Staff Guide: Online exam tool

About the Online Exam Tool

To support remote exams during the COVID-19 quarantine, a new Online Exam tool was developed in MMS. This tool allows students to sit exams online and provides the following functionality:

  • Timed access and submission: Students can view their exam papers at the scheduled time and submit their answers within their personal exam allowance (which includes the standard exam duration plus any additional time they are entitled to).
  • Turnitin integration: Exam scripts can be submitted directly to Turnitin for plagiarism checking.
  • Alternative formats: Individual students can receive alternative versions of the exam paper, where required.
  • Script download: Staff can download student scripts individually or in bulk for marking.

The Online Exam tool can be paired with an Exam Marking tool (see Staff Guide: Exam marking tool for more information) to:

  • Let students indicate which optional questions they have answered
  • Enable staff to enter marks directly into the Online Exam interface

Most Online Exam tools will be configured centrally, so it is expected that school staff will only need to link the Online Exam tool with an Exam tool for marking purposes.

  • Users with the following roles are able to mark exams:

    • Academic Misconduct Officer
    • Deputy Director of Teaching (PAFS)
    • Director of PGR Students (Soc Anth)
    • Director of Postgraduate (Taught)
    • Direct of Teaching, Director of Teaching (Department of Philosophy), Director of Teaching (Graduate School), Director of Teaching – Honours (Soc Anth), Director of Teaching – Subhonours (Soc Anth)
    • Exams Officer, Exams Officer (Graduate School), Exams Officer (PAFS)
    • Head of Department, Head of Department (Business School), Head of Department (Department of Philosophy), Head of Department (Mod Langs), Head of Department (School of History)
    • Head of School, Head of School (Art History), Head of School (E & ES), Head of School (Graduate School)
    • Lecturer, Lecturer (Department of Philosophy), Lecturer (English), Lecturer (Graduate School), Lecturer (Soc Anth)
    • MRes Co-ordinator (SocAnth)
    • Marker (Exam)
    • Moderator
    • Module Administrator, Module Administrator (Classics), Module Administrator (Maths)
    • Module Co-ordinator, Module Co-ordinator (Department of Philosophy), Module Co-ordinator (Graduate School)
    • PG Secretary, PG Secretary (Divinity), PG Secretary (School of English)
    • Second Marker, Second Marker (IELLI and CEED)
    • Secretary, Secretary (Graduate School)
    • Sub-Honours Coordinator (Department of Philosophy), Sub-Honours Coordinator (School of Philosophical & Anthro Studies)
    • Tutor and Exam marker
    • UG Curriculum Officer (School of Biology)
    • Unit Administrator

Downloading exam scripts

Staff with marking permissions will be able to access the exam scripts 24 hours after the exam has closed. This is give students the opertunity to submit late if they have had technical problems.

  • To download individual exam scripts:

    1. Access the Online Exam tool for a module by clicking the Online Exam link under the module title on the Modules page in MMS , or in the My Modules portlet on the Academic Activities workspace in MySaint.
    2. The Online Exam tool overview has a table listing all students on the module and their submissions.
    3. Locate the student in the table.
    4. Select the link in the Submission column to download the submission (if there is no link the student has not submitted)

  • To download a zip file of all uploaded exam scripts:

    1. Access the Online Exam tool for a module by clicking the Online Exam link under the module title on the Modules page in MMS , or in the My Modules portlet on the Academic Activities workspace in MySaint.
    2. The Online Exam tool overview has a table listing all students on the module and their submissions.
    3. Scroll down to underneath the table
    4. Select the Download all submissions as a single Zip file link

    The Zip file will begin downloading – for large modules this may take a few moments.

Indicated questions

  • If the Online Exam tool has been linked to an Exam tool (see Section 7.2: Linking the Online Exam Tool with an Exam Tool), and the exam included optional questions, students will have had the opportunity to indicate which questions they answered.

    To view their selections:

    1. Access the Online Exam tool: Open the relevant module and click the Online Exam link from either the Modules page in MMS, or the My Modules portlet in the Academic Activities workspace in MySaint.
    2. Review the overview table: The overview displays all students and their submissions. To the right of the Staff Notes and Files column, each question is shown in its own column.
    3. Check for selected questions: Questions the student indicated they answered will be highlighted in dark grey.

Configuration

The majority of the configuration for the Online Exam tool will be done centrally by Registry, please contact [email protected] if you have queries regarding the Online Exam tool configuration.

