THEME | Remote testing and assessment

How can I assess students remotely?

• At score.hva.nl, Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences offers an overview of the current insights surrounding online testing (Dutch).
• Fontys made this advice for (in Dutch) for safe, reliable and valid administration of summative knowledge tests remotely.
• Avans developed a Remote assessment Decision tree with explanatory notes to help lecturers and  teams to choose alternative forms of assessment.
• Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences made this online magazine about remote testing. 
• Within their web guide (Dutch) for digital didactics, the Open University also pays attention to online testing. The OU also organised a number of online sessions, one of which was about formative assessment and one about summative assessment. Read the report of the online session on summative assessment here (Dutch).
• For teachers in secondary education, Kennisnet made a Guide to remote testing for teachers. You can also check out toetsenopafstand.nl (Dutch).

What alternatives do we have for the classic summative test?

• In this article (Dutch) you can read how a number of institutions deal with this. We also provide concrete references to useful tools and websites.
• See this webinar (Dutch) about alternative forms of testing.
• Read this blog (in Dutch) by student Hugo Hegeman, in which he argues to take opportunities to arrive at a new testing culture.

What possibilities does online proctoring offer? 

Examinations using online proctoring may be a solution in some cases. Various institutions have gained experience in administering several thousands of tests. The SIG Digital testing, together with SURF, organised several webinars to share she experiences of these institutions. Read the reports (in Dutch) here:
Report May 15 (coming soon)
Report April 17
Report April 3
Report March 27

You can also read the advice of the SIG Digital Testing (in Dutch; updated April 1, 2020) on online proctoring and the article by Wilfred Rubens (Dutch).

Where can I find more information about security and privacy around online proctoring?

• For more background on online proctoring, see this white paper from SURF (English).
• SURF also conducted a quick scan (Dutch) of the public privacy documents of three major providers of proctor software.
• See the tips from the Dutch Data Protection Authority in this article (Dutch).
• Read here (Dutch) how VU Amsterdam views the legitimate interest as the basis for online proctoring.

How do you deal with questions from students regarding online proctoring?

• Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) has set up an extensive FAQ (English) for this.

Which method is the safest?

To be able to make a well-founded decision as to which assessment method to use, SURF developed a choice making model (English) for safe assessment. Both the risk of fraud, and the interest ('stake') of the test results are taken into account. This model provides guidance to examination and test committees and other parties involved in determining whether the intended test situation is satisfactory, and to see which methods of test administration are suitable within the curriculum.

What tools are available for remote formative assessments?

• Natasja Kok of Fontys teacher training Tilburg (FLOT) has researched which digital tools are suitable for administering formative digital knowledge tests ánd which are available for free. The result of her research is a nice overview of digital tools and a selection menu based on which lecturers can choose a tool that matches their wishes and requirements. The research report, the selection menu and a poster of the research and can be downloaded from SURFdrive (Dutch). When using the material use the following reference: Kok, N. (2020). Free test applications to administer digital knowledge tests in secondary education and secondary education. (Research research group FLOT). Tilburg: Fontys Teacher Training Tilburg. For more information: n.kok@fontys.nl (source: Tijdschrift voor Examens)
• 7 free tools for digital testing from Innovenderwijs: https://www.vernieuwenderwijs.nl/digitaal-toetsen-7-gratis-tools/  (Dutch; source: Tijdschrift voor Examens)

Are take-home exams the solution?

This depends on what you would like to test and on the available capacity. Of course, these kind of exams require a lot of review work. To help you consider when take-home exams are a solution, the SIG Digital Testing collected 5 articles on this (all in English):

• A take-home exam to assess professional skills
• Take home examination papers
• Open book and take home exams
• A guide for academics - Open book exams
• Open book examinations

What can we learn from Asian universities?

• China, Hong Kong and Singapore are several months ahead of us when it comes to coming up with solutions for digital testing. This article (in English) provides an overview of their different solutions.
• And in this article (Dutch) you can read how Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) administers tests via Zoom. Due to the riots in November last year, the university was forced to bring education entirely online.

Last updated by Yvonne Florissen, June 16, 2020, 5.30 PM.