Partial exams (KS)
Partial exams are a form of mini exams that are often called KS (kontrollskrivning in Swedish). Partial exams can be conducted on campus as written exams or in computer rooms for those who want to use automatically assessed quizzes. It is also possible to conduct partial exams through Canvas examination rooms or in the Canvas room of the course.
What is a partial exam?
Partial exams are usually given several times during the course. It can be a way to prepare and let the students practice before the final exam. As partial exams divide the course material and take place continuously during the course, it can be a way to support the students in planning their studies and encourage continuous learning. It is common that a course’s partial exams are voluntary but that they benefit the students who participate as they give some form of bonus to the final examination. The bonus can be given, for example, by:
- extra points for the final examination
- one or more tasks less to solve on the final examination as the part has already been completed
- passing all partial exams means that the student has demonstrated knowledge for a passing grade, and the final examination offers the opportunity to raise the grade from E for the student who has passed all partial exams.
Partial exams on campus
If you want the students to be able to practice what it is like to write a written exam on campus, it may be recommended that the partial exam reflects how that exam will take shape. Another reason to complete the partial exam on campus is if you want closer contact with or supervision of the students when they complete the tasks. Alternatively, you can use Zoom presence to connect with students during writing. The implementation of the partial exam, booking of halls, teachers on duty and invigilators, etc. is arranged locally. Ask your Director of First and Second Cycle Education (GA) / director of studies for more information about the procedure at your school.
Partial exams in computer rooms
If you both want the students to take the partial exam under supervision and in a system with automatic assessment (such as Canvas quiz or Möbius), it is possible to write in KTH's computer rooms. Remember to take into account that the seats in computer rooms are limited. If you have a course with many students, it can be good to consider whether the partial exam can be generated from a question bank so that the students get different questions and that the partial exam can thus be completed continuously for a longer period, meaning that all students do not write at the same time. Read more about .
Partial exams in Canvas
In short, examiners and teachers can choose between two digital alternatives when a partial exam does not require registration via Ladok: use a special examination room in Canvas (mandatory when student registration is required) or use the regular course room in Canvas.
The use of a separate examination room in Canvas gives you a Canvas room that only registered students have access to and which has been prepared with settings suitable for examination. Implementing a partial exam in the regular course room in Canvas is possible when only the students who are registered for the course round are taking the partial exam. Read more about Examination room in Canvas .
The implementation of the actual partial exam with possible invigilators, creation of posible Zoom rooms and the like is led by the schools themselves, just as when the partial exam is implemented on campus.
Creating a partial exam in Canvas
A partial exam in Canvas can consist of different types of tasks or automatically assessed questions (quiz), in the same way as a digital exam. Do you want help creating your examination in Canvas? Contact e-learning@kth.se for supervision or try KTH's guides for how examining tasks are created in Canva. Links to the guides are collected on the page Before examination – checklist for Canvas .
Unpublish course material
Review what course material you have in Canvas that the students should not have access to during the writing period and temporarily unpublish it during the digital partial exam.
When only registered students are taking the partial exam
The regular course room can be used for a partial exam when only the students who are registered for the course round are to take the partial exam. If there are students who are taking the partial exam, but are not registered for the course, they cannot be added to the course room. In that case, a special examination room must be used.
How a special examination room för a partial examination is created
The administrator at the school starts by creating an activity session in Ladok for partial exam (KS) and connects the opportunity to the exam that the partial exam is associated with. The following day, or 30 days before the date of the exam, there is an examination room in Canvas with a proposal for the structure of the course room, a code of conduct and two sections intended for students without and with support from Funka.
How students are added
There are two ways to proceed in Ladok to add students to examination rooms:
1. Add students manually to the activity session.
2. Let the students register to the activity session.
1. Select this when you want to be sure that all students who are to take the partial exam are in the examination room. The administrator adds the students manually to the activity session without adding a registration period. The following day, manually registered students are found in the examination room. It is possible to manually add the students at the date desired by the examiner after the activity opportunity and thus also the examination room has been created.
2. Select this when you need to know how many people will participate in the partial exam. The administrator sets up a registration period and the students can register themselves. When registration closes, registered students are imported to the examination room.
In both cases, the student sees their application in the student interface in Ladok. The administrator can add students until the exam date.
Tentafunka
Tentafunka needs to be contacted separately for possible support with the handling of students with compensatory support at partial exams. It is the examiner's responsibility that the right support can be given to students who are entitled to compensatory support. See Funka’s recommendations regarding handling of support during examination . In an examination room, the students who are entitled to compensatory support (Funka) will be organised into a separate section to simplify administration. As an examiner, you can see students' recommended support in the Course participant service.