Examination with Zoom presence
Here is information and recommendations for conducting a remote exam with Zoom presence.
What is Zoom presence during examination?
When examining remotely with Zoom presence, the student writes an exam in any undisturbed place while at the same time being available on Zoom for communication with the examiner or the teacher on duty. The method of remote examination with Zoom presence can be seen as a form of home examination where the examiner can follow the students' ongoing work at the scheduled examination time. During an exam with Zoom presence, the exam assignments can be combined with meetings, either in the form of progress meeting or small oral examinations.
How exams with Zoom presence work
Before the exam
One or more Zoom sessions are created for each examination session when the exam registration has been open in Ladok. The examiner is responsible for creating the Zoom sessions, but can also ask a colleague to be the zoom responsible person and help with the creation of zoom sessions. See more instructions regarding zoom sessions on the page about the role of Zoom responsible person.
Zoom responsible person at exams with Zoom presence
It is recommended to create a zoom session for all students who will write the examination or (mainly for larger groups) to create a Zoom session for each group of students who will write the examination. The examinees are distributed in the different Zoom sessions in advance. The number of students in a Zoom room must be balanced with the time of writing and the number of teachers who visit the students in the breakout room. There should be enough time for ID checks in breakout rooms with all participating students. During one hour, depending on how the meeting with the students is organized, a teacher has time to visit about 10-20 students. If the students only have to show their work, a shorter time is enough, but if they are also supposed to answer a question from the teacher regarding their work, more time is needed.
Canvas is used to distribute the exam to the students and for the students to submit their solutions or answers. Before the exam, students must receive information from the examiner about how the exam will be conducted.
Information to communicate to students
During the exam
Examinees and staff must be logged in to kth.se to be able to participate, as the Zoom rooms are not to be set as public. Students receive the exam wording and work with the assignments while being available on Zoom. Examiners, teachers or assistants visit the students in breakout rooms for ID checking and following up on the students ongoing work.
The important thing about the format of examination with Zoom presence is the direct contact between examiners (teachers) and the students, not visual monitoring. Students can leave the camera whenever they need to, but the reason must be explained to the meeting host so that the absence is of reasonable length. Students' microphones may be turned off, but if the purpose is to reduce students' interference with each other, it is recommended that they lower the volume of their speakers instead. They can then hear and communicate directly with the meeting host in the Zoom room without being more disturbed during the examination than during a normal campus based exam.
Roles at examination with Zoom presence
These proposed roles are needed for the organisation of examinations with a Zoom presence. With a low number of examinees, some of the roles can be performed by the same person.
- Zoom responsible person
- Meeting host
- Examiner
- Teacher/Assistants
Zoom responsible person
The Zoom responsible person prepares the Zoom sessions with the right settings and invites examiners, meeting hosts, etc.
Zoom responsible person at exams with Zoom presence
Meeting host
The meeting host(s) observe the students in Zoom to see if they appear to be following the specified exam rules. Deviations are reported directly to the teacher/examiner who can choose to prioritize the student in the selection for breakout rooms.
Examiner
The examiner answers any questions and randomly selects students who in breakout rooms briefly describe and comment on the assignment they are working on, either in the form of a progress meeting or a small oral examination. A student should be able to explain the reasoning about their solution.
Examiner's role at exams with Zoom presence
Teachers/Assistants
Teachers/Assistants help the examiner to meet the students one by one in breakout rooms, where they check IDs and that the student has started solving the assignments.
Meeting in the breakout room
The meeting can be conducted by an examiner, teacher or assistant together with the student and in two different ways;
- as a progress meeting or
- as an oral examination.
A progress meeting is carried out with randomly selected students, unlike an oral examination which is carried out with all examinees. In both forms of the meeting, the student shows ongoing solutions, draft papers, etc. to show that the person in question is the one who is solving the examining assignments. Remember that the examination format must be designed so that there is time for the individual meeting. Even if the meeting is short, the student is interrupted in their work and needs time to resume it. Teachers/assistants inform the examiner directly if a student cannot give an account of their work so that the examiner has an opportunity to form their own opinion about the situation before the end of the exam.
Suspicion of cheating at progress meeting
If the meeting is seen as a progress meeting, suspicion of cheating is handled in accordance with KTH's usual rules regarding the examination. Make a note of what has been observed and caused suspicion. The student is allowed to finish the exam and then the attempt to misleading conduct of the examination is handed over as a matter to the disciplinary committee. Contact your Director of First and Second Cycle Education (GA) or director of studies if you are unsure of how to do this.
Suspicion of cheating at an oral examination meeting
If the meeting is seen as an oral examination, all participating students must be invited to a meeting. If the student does not know what is expected of them to pass the course or isn't able to explain their own solution, the student may fail the oral part and thus not qualify to have the exam assessed. It must be clear, in advance, to the student what is expected of them. In case of a suspected attempt of misleading during an examination, document observations as material for a case to the disciplinary committee. If the student fails the oral part they are still allowed to complete the written exam.
Report of disciplinary offence