28. May 2023 | Internal service, Studies

Information on electronic examinations in the summer semester 2023

In its May meeting, the Senate of the University of Erfurt approved the framework regulations for conducting electronic examinations at the University. It represents the basis on which electronic examinations can be conducted in a legally secure manner. In a circular, the Vice President for Academic Affairs, Professor Gerd Mannhaupt, has now informed lecturers once again about the regulations in the framework order:

Information for new teachers
In principle, electronic examinations at the University of Erfurt, i.e. examinations that are collected digitally and carried out with electronic documentation, are only permitted with the WISEflow examination system. Teachers who conduct examinations with other electronic systems, e.g. Moodle, run the risk of being massively attacked in terms of examination and data protection law.

If you conduct electronic examinations as part of your courses, we would therefore like to offer you an initial introduction to WISEflow in a workshop. Of course, teachers who have been supporting us for a long time and are conducting an electronic examination for the first time this semester are also invited.

The contents of the initial input will be:

The role concept of WISEflow
Overview of the possible exam formats in WISEflow
Setting up an electronic remote exam
Conducting an electronic remote examination
Evaluating an electronic remote examination

An electronic remote examination with face recognition and different types of tasks (FLOWmulti) will be the example we will use. Afterwards, there will be ample opportunity to discuss questions on the topic.

The workshop will take place on Thursday, June 15, from 2 to 4 p.m. - online at: https://uni-erfurt.webex.com/meet/eteach.

In addition, you will find recordings of previous WISEflow workshops in theMoodle room Uni Erfurt Digital Lehren (enrollment key: ueDigital) as well as video tutorials on using WISEflow for submitting written work.

Information on electronic distance examinations in the summer semester 2023
In order to comply with the GDPR rules, I would like to point out that we must obtain informed and explicit consent from students for the particular form of the examination before conducting electronic distance examinations.

Students must be given the choice of three forms: 1. electronic distance examination (incl. photo proctoring and lockdown browser), 2. electronic examination on campus under supervision (incl. lockdown browser), 3. electronic examination on campus under supervision with a University of Erfurt computer (examination under supervision in the PC pool of the computer center incl. lockdown browser).

In order to implement the obtaining of consent as effortlessly as possible, you will find a vote for this in Moodle, which you can download as a backup in the "News" section in the Moodle room Uni Erfurt Digital Lehren (enrollment key: ueDigital) and then restore in your Moodle room. The instructions for this can also be found in this Moodle room.

Should students wish to use the PC pools in the computer center for the exam, the reservation must be made by the lecturers in good time before the exam date. The University Computer and Media Centre (URMZ) will provide a booking system for this purpose until 5.6.2023. The electronic examinations in the PC pools require additional supervisory staff time.

Here is the schedule for this clarification:

05/22/2023 to 06/04/2023 // providing electronic questionnaires for choosing the form of exams // Uni Erfurt Digital Teaching.
05.06.2023 until 23.06.2023 // registering the reservations for computer places in the PC pools (You will receive another mail in time regarding the reservation system.)
10.07.2023 to 22.07.2023 // conducting electronic examinations in the PC pools

Under examination law, you as the appointed examiner must assume that students who do not take part in the vote on the forms of electronic examinations (i.e. refusal of consent) will take the electronic examination in the presence and under supervision on the campus of the University of Erfurt in the PC pools of the University of Erfurt. Together with the students who actively declare that they do not want to write with their own technology but with technology on campus, these students form the group of examinees for whom you must reserve places in the PC pools. If these students have not shown up there on the date you have set, the examination will be considered not taken and therefore failed (5.0). Participation in a repeat examination that is still open is thus excluded (§ 15 para. 1 B-RPO).

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the eTeach team via eteach@uni-erfurt.de or during office hours (Fridays from 2 to 3 p.m.) in the virtual eTeach office https://uni-erfurt.webex.com/meet/eteach to assist you.

Information about electronic examinations with lockdown browser on campus in the summer semester 2023
For electronic examinations, there is a legal and technical possibility to conduct them under supervision in a lecture hall on campus. This will require the usual effort of proctoring face-to-face exams.

If the electronic examinations are proctored on campus, the nature of the seating arrangement limits the maximum number of examinees who can write in a room at one time. Below is a calculation of usable exam seating for the four lecture halls that have power outlets in the rows of seats, if the traditional seating arrangement of one empty seat and one empty row between examinees is used.

lecture hall 1 // 436 seats with maximum seating // approx. 105 seats with classic examination seating arrangement
lecture hall 2 // 162 seats with maximum seating // approx. 40 seats with classic examination seating arrangement
lecture hall 3 // 110 seats with maximum seating // approx. 25 seats with classic examination seating arrangement
lecture hall 4 // 96 seats with maximum seating // approx. 25 seats with classic examination seating arrangement

Of course, the examiners decide on the seating arrangement. Thus, a denser or looser arrangement of seats is also possible during the examination.

Lecture halls 5 and 6 do not have sockets in the rows of seats and are therefore not suitable for electronic examinations.

We must also obtain informed and explicit consent from students for this form of examination. Students must be given the choice between two forms: 1. the electronic exam on campus under supervision (incl. lockdown browser), 2. the electronic exam on campus under supervision with a University of Erfurt computer (exam under supervision in the PC pool of the computer center incl. lockdown browser).

In order to implement the obtaining of consent as effortlessly as possible, we have also created a specific vote in Moodle for this, which you can download as a backup in the "News" section in the Moodle room Uni Erfurt Digital Lehren (password: ueDigital) and then restore in your Moodle room. The instructions for doing this can also be found in this Moodle room.

If students want to use the PC pools in the computer center for the exam, the reservation must be made in time before the exam date. For this purpose, the University Computer and Media Centre (URMZ) will provide a booking system until 5.6.2023. As soon as it is activated, I will inform you about it. The electronic examinations in the PC pools require additional supervisory staff time.

Here is the schedule for this clarification:

05.22.2023 to 06.04.2023 // providing the electronic questionnaires for the choice of the exam form // Uni Erfurt Digital Lehren
05.06.2023 until 23.06.2023 // registering the reservations for computer places in the PC pools (You will receive another mail in time regarding the reservation system.)
10.07.2023 to 22.07.2023 // conducting electronic examinations in the PC pools

In terms of examination law, you as the assigned examiner must assume that students who do not participate in the vote on the forms of electronic examinations (i.e. refusal of consent) will take the electronic examination in the presence and under supervision on the campus of the University of Erfurt in the PC pools of the University of Erfurt. Together with the students who actively declare that they do not want to write with their own technology but with technology on campus, these students form the group of examinees for whom you must reserve places in the PC pools. If these students have not shown up there on the date you have set, the examination will be considered not taken and therefore failed (5.0). Participation in a repeat examination that is still open is thus excluded (§ 15 para. 1 B-RPO).

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the eTeach team via eteach@uni-erfurt.de or during office hours (Fridays from 2 to 3 p.m.) in the virtual eTeach office https://uni-erfurt.webex.com/meet/eteach at your disposal.

SISSI offers Moodle rooms set up for the new examination regulations also for the module examinations, which can be activated with just one click. With the enrollment of participants via Excel lists, there is the possibility to enroll only the students who have taken the examination there in an uncomplicated way and then to provide and maintain all information and regulations for the module examination only in this room and just also the questionnaire on the way the examination is conducted. (The few students who are enrolled according to the old study regulations are also quickly registered in this Moodle room via a list.)