This chapter will cover:

  • To view the configuration of the Online Exam tool:

    1. Select Configure from the navigation panel on the left (if this is not appearing select the three line hamburger icon at the top left to open the navigation panel).
    2. Access the Online Exam tool for a module by clicking the Online Exam link under the module title on the Modules page in MMS (the ‘Home’ page), or in the My Modules portlet on the Academic Activities workspace in MySaint.

  • The Online Exam tool functionality can be further enhanced if paired with an Exam tool, such as:

    • Allow students to select which optional questions they have answered.
    • Allow staff to enter marks directly into the Online Class Test tool.

    If the Online Exam tool is not paired with an Exam tool, staff can still upload files and type comments.

    To pair the Online exam tool with an exam tool:

    1. Access the Online Exam tool for a module by clicking the Online Exam link under the module title on the Modules page in MMS , or in the My Modules portlet on the Academic Activities workspace in MySaint.
    2. Select the Configure option from the navigation panel on the left.
    3. Scroll down to the Marking Configuration section.
    4. From the Marking Resource drop down list select an existing Exam tool or select the Create Marking resource button (this will create an Exam tool labelled Marking for Online Exam)
    5. Select the Save marking configuration button to save.

    If a marking resource has been created it will need to be configured, there is guidance on configuring Exam tools here on the MMS Guides page: Staff Guide: Exam marking tool

  • The Indicate Questions functionality allows students to indicate which questions they have answered in the same way as they would have done with the paper exams.

    Note: This requires the Online Exam tool to be paired with an existing Exam tool that has been configured with the exam structure, see section Staff Guide: Exam marking tool

    To allow students to indicate which questions they have answered:

    1. Access the Online Exam tool for a module by clicking the Online Exam link under the module title on the Modules page in MMS , or in the My Modules portlet on the Academic Activities workspace in MySaint.
    2. From the Online Exam tool select the Configure option from the navigation panel on the left
    3. From the Indicate Questions drop down list – select the Student and Staff option to allow students (and staff) to indicate which questions the student has answered. 
    4. Select the Save marking configuration button to save.

Entering marks

Marks can be entered into the Online Exam tool, in addition to the marker responses, only if the Online Exam tool has been paired with an Exam marking tool (see Staff Guide: Exam marking tool)

Marks can be entered individually or by csv upload. Any marks entered into the Online Exam tool will also be visible in the linked Exam tool, which can be used with the Final grade tool.

If the Online Exam tool has not been paired with an Exam tool, or your school has given alternative direction please follow school instructions as to where to enter marks.

  • To enter marks manually on the Online Exam overview:

    1. Access the Online Exam tool for a module by clicking the Online Exam link under the module title on the Modules page in MMS , or in the My Modules portlet on the Academic Activities workspace in MySaint.
    2. Columns representing the questions will appear after the Staff Notes and Files column.
    3. Scroll down the table to locate the student.
    4. Click into the provided text box that corresponds to the student/question that you wish to enter (cells highlighted in dark grey represent the questions the student has indicated they have answered).
    5. Enter the mark.
    6. Steps 2-4 can be repeated as often as required.
    7. Scroll to the bottom of the table.
    8. Select the Save Marks button to save.

  • To enter marks manually on the student exam  overview:

    1. Access the Online Exam tool for a module by clicking the Online Exam link under the module title on the Modules page in MMS , or in the My Modules portlet on the Academic Activities workspace in MySaint.
    2. The Online Exam tool overview has a table listing all students expected to do the exam and their submissions.
    3. Scroll down the table to locate the student.
    4. Select the student id in the tableto open the overview for the selected student.
    5. On the student exam overview a table will appear under the staff response sections with a column for each configured question.
    6. The second row will contain a text field for mark entry.
    7. Click into the text field.
    8. Enter the mark.
    9. Repeat steps 6 and 7 as often as required.
    10. Click the Save Marks button to save.

  • As with manual mark entry, if the Online Exam tool has been paired with an Exam tool, staff can upload a spreadsheet containing the student exam marks into the Online Exam tool.

    To upload a spreadsheet of student exam marks into the Online Exam tool:

    1. Prepare a csv file containing the student grades. This is easiest done by:
      1. Access the Online Exam tool for a module by clicking the Online Exam link under the module title on the Modules page in MMS , or in the My Modules portlet on the Academic Activities workspace in MySaint.
      2. Select the Download as XLS link above the table to download a prepared spreadsheet
      3. Add the marks to the spreadsheet and save, taking note of the location.
      4. If a cell is blank it will not override or deleted any existing marks.
    2. Access the Online Exam tool for a module by clicking the Online Exam link under the module title on the Modules page in MMS , or in the My Modules portlet on the Academic Activities workspace in MySaint.
    3. Scroll down under the table to the Spreadsheet upload of grades section.
    4. Click the Browse button and select the spreadsheet.
    5. Select the Upload spreadsheet button to save.

