Keep the intentional learning outcomes for your module up front and centre. Reminding yourself, “what am I assessing?” may help when making any proposed changes.

Ensure that the teaching and learning activities that have taken place (or that will take place) before the exam align with the learning outcomes (for more information, please refer to the QUB Handbook of assessment guidance and support 2022-23) – (from page 25).

Remove any immediately obvious (and less obvious) “Google-able” questions from your exam. While there may be some form of knowledge recall required in your assessment, the aim should be on the authenticity of the response so think about how your questions can be re-framed or re-written to refocus on students’ higher order thinking skills, critical reflection, synthesis, or application of practical skills and/or core knowledge (see detailed examples provided from Trinity College Dublin from a range of subject disciplines).

Use context-specific case studies, case-based scenarios or distinct “compare and contrast” examples for students to respond to a unique problem.

Require students to write about or critically evaluate their personal experience (e.g. through a personal reflection based on a particular workshop or placement opportunity).

Where appropriate, require students to use digital tools or resources as part of the assessment (e.g. a digital source, document, website, application, map, etc.), taking advