Digital learning assessment and examination
On this page, you will find brief descriptions of all our services, along with helpful links. These services are not only supported by the university, but they are also secure and adaptable to various situations.
Before you choose which service to use
Aalto University offers a variety of options for digital assessment and online examination. There are several factors to consider when selecting the best format for student learning, and different exam formats may require different digital tools.
Start by asking yourself:
- What are the intended learning outcomes of the course?
- What type of exam do you plan? Is it a quiz with multiple-choice questions, an essay exam, or something else?
- How many students take the exam? Is it a small group of 10-20 students, a medium-sized group of 50-100, or a larger group of over 400?
- What kind of exam is it? Will students need to bring course materials, work in groups, or complete the exam within a specific time?
By considering your specific needs and the features offered by each option, you can select the digital examination format best suited for you and your students.
Digital assessment and online examination services
MyCourses includes a variety of assignments and activities that can be used to assess student learning. The most typical ones used for exams are Assignment and Quiz.
The Assignment activity is suitable for different kinds of texts or downloaded files.
The Quiz activity is suitable for different types of questions, such as multiple-choice, arithmetic, or essay.
In MyCourses, you can also use the Turnitin return box. Turnitin's return box makes it possible to give competence assessments anonymously.
A remotely proctored exam is one where a student completing the exam is supervised remotely in real time. The student as well as the supervisor must use only programmes and tools approved by Aalto University IT services.
A teacher uses:
- The Microsoft Teams video conferencing tool for proctoring
- The MyCourses exam workspace for creating the exam.
A student uses:
- MyCourses to complete the exam
- Microsoft Teams to confirm their identity.
is an electronic assessment service that enables learning assessment in a versatile and flexible way. Teachers can implement various kinds of examinations and demonstrations of learning. Students can take exams according to their own schedule by using the video-monitored EXAM studios on campus.
Turnitin is a tool for preventing plagiarism and enhancing writing skills. In practice, it is a submission box for student papers.
Turnitin checks submitted texts against comparison databases (repositories) for similarity issues and then generates a similarity report. The comparison databases include web pages, student papers and library databases and publications. While the similarity report shows similarities, it does not demonstrate plagiarism per se. The reports have to be interpreted carefully.
Turnitin is also used to give feedback and grades.
The for the rights and responsibilities of students and teachers as regards typical forms of plagiarism, how to handle suspicions of plagiarism, and the possible consequences of plagiarism.
Safe Exam Browser is a secure web browser environment that allows you to conduct electronic exams safely. It controls access to system functions, other websites, and applications, preventing unauthorized resources from being used during an exam. SEB runs on a local Windows or macOS computer and is connected via the internet to a learning management system (LMS) or an e-assessment system.
MyCourses offers a quiz mode that is specifically compatible with SEB. Students can bring their own laptops to a classroom and take the exam using SEB, which prevents them from accessing unauthorized resources during the exam. However, it is important to give clear instructions to students and to test the system before the exam to ensure that their laptops are compatible with SEB. Additionally, you should have someone present in the room to monitor students and answer any questions or address technical problems. It is also a good idea to have paper exams available as a backup in case of unexpected technical issues. Instructions
Help and instructions
Learning assessment at Aalto University
Assessment for learning at Aalto University is a carefully planned pedagogical process which aims to support learning instead of merely measuring it.
