E- examinations in person

If, according to the information in the module description, several forms of examination (e.g. written examination, term paper) are possible, please inform the students of the form of examination chosen for the current course at the latest at the beginning of the course. Please also inform students at this time that you will be conducting the examination as an e-examination.

At least 14 days before the examination, inform your students about the attendance format of the examination invigilator. You can enter this information in Friedolin, e.g. in the comments, so that students know which format to expect before they register for the exam. Provide the data protection information for digital examinations de at least 14 days before the examination. 

Inform your students whether it is a closed-book examination, in which no aids are permitted, or an open-book examination, in which aids are permitted. Explicitly point out which aids are permitted and which are not. The examination regulations of the University of Jena do not yet explicitly regulate or sanction the use of generative AI, such as ChatGPT and other bots, by students during examinations. Nevertheless, such use is currently not permitted from an examination law perspective, unless the examiner has explicitly permitted the use and provided it with framework conditions.

The MMZ has four PC pools with a (total) capacity of approx. 100 PC workstations. Bookings are made via the departmental administration (usually the secretary's office of the institution) via Friedolin.

The following MMZ de pools are currently available:

At the location Ernst-Abbe-Platz 8: Pool 202/204; Pool 216, Pool 217
At the location Carl-Zeiss-Straße 3: Pool 1100

As the devices are maintained by the URZ, they are prepared accordingly and the Safe Exam browser is pre-installed.

If you have a larger group, you can request the simultaneous use of several PC pools and thus divide the group. Please note that more supervisory staff must be scheduled for this;

Some lecturers at the University of Jena are experimenting with the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) approach to conducting e-exams in presence on various university premises. However, this approach brings its own challenges, such as security, data protection and equal opportunities, which need to be overcome. The Office for Digital Transformation is therefore aiming to develop a robust and scalable BYOD concept for the University of Jena in the near future together with teaching staff and students as part of the digitalization stakeholder groups.

The Friedrich Schiller University has been offering a dedicated exam server (exam.uni-jena.de) for e-exams since July 20, 2020. The system is based on the Moodle system known from teaching, but has been adapted for the examination context and must be used for e-exams.

Exam rooms can be requested via the URZ ServicedeskExternal link. After requesting an exam room, you will receive a confirmation email from the Moodle team with information on how to set up the room, a link and a registration key for the exam room. If you have not received this notification, the Moodle team will be happy to help you at moodle@uni-jena.de.

As the lecturer, you send the link and access code to the students admitted to the examination by e-mail so that they can enter the room (even before the actual examination date) to find out about the procedure and conditions of the examination.

This examination room is already equipped with a basic structure that you can adapt to your needs. The following elements are predefined in the exam room:

• PDF: Data protection information;
• Text page: Instructions for the students;
• Task: Submission of the Thoska;
• Test: Declaration of independent work for the confirmation of independent processing of the exam by the students;
• Test: Instruction and confirmation of the ability to take the exam for the confirmation of knowledge of the instruction and confirmation of the ability to take the examination;
• Test: Module exam

You configure the e-exam itself later so that it is only available to students on the set exam date.

After all examinees have joined the examination room, it is advisable to deactivate self-enrolment again, so that no one can subsequently enrol in the room who is not admitted to the examination. To do this, go to Participants - cogwheel - Enrolment methods and deactivate the self-enrolment.

The examiners are responsible for checking the admission requirements. If necessary, remove any candidates who have not been admitted from the examination room.

For online examinations that do not take place in person, a declaration of independent work is also a prerequisite for admission to the online examination in accordance with Section 3 (5) of the Corona Framework Statutes (2nd amendment of May 5, 2021). And even for open-book examinations, in which all materials may be used by students, candidates must confirm that they will complete the examination independently and without the help of third parties.

From the winter semester 2023/24, students will only need a scan of their Thoska to verify their identity. The basic structure of the examination room has been adapted to explain that the tasks are completed independently and solely by the student. After submitting the Thoska, students are automatically guided through the process.

