June 14, 2018

Online exams..

Finally the semester exams are here.
One of the features of the online life here on campus is the online examinations done on campus. The whole exam is prepared in advance a few weeks before today.
An exam for a particular unit is already stated in the Program Specification Document. All programs qualifications in the university are set out in the Program Specification Document. The document is available to stakeholders who wish to see see the university's programs.
The unit lecturers prepares the unit outline and gives the students a copy. The lecturer develops the exam paper, collecting items that have been taught during the semester and formulates questions types such as Multiple Choice, True/False, Short Answers and Essays. A few weeks before the exam is done, a vetting process begins. 

 During the vetting process carried out in each department, all department lecturers put up their whole exam and other lecturers critique the questions and answers. This is a quality assurance process that aims to maintain the quality and standard of the examination process.
Once the vetting process is complete at the department level, the examination papers go the Faculty's Curriculum and Assessment Committtee who then go through the exams once more. Once exam paper is approved, the lecturer can now upload the exam on Moodle.
During the exam period, a staff from the ICT Department will be present in the room. The ICT officer is to be present to make sure students have adequate access to the online connection. There is also another officer from the Learning and Teaching Department who is present to make sure the online learning management system - Moodle is operating smoothly. It definitely takes a team to ensure this online exams are done!
I have been involved in the process of delivering exams online here and I can honestly say that it takes a special team of committed academics, administrative and ancillary staff to make online exams at DWU a success each year. It also shows that strong leadership is paramount to effective learning. God bless DWU!