Marker responses

Staff marking exam scripts can add comments—known in MMS as marker responses—which are visible to other markers and external examiners. Marker responses can be either typed comments or uploaded files, and staff also have the option to bulk upload response files if needed.

Note: Please consult your school policy on expected responses from markers.

  • To add typed marker responses:

    1. Access the Online Exam tool for a module by clicking the Online Exam link under the module title on the Modules page in MMS , or in the My Modules portlet on the Academic Activities workspace in MySaint.
    2. The Online Exam tool overview has a table listing all students expected to do the exam and their submissions.
    3. Select the student ID from the table to access the overview for the selected student
    4. Locate the Staff Notes section in the top right
    5. Select the Click to enter note button and a text field will appear.
    6. If required, resize the text field by dragging the bottom right corner of the text field into a new position.
    7. Click into the text box and type the marker response.
    8. Select the Submit note button to save (or the Close without submitted button to close without submitted the comment).
    9. Once the typed note has been saved the username of the marker will appear in the Staff Notes section. Select the username to view the note.

  • To upload a response file for a single student:

    1. Access the Online Exam tool for a module by clicking the Online Exam link under the module title on the Modules page in MMS , or in the My Modules portlet on the Academic Activities workspace in MySaint.
    2. The Online Exam tool overview has a table listing all students expected to do the exam and their submissions.
    3. Select the student ID to access the overview for the selected student
    4. Locate the Staff Files section in the top right
    5. Either:
      1. Click the browse button and select the required file OR
      2. Drag a file from your desktop into the grey box
    6. Once the file has been uploaded it will appear in the Staff Files section, click the link to download the file.

  • To bulk upload response files:

    1. Prepare the response files and ensure they are named so that the student ID appears at the end of the filename, before the extension. For example: Example_file_000000001.docx
    2. Access the Online Exam tool for a module by clicking the Online Exam link under the module title on the Modules page in MMS , or in the My Modules portlet on the Academic Activities workspace in MySaint.
    3. Scroll down to the Bulk upload of staff files section.
    4. Either:
      1. Click the Browse button to open a dialogue window and select the files for upload, OR
      2. Drag the files into the grey box.
    5. Once the files have been uploaded they will appear in the Bulk upload of staff files section for you to review.
    6. Select the Overview link from the navigation panel on the left to refresh the page, the response files will now appear in the main table.

  • To view marker responses on the Online Exam overview page:

    1. Access the Online Exam tool for a module by clicking the Online Exam link under the module title on the Modules page in MMS , or in the My Modules portlet on the Academic Activities workspace in MySaint.
    2. Scroll down the table to locate the student.
    3. The marker responses will appear in the Staff Notes and Files column.
    4. Click on a file name to download a file or click on the user name of the note author to open the note.

  • To view marker responses on the student exam overview:

    1. Access the Online Exam tool for a module by clicking the Online Exam link under the module title on the Modules page in MMS , or in the My Modules portlet on the Academic Activities workspace in MySaint.
    2. The Online Exam tool overview has a table listing all students expected to do the exam and their submissions.
    3. Scroll down the table to locate the student.
    4. Select the student id from the table to open the overview for the selected student.
    5. To download the uploaded files select the links in the Staff files section.
    6. To view the notes select the username of the note author in the Staff Notes section.

  • Staff can only delete responses that they have entered, and this can be done from the student exam overview page.

    To delete a response:

    1. Access the Online Exam tool for a module by clicking the Online Exam link under the module title on the Modules page in MMS , or in the My Modules portlet on the Academic Activities workspace in MySaint.
    2. Scroll down the table to locate the student.
    3. Select the student id from the table to open the overview for the selected student.
    4. To delete an uploaded file, locate the file in the Staff files section and click the X to the right of the file name.
    5. To delete a typed note, locate the note in the Staff Notes section and click the X to the right of the note.

Viewing Turnitin Scores

  • Some Online Exams will have been configured to allow students to submit into Turnitin. To view the Turnitin scores:

    1. Access the Online Exam tool for a module by clicking the Online Exam link under the module title on the Modules page in MMS , or in the My Modules portlet on the Academic Activities workspace in MySaint.
    2. Select the See Turnitin scores link above the table containing student submissions.

    If there is not a link then the submissions have not been run through Turnitin. Turnitin cannot process images or photos so in situations where students were expected to handwrite exam scripts Turnitin will not have been enabled.

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