Online Examinations

Get informed

Online examinations are a form of electronically-supported examination in which students take their examinations on the move (e.g. at home) on their own device with an Internet connection. There are various implementation options, which we briefly present on this page – including responsibilities at the TU Darmstadt as well as links to detailed information on organizational and technical matters.

More information on the services of the e-learning group for online examinations

Content of this page:

Variants of online examinations:

FAQ for students on online exams

News

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Moodle Exam

The TU-Darmstadt runs its own Moodle instance for computer-based testing: https://moodle-exam.tu-darmstadt.de.

This is to be used for all online exams because the dedicated server capacity is exclusively available for exams. Prepared courses matching your request are also provided there. The tool selection for online exams is also extended compared to that of the central Moodle learning platform and thus are the possibilities in creating exercises.

Variants of online examinations:

Open Book Exams

These examinations are carried out with free use of sources and without supervision. In most cases implemented on Moodle with the activities “Test” or “Task”.

If you plan to offer an Open Book Exam, find out about the services provided by the e-learning group in this regard.

Main responsibility: Department II

Overview of the most important facts:

  • The examinations are designed in such a way that auxiliaries are generally permitted (Open Book).
  • Thus consist of open questions in which, for example, the focus is on argumentation and answers cannot simply be looked up online or in auxillaries.
    Tasks may be randomised with exchangeable questions if they are comparable in terms of difficulty and weighting in the examination. For example, values can be varied in calculations, multiple-choice options can be exchanged or comparable tasks within a topic can be exchanged.
  • This form of examination is regarded as a substitute for the presence examination (i.e. a simultaneous presence examination on site at the university does not have to be offered to the students as an additional option).
  • Examinees are required to submit a declaration of authenticity. Submitted work can be checked by plagiarism checkers.
  • The use of the Exam Moodle is recommended for this kind of exams.

Contacts:

Main responsibility: Department II

  • If you have procedural or legal questions, please contact the Department II () or your student service.
  • To obtain a template course in the Exam Moodle, submit a request to the e-examination team of the e-learning group.
  • For questions about using Moodle, contact the Moodle team:

Information on implementation

The e-examination team of the e-learning group maintains detailed documentation on how examination processes can be adapted for online examinations, what technologies are available and under which settings those should be used.

This documentation is only in German language available. If you need english speaking counselling please contact the e-examination team:

If you are a beginner in using specific Moodle functions

Helpful information:

  • Moodle Docs (in English and German language available): Online documentation from the worldwide Moodle community explaining Moodle features
  • Moodle FAQ for lecturers (in German language available): Frequently Asked Questions answered by the Moodle team

Support:

We can create a template course for you on request

Proctored Exams

This form of examination is currently only available as part of a pilot project at the TU Darmstadt. These are examinations in which remote supervision of the examinees takes place, for example with the help of a video conferencing system such as Zoom or through remote proctoring software such as Proctorio.

If you would like to hold a remote proctored exam, please submit a request to the e-learning group. This should be done at least 8 weeks before the scheduled exam or 2 weeks before the exam registration deadline, whichever is earlier.

Main responsibility: E-Learning Group
Services for Zoom examinations
Services for Proctorio examinations

Overview of the most important facts:

  • This form of examination is currently only available as part of a pilot project at the TU Darmstadt. These are covered by the regulations of the Hessian “Verordnung zur Durchführung elektronischer Fernprüfungen” (in German).
    • To participate in the pilot, a preliminary talk with the e-examination team is necessary. Make a request for this.
    • Preparations for the exam must be started as early as possible.
      The workload is distributed differently from paper and pen exams.
      Examinees must be given time to make an based decision for or against an online examination.
    • Students must also be offered a simultaneous presence examination on site at the university (freedom of choice).
    • Examinees must have the opportunity to pre-test the examination with proctoring in order to be able to decide whether they can and want to take part in this form of examination or whether they choose the on-site examination instead. In order to be able to make this decision, individual candidates may also need to borrow or purchase hardware.
    • The examination guidelines must be formulated by the examination administration.
  • The Exam Moodle, which is available as a separate system for online examinations, must be used to conduct the examination.
  • Various methods and systems (also combined) can be used for proctoring:
    • Proctorio ~ proctoring with automated execution
    • Zoom ~ live supervision instead of Proctorio
    • Safe Exam Browser as a supplement to Proctorio or Zoom to put the computer into a kiosk mode

Contacts:

Main responsibility: E-examination team of the E-Learning group.

  • In the context of the pilot implementation of this online form of examination, the support team for e-examinations will assist you:
    Services for Zoom exams
    Services for Proctorio exams
  • For questions regarding examination law: Department II ()
  • for specific application-related questions in Moodle, you can also contact Moodle Support:

Detailed information:

The e-examination team of the e-learning group maintains detailed (german) documentation on how examination processes can be adapted for online examinations, what technologies are available and under what settings they should be used.

It serves as a knowledge base for the support team and, if necessary, for examination administrators to familiarise themselves with the details – be it legal foundations and processes that need to be defined and technical implementations.

This documentation is only in German language available. If you need english speaking counselling please contact the e-examination team: .

Oral remote examinations (video-based)

Here, the oral examination takes place with the help of a video conference system (e.g. Zoom) provided by the university.

Main responsibility: Department II

Information from Department II on changes of the examination form to an oral remote examination (in German)

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FAQ for students on online exams

Instructions for students on how to take online exams, e.g. Zoom FAQ, Proctorio exam FAQ, use of the test module in Moodle

To the documentary: Online examinations for students (in German)