Exam FAQs for Professors

Midterm and Final Exam Preparation Information for Professors

At the beginning of each semester, the Registrar’s Office emails all professors requesting midterm and final exam information. We ask that professors submit their midterm and final exam information no later than the end of the first week of the semester so that we can post exam schedules prior to the add/drop deadline, if possible. Faculty can submit exam requests here:

Examination Request Form

There are two types of exams administered through the Registrar’s Office: classroom exams and online (take home) exams. Please see details for both types of exams below. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact the Registrar’s Office for further information.

Classroom Exams

• What do I need to know when requesting a classroom midterm or final?
  • Exams answers are typed in and submitted via Exam4 software. We strongly recommend against having students handwrite exam their exam answers, with the exception of those who may have an approved accommodation from DU Student Disability Services.
  • If Exam4 software is used, there are three options within the software:
    • Closed Mode – students can only access the software*
    • Open Mode – students can only access the software and their hard drive*
    • Open + Network Mode – students can everything on their computer (software, hard drive, and internet)
       

  *We discourage exams that are open note, but closed “mode”. Many students take notes on their laptops and often save them to cloud-based software like “OneNote” for extra security.  If you allow students to use their notes, but don’t allow them access to their hard drive and/or the internet, they will have to print their notes in hardcopy in order to be able to access them for the exam.

  Examination Request Form

• What do I need to know when preparing for an upcoming classroom exam?
  • Please submit exam questions at least three business days prior to your scheduled exam to allow for enough time to print/upload exams and prepare appropriately.
  • If you have multiple choice or true/false questions, please place them either at the beginning or the end of the exam, starting with question #1. You can have up to six answer options (A, B, C, D, E, or F).The software does not allow more than one right answer for any question.
    • If you are submitting multiple choice or true/false questions, please also submit your answer key with your exam packet to allow us to grade this portion of the exam for you.
    • If we receive your answer key in advance, we will return multiple choice and/or true/false results at the same time that we notify you that your exams are ready for pickup.
  • All classroom exams are proctored by staff members. In the exam classroom, students will be given hard copy versions of the exam questions and scratch paper. Students must return both the exam questions and scratch paper at the end of the exam. Scratch paper is shredded upon receipt.
    • If professors would like to see student notes, you may request to have the scratch paper returned to you. If this is the case, we will ask the students to include their exam # on all scratch paper and it will be attached to the exam packet by the proctor.
       

  In an effort to follow DU’s commitment to sustainability**, we double-side print all exam question packets and answer packets. When you are formulating your exam question packet, please be mindful that the question packets are printed for every student. We often see a lot of paper waste with excessive spacing, etc. If you need assistance streamlining your exam so there is less paper waste, you are welcome to contact the Registrar’s Office at least two weeks before your exam. While we cannot assist with content editing, we are happy to assist with finding ways to shorten the exam by adjusting the formatting.  If needed, per the Associate Dean, our office reserves the right to make adjustments to your exam instructions if they are not compatible with the way we need to administer your exam. We will not, of course, make any substantive changes to the exam content or the time restrictions (unless students have approved accommodations for extra time).

• What can I expect after my exam takes place?
  • Exam answers will be printed, compiled and ready for professor pick up approximately three business days after your exam ends. If you prefer to receive your exam answers electronically, please notify us and we will remove all metadata that might potentially identify your students prior to sending your compiled exams.
  • Any in-class exams not completed in the software (i.e. written response exams, illustrations, etc.) will be scanned by the Registrar’s Office staff upon completion to ensure that electronic copies of all submissions are available. This may delay the collection of exams by up to three additional business days.
  • Once your exam answers are ready for pick-up, the Registrar’s Office will email you to confirm that your exam answers are available. If it is a final exam (as opposed to a midterm), we will also email you a copy of your grading spreadsheet at that time.
  • If a student takes your exam out of sequence, we will hold back a selection of exams until all exams are completed. We will then return the remaining exams to ensure that the out of sequence exam remains anonymous.

Online Exams

• What do I need to know when requesting an online midterm or final?
  • The online exam system is essentially a take home exam system. Students log into a portal through their browser, download the exam questions/prompt, and then have a certain amount of time to complete their answer(s) before uploading their response back into the online portal.
  • All online exams are open book/open note. Because students can take online exams from any location, they are on the honor code not to share answers or information with any classmates unless explicitly instructed otherwise.
  • Students taking online exams will receive an email notification from the Registrar’s Office with a link to the online exam. This email includes standard instructions to the student to download the questions/prompt from the software and upload their completed exam back into system. If they should follow any instructions outside of this standard, please let the Registrar’s Office know as soon as possible, so that we can ensure consistency of instruction.
• What do I need to know when preparing for an upcoming online exam?
  • Please submit exam questions at least three business days prior to your scheduled exam to allow enough time to prepare the online portal appropriately. Exam questions will be posted in the format they are submitted (Word or PDF).
  • Students, upon opening the exam questions from the online portal, will then open a blank Word document to record their answers. Upon completion, they will upload their answer document through the online portal.  Important note:  The exam software only allows students to upload one document as their answer.
  • Multiple choice exams are difficult, but not impossible, to coordinate as online exams. Please contact the Registrar’s Office for guidance on formatting a multiple choice online exam.
• What can I expect after my exam takes place?
  • Exam answers will typically be printed, compiled and ready for professor pick up within three business days after your exam ends. If you prefer to receive your exam answers electronically, please notify us by the date of your exam. We will remove any metadata that may identify your students’ identity to you before sending you your exams for grading.
  • Once your exam answers are ready for pick-up, the Registrar’s Office will email you to confirm that your exam answers are available. If it is a final exam (as opposed to a midterm), will also email you a copy of your grading spreadsheet at that time.
  • If a student takes your exam out of sequence, we will hold back a selection of exams until all exams are completed. We will then submit the remaining exams to ensure that the out of sequence exam remains anonymous.