Arts ISIT Exam Support
- We have extended our exam support hours outside regular business hours
- We can provide live support during instructor office hours to address any technical issues students may have
- We can provide exam support and booking our computer labs to host final exams
- We have created some best practices for online exams
Extended Learning Centre Hours
To help support you during final exam season, Arts ISIT’s Learning Centre will be providing extended support outside of our regular office hours from December 11 to December 22 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. by phone, email, and virtual drop-in. In-person support and IT and AV support will only be available during our regular business hours.
The LT Hub will also be extending their hours of support during the exam period. Review their website for more information on their schedule and services.
Live Support During Instructor Office Hours
Upon request, we can provide in-person support during instructor office hours. This service is designed for instructors to provide time for students to access a mock assessment, and will help reduce the number of issues during the actual exam.
Exam Support & Computer Labs for Final Exams
For exams using Canvas, please refer to Live Exam Support FAQ for Invigilators for troubleshooting steps to commonly asked issues that may arise.
Buchanan B computer labs offer a secure environment for students to write online exams in person. The computers have Respondus Lockdown Browser loaded on them to help instructors and TAs conduct invigilation for in-person exams. We invite you to book these rooms and meet with an educational technologist to discuss how delivering assessments using Arts computers can promote academic integrity.
Best Practices for Online Exams
PRE-EXAM SETUP
If you plan to use Respondus LockDown Browser (LDB) with your Canvas Quiz, provide a practice quiz. This will ensure students can troubleshoot potential issues beforehand. For more information, refer to our guide on monitoring your online exams with LockDown Browser and Zoom.
Encourage your students to enroll in the “Arts ISIT: Exam Practice Run”. This practice environment allows students to install and run LockDown Browser on their computer. It also provides the opportunity to test exams monitored with Lockdown Browser and Zoom. To access this course, students can self-enroll with this link: https://canvas.ubc.ca/enroll/6G4K33.
For courses that have more than 200 students, we recommend staggering start times by 5 minutes for each group of 70-100 students. This helps Canvas Quiz content load properly and improves the overall functionality. Please contact us if you would like us to assist in staggering the start times for the assessment on your behalf.
Note: If your exam is being written remotely with close to 300 students and you plan to use Zoom, email av.helpdesk@ubc.ca with a request to accommodate more participants.
REVIEW OF EXAM SETTINGS
Please contact us in advance to go over your exam settings and ensure everything is properly set up. We may catch avoidable issues that may come up during the exam.
CONTINGENCY PLAN
Have a back-up plan in case something goes wrong with the online exam:
- Prepare a paper copy of the exam and consider exam alternatives.
- If you are using Zoom, have an alternate host that can begin the session.
- Advise students that if they encounter technical issues, they may contact the Student IT Helpdesk or the Chapman Learning Commons
- Clearly communicate to your students how best to reach you in case of technical issues.
For more support with planning out online examinations, refer to the Exam Strategies Guide.
