Online exams can be effective assessments when they are designed to be reliable, valid, and supportive of student learning. This webpage shares practical strategies for building stronger exam questions, increasing test security in Canvas, and setting students up for success before, during, and after an online exam.
Reliable exams produce consistent results across administrations. Extremely lengthy tests, unclear instructions, and inconsistent scoring guidelines can reduce reliability.
Valid exams measure what they are intended to measure. To support validity, each exam item should align with at least one student learning outcome; misalignment can confuse students and lead to incorrect responses.
Practical tips
- Map each question to a learning outcome before publishing the exam.
- Use consistent scoring guidelines (especially for short answer/essay items).
- Keep directions clear and unambiguous.
Construct exam items that measure students’ comprehension of concepts and skills, not just recall. Higher-order questions emphasize analysis, evaluation, and synthesis—and help limit cheating because answers are less likely to be found verbatim online.
Helpful resources (from the guide)
- Writing multiple choice questions for higher order thinking (Malamed/Johns Hopkins resource listed in references)
- Designing effective multiple-choice questions (McGill resource listed in references)
Canvas can help limit answer-sharing by allowing you to:
- Shuffle exam questions and/or shuffle answer choices
- Use item banks so that different students receive different versions of conceptually equivalent questions
These approaches reduce students’ ability to share exact questions and answers because they are less likely to see the same exam in the same order.
Displaying items one at a time helps ensure questions are answered in a timely manner and reduces the chance of the browser timing out. It also helps protect student work by saving answers as students move to the next page, reducing the loss of work during connectivity issues. Including a back button can help students review answers when appropriate.
A brief practice exam helps students become familiar with the testing process and any question types or features they will encounter. Practice exams should not be long or required; the goal is simply to help students test the process beforehand.
Online exams can create opportunities for students to share questions and answers. Having students take the exam at the same time—paired with a visible timer—reduces the likelihood of sharing because students need to focus on completing the exam. Be sure the time limit is reasonable for the exam’s scope.
Students should clearly understand the exam rules and how to avoid common problems (such as connectivity or browser issues). For example, the guide emphasizes a stable internet connection, a quiet testing environment, and avoiding prohibited behaviors, such as using a browser or phone to look up answers. Students should also avoid using the browser’s back/forward buttons, as this can cause timeouts.
Feedback helps students understand why they missed an answer and supports reflection and learning—even after summative assessments. To limit answer-sharing, it’s often best to provide feedback after all students have completed the exam. In some cases, feedback can be released after each question if appropriate precautions are in place (e.g., concurrent testing, shuffled items, and/or item banks).
Some students may need extra time or other accommodations (such as a reader or appropriate color schemes). Canvas can apply accommodations for specific students after an exam is created. Review the university’s accommodation procedures, and partner with OIT as needed to set up appropriate features.
Even in a remote setting, students should be reminded that UTK’s academic integrity standards still apply. Communicate expectations clearly before the exam—what is allowed and what is not allowed—so there is no ambiguity.
OIT exam creation resources
The guide notes that OIT provides tips and resources on assessments and academic integrity.
- Banta, T.W., & Palomba, C.A. (2015). Assessment essentials: Planning, implementing, and improving assessment in higher education (2nd ed.). Jossey-Bass.
- Malamed, C. (2013). Writing multiple choice questions for higher order thinking (Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health resource listed in the guide).
- McGill University Teaching and Learning Services Skillsets. Designing effective multiple-choice questions (resource listed in the guide).