Final Assessment Options

Whether you’re creating new online assessments or converting existing assessments to other formats, there’s much to consider when you begin teaching remotely. As you offer your course remotely, you’re probably thinking about how students will demonstrate knowledge, skills, and/or attitudes to meet learning objectives in your digital learning environment.

As you do, you’ll want to ensure the assessment is a smooth experience for your students by considering how instructions are written, what technologies are involved, whether your assessment is accessible, and whether an ungraded practice run would be helpful. Just be sure to plan out how and when you’ll inform students of any changes so they can prepare and ask questions.

Check out the following options, which contain some of the most frequently used assessments and lower- and higher-tech ways to conduct them online. If you need assistance, sign up for a Keep Teaching workshop or reach to our support community.

Reimagine Assessments

Consider these approaches to developing new versions of your assessments to be online:

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Assessment Options	Technology	Potential Impact on Student Performance and Well-Being
Reflections and journals A well-written reflection prompt with guided questions can enable students to demonstrate attitudinal changes and new insights. Reflections can be typed documents, or you may want to ask students to record a brief video.	Canvas Assignment set to File Upload (which includes Canvas Studio), Canvas Studio, Canvas Media Recorder, Zoom (recorded session), or students' preferred video software. For synchronous delivery: Zoom, Hangouts Meet. For either delivery methor: Microsoft PowerPoint via Office 365, Google Slides	Asynchronous (prerecorded) presentations may increase anxiety if students worry they must produce professionally-edited videos. Give clear expectations and a rubric focused on content, not video quality, to address their concerns. Synchronous (live) presentations may increase student concerns that the technology will fail during presentation. If scheduled to occur live, practice-runs may help student confidence and preparation. Encourage students to consider a consultation with the University Speaking Center.
Websites By creating their own websites, students can create and gather knowledge for themselves to share with others.	Students can set up a site using WordPress.com, Weebly.com, Google Sites, Wix.com, or others, and submit the link to the site in a Canvas Assignment set to Text Entry or Website URL.	Assigning the creation of a website may intimidate students at first, especially if they have never made one before. Offering mini due dates for reviewing parts of the website before the full final version is due can help decrease concerns at the amount of work. Giving templates, clear expectations, and a rubric that values content over style may help.
Labs and lab reports To document steps, observations, and findings in a lab report, students can submit a typed document with photos. To demonstrate actions, they can record brief videos.	Canvas Assignment set to File Upload (which includes Canvas Studio), Text Entry, or Media Recordings.	Conducting a lab alone may increase anxiety. To encourage peer-to-peer learning, organize students into partners or small groups. For partner or group projects, students should describe the contributions of each individual so credit can be assessed individually. Give advanced notice on tools and materials needed for the lab and general expectations of the time needed per step. Offer photos or illustrations of each lab step. Provide a sample report template.
Oral exams By delivering an oral exam, students can demonstrate verbal proficiency.	For asynchronous delivery: Canvas Studio, Canvas Media Recorder, Zoom (recorded session), or students' preferred video software. For synchronous delivery: Zoom, Hangouts Meet.	If the oral exam requires back-and-forth conversation, schedule a time to hold a synchronous video conference. Offer a low-stakes practice-run to help students build confidence and familiarity with the tools. If the oral exam is a monologue, students can pre-record a video to share with the class by posting it to a Canvas Discussion board or submitting it to you in a Canvas Assignment. If occurring in an exam, the Canvas Quiz question type Essay Question will allow students to record a brief video. Encourage students to consider a consultation with the University Speaking Center.
E-Portfolios By compiling and annotating representative work samples from throughout the semester, students can demonstrate their mastery of course concepts and reflect on their learning process.	Google Drive, WordPress.com, Weebly.com, Google Sites, or Wix.com	Provide templates, clear expectations, and a rubric that values content over style. Be selective and encourage students to thoughtfully curate their portfolio content.

Enhance Assessments

Consider these approaches to modifying your current assessments to be online:

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Assessment Options	Technology	Potential Impact on Student Performance and Well-Being
Exams, tests, and quizzes Students can demonstrate their knowledge on exams by answering multiple-choice, multiple-answer, fill-in-the-blank, matching, or essay questions. You can create a new exam or import existing questions.	Canvas Quizzes	Because consistent Internet connections are a concern, consider the following options: Reduce number of questions Divide exam into smaller exams or quizzes Extend time limit Create an ungraded practice exam so students can become familiar with the process before taking the actual test Communicate when the exam will be made available and how long students will have to complete it Schedule exam times according to the Final Exam Schedules set by the University Registrar Office to help prevent exam conflicts. Also, by taking the exam alone, the temptation to use outside resources may be higher. These actions can encourage academic integrity during a remote exam: Redesign the exam to be an open book exam. State which materials the students can use on the exam. Create a question enabling the student to agree with the academic integrity pledge. Shuffle questions and answers. Show only one question per page. Set correct test answers to display after the test due date. Choose questions that emphasize application and integration. For an extra layer of accountability, enable Respondus Monitor Lockdown Browser or require proctoring (visit Canvas Demo Course for more information). To lower the stakes of an exam, test, or quiz consider revising your final to be non-cumulative.
Written papers Students can communicate and create knowledge by writing a paper on a topic or in response to a prompt.	Canvas Assignments set to Peer Review, Canvas Groups, Google Docs	To encourage incremental improvement on drafts and input from others, create opportunities for students to submit drafts, receive feedback, and revise. Organize students into pairs or small groups. Provide peer review rubrics to guide peer input as well as grading rubrics for clear expectations. Encourage draft-sharing in Canvas groups or collaborative tools like Google Docs and Microsoft Word’s Track Changes. Encourage students to consider a consult with the Writing Center.