AGE3011F - Roots of Black Identity

Context: The goal of the assessment adaptations was to maintain the integrity of the course and not deviate from the previous assessment standard. At the time this course was running, some students were struggling with connectivity. As a result, the exams were not written online, but rather downloaded, completed and then submitted. 

Purpose: The final exam was summative. The use of essay-type questions helped ensure that students engaged with the material and could apply their knowledge. The exam counted less towards their final mark than previously (30% now vs 50% previously), with a larger contribution from coursework.

Process: The exam was a capstone assessment uploaded on the Assignments tab on Vula. Students would download the assessment and then submit a Word doc or PDF. Students had to sign up for 1 of 2 time-slots (morning and afternoon). The exam was released for the students who signed up for each time-slot and they had 4 hours to complete the exam, which is an hour more than before ERT. Both groups received the same exam questions. The exam was the same as always, but in ERT, populated essay questions were circulated before the exam (approx. 20 essay questions were circulated, and 6 were chosen for the exam). We relied on Turnitin and also did extra marking to check for plagiarism. The short-answer questions in the exam were not circulated to students.

Outcomes/ Lessons learned: The goal was to ensure that the standards of the assessment were maintained, and that was achieved. 

Recommendations: Circulating the essay questions prior to the exam is a good practice, and identifying plagiarism is actually quite easy in essay format, especially with the help of Turnitin.