Hi Everyone,I intend to give in class exams using WeBWorK (students would bring their own laptops and I will proctor), but I have some questions:
- Is a class of 70 students too much for the server to support working at the same time during the class period?
- Is there a way to print the individual tests before students start taking the test (I am thinking to have printed versions for each student, in case someone “forgets” to bring the laptop will do the paper version)
- Are there unexpected things to be aware of?
I am sure more questions will come up. Thank you very much,Florin
1. Server capacity is a good question. The GatewayQuiz module is more resource intensive than others, because starting a gateway type test creates a new set version for the user and assigns it to them. This is not a situation that we deal with, so hopefully someone else can give an idea for this. The short answer is that I wouldn't expect that there would be any trouble given a reasonably capable server. But others may have better specifics on what "reasonably capable" is.
2. To print individual tests in advance, I would just assign the set to myself, start it a couple of times, and print those out. To get an actual copy of the test that a student will get when they start the assignment is not immediately straightforward.
3. Probably. :) But I don't know what they are off-hand.
Gavin
2. To print individual tests in advance, I would just assign the set to myself, start it a couple of times, and print those out. To get an actual copy of the test that a student will get when they start the assignment is not immediately straightforward.
3. Probably. :) But I don't know what they are off-hand.
Gavin
Hi Gavin,
Thank you very much for the response. Those first few minutes when the whole class starts taking the test and the problems are assigned worry me most. I will try some preparatory quizzes before the actual exams.
I am also worried that a student may have a friend in the next room taking the test for them. Anyway, thank you again,
Florin
Hi Florin,
Some combination of IP restrictions and proctored tests may deal with who is taking the test. The former is tricky with wireless networks, but if your systems people can tell you what IP addresses are given out for the room in which you're giving the test, you might be able to reduce the possibility of someone getting in to take the test from another location by restricting the test to those addresses. We have all of our testing that counts done in a proctored lab, and that gateway/quiz assignment is only available to machines in that lab---which is, of course, easier for us to set up because we can specify the IP address that is given to each of those machines.
Depending on your resources, having a proctored test with a common password to start the test may allow you to actually check students as they finish the test as well. That would in principle make it so that someone couldn't take the test outside of the room you intend.
As one other note, the other precaution that we take in our testing lab is to have a set of firewall rules in place that disallow all non-essential destinations. This means that we don't have to worry about a student going to, say, Wolfram|Alpha to get answers.
Good luck!
Gavin
Some combination of IP restrictions and proctored tests may deal with who is taking the test. The former is tricky with wireless networks, but if your systems people can tell you what IP addresses are given out for the room in which you're giving the test, you might be able to reduce the possibility of someone getting in to take the test from another location by restricting the test to those addresses. We have all of our testing that counts done in a proctored lab, and that gateway/quiz assignment is only available to machines in that lab---which is, of course, easier for us to set up because we can specify the IP address that is given to each of those machines.
Depending on your resources, having a proctored test with a common password to start the test may allow you to actually check students as they finish the test as well. That would in principle make it so that someone couldn't take the test outside of the room you intend.
As one other note, the other precaution that we take in our testing lab is to have a set of firewall rules in place that disallow all non-essential destinations. This means that we don't have to worry about a student going to, say, Wolfram|Alpha to get answers.
Good luck!
Gavin
I just listened today to a web presentation for St. John's about LockDown Browser & Respondus Monitor. LockDown Browser does exactly that for tests delivered via Blackboard. They said it is not going to work with something else (like WeBWorK). I remember there were discussions to integrate WeBWorK with Blackboard; has that continued?
Thank you,
Florin