and hour of the examination. This schedule (in the form of index book number: date and time of the exam) should be published on the Unit's website in the Didactics tab, at least three working days before the exam. A student's failure to take part in the exam on the date laid down in the schedule will be treated as an absence.
Students must not be acquainted with the contents of the exam questions before the exam begins. In the case of conducting multiple exams simultaneously, each examiner is obliged to use the same question base, selecting the same number of questions individually for each student.
The course of the exam must be recorded (which is possible in the BBB platform). In view of the need to limit the use of prohibited assistance, the exam should be conducted in accordance with the following rules:
- the examiner is obliged to check the identity of the student taking the exam, the student's ID card may be treated as the basic document confirming identity. The examiner checks the name, photo and index book number of the student.
- the student may not mute their microphone and must remain within range of the camera throughout the exam. Breaking this rule should result in a failing grade for the exam.
- the questions are asked by the examiner one by one, the student cannot have access to the questions that have not yet been asked. The examiner does not give the student time to prepare for the answer. The questions should be prepared in such a way so that the student does not have to make additional notes etc. If the answer to question(s) includes, for example, drawing diagrams, writing reactions, etc., the rules of the exam should include information about the student's need to prepare a piece of paper and a pen or pencil.
- after the end of the exam, the student is informed by the examiner about the grade received.
If the examiner detects any irregularities in the course of a test or oral examination, they are obliged to inform the Dean about this fact.