To make things easier for yourself and the students, it is advisable to use the “task” in Moodle provided in the examination room to collect the Thoska scans. This way, you will receive all the documents collected and assigned to the students in one place.

Shortly before the exam, you should compare the submitted scans with the admission list for the exam. Persons who have submitted a withdrawal from the exam or who have not fulfilled the admission requirements should also not be granted access to the exam. You could assign them to a group (e.g. “second attempt”) and exclude access to the first attempt of the exam for this group.

The “Modulklausur” test provided in the exam room is already preconfigured with the appropriate settings. You should check these and adapt them to your specific exam situation.

→  Instructions from the Moodle help course for teachers (in German): Set up the test as a digital examExternal link
→ Instructions from the Moodle help course for teachers (in German): Create question collectionExternal link und Export / import question collectionExternal link
→ Moodle documentation (in German): Conduct Moodle tests effectivelyExternal link 

The Safe-Exam-Browser can be used for electronic exams in person in the MMZ PC pools, as it is already pre-installed on the pool devices. This puts the pool devices into lockdown mode for the duration of the exam to prevent them from being looked up on the internet.

When designing competence-oriented, fair and performance-differentiating online exams, you should first decide whether the exam should be conducted in open-book or closed-book format.

Das unerlaubte Nachschlagen z.B. in digitalen Unterlagen während einer Closed-Book-Online-Prüfung kann nicht zufriedenstellend verhindert werden, da eine Überwachung des Bildschirms der Prüflinge nicht zulässig ist. Bei der Durchführung einer Online-Prüfung im Open-Book-Format dürfen Studierende in ihren Unterlagen, im Internet und auch in Büchern nachschlagen. Somit sind simple Wissensabfragen, bei denen der Prüfling die Antwort direkt beim Nachschlagen im Skript auf Seite 95 findet, nur bedingt geeignet.

In beiden Fällen sollten demnach Klausuraufgaben konzipiert werden, bei denen die Unterlagen nur wenig helfen. Transferaufgaben bieten sich insbesondere an, wenn Verstehen, Anwenden oder Beurteilen des im Vorfeld bereits erworbenen oder gerade nachgeschlagenen Wissens überprüft werden soll. Solche Aufgaben erfordern, dass der Studierende gelernt hat und sich in seinen Unterlagen und dem Themengebiet auskennt. Ebenfalls ist ein schnelles ‚Zuflüstern‘ der Antwort erschwert, wenn die Antwort einer Erklärung bedarf. Dadurch dienen solche anwendungsorientierten Aufgaben der effektiven Leistungsdifferenzierung zwischen den Prüflingen. 

→ How to Moodle@FSU Anleitung: Fragetypen

Vor der eigentlichen Klausur führen Sie bitte eine Probeklausur unter echten Bedingungen durch. Dies dient dazu, dass sich Studierende und Prüfende mit der Technik vertraut machen können und beide Seiten deutlich entspannter sind, wenn die tatsächliche Prüfung stattfindet. Wenn die Geräte im PC-Pools der Uni Jena genutzt werden, liegt die störungsfreie Durchführung allein bei der Universität Jena. Eine Teilnahme am Testdurchlauf sollte den Studierenden dringend empfohlen werden. Somit können sich Prüflinge in einem späteren Widerspruchs- und Klageverfahren nicht auf technische/digitale Probleme oder Verzögerungen in der Bearbeitung berufen, die mit vorheriger Teilnahme an der Probeklausur aufgefallen wären. Führen Sie die Testklausur im selben Prüfungsraum auf Moodle und nach Möglichkeit im PC-Pool durch, wie die spätere Klausur.

The identity check is carried out as usual for in person examinations by comparing the examinees with the list of participants from Friedolin using the Thoska.

In order to avoid problems and issues on the day of the exam and to be able to respond to questions, you should inform the examinees of all (technical) requirements and rules as early as possible. This creates security for both you and the students. Students must be informed of their rights and obligations before the examination at the latest. The procedure should be analogous to the in person examinations and the special conditions of the e-examination should also be explained;

In the pre-set examination room, reading and confirming the instructions in Moodle is already set up as a prerequisite for activation for the exam.

Instruct the students about the following organizational, technical and legal aspects:

• Processing time and technical processing buffer
• Behavior after submitting the exam
• Permitted and unauthorized aids
• Dealing with technical faults
• Dealing with deception attempts

As with the face-to-face examinations, the question of ability to take the examination must be addressed. Exam eligibility is confirmed with the instruction in the examination room. Only then will the module examination be activated for students.

As pool capacities are limited, you will need to plan for more supervisory staff if you have larger groups of students and use several PC pools.

As the e-exam is configured in such a way that it is only available to students on the set exam date, it will only be accessible at exactly this time.

Please point out to your candidates that you may first have to update the page so that the activation is visible to them.

Students should be able to submit the exam manually before the time expires; otherwise, you should select the settings for the exam so that it is automatically submitted with its current status after the specified processing time has expired;

If you have any further questions, you can respond as usual for face-to-face examinations.

If technical problems occur, reassure the examinees and check whether the problem can be rectified or compensated for, for example by extending the writing time.

In any case, it is recommended that some exams are also printed out in paper form and that individual additional devices are available on site so that you can react quickly in emergencies.

As a general rule, students who are unable to take the exam through no fault of their own can withdraw from the exam. In the case of a recognized withdrawal, there is a right to a new examination attempt. If students had major technical problems during the exam that are not the responsibility of the student concerned (e.g. by disregarding the instructions given in advance, participation in a test exam, etc.), then their participation in the exam will not be assessed and will not be counted as an examination attempt. However, this only applies if this disruption cannot be rectified during the examination or compensated for, e.g. by extending the writing time.

Instructions for setting up a writing time extension to compensate for disadvantages (in German). pdf, 113 kb · de

In order to avoid disadvantaging honest candidates, you are required to prevent attempts at cheating as far as possible and - if you have evidence of cheating - to investigate this suspicion;

In this case, a record of the incident must be made - as also mandatory with in person (non electronic) examinations. If a dispute arises, you can contact the Legal Office. A hearing is mandatory before grading the exam with 5.0 for cheating. However, the exam may always be completed and handed in with reservations. This must be made clear to the student. Please inform your students accordingly.

In principle, Moodle offers you the option of automatic correction of the exam. This can be particularly useful for multiple choice questions or questions with very clear answers (single numbers, clear single term).

Other question types (e.g. free text) must be checked manually. Even with cloze questions, correct answers can be assessed as incorrect, e.g. due to small deviations in the input of answers (spelling mistakes, additional separators, too many spaces, etc.). Therefore, it is always necessary to check the exam results manually, especially with regard to possible subsequent errors, which can be assessed even better with the help of the additional handwritten solution sketches.

→ Instructions from the Moodle help course for teachers: Evaluating, printing and downloading digital exams as a table (in German).External link

Examinations can be reviewed digitally via bilateral video conference.

In order to avoid uncertainties, you should confirm that the student is alone for the exam review when registering for the exam review, but at the latest at the beginning of the review - in case of doubt, a camera pan is permitted - and that he/she is aware that photographing, downloading or similar forms of copying the exam are prohibited.

The examinee's corrected e-exam can then be discussed with the examinee via screen sharing. Requests for subsequent corrections should be made in writing and sent by email.

The process of archiving digital examinations is currently under construction. The exams remain stored on the URZ servers until the digital archive is available. In the future, there will be an interface on the exam server that lecturers can use to generate signed PDF-A files at the click of a mouse and then send them to the archive.You will be informed as soon as the interface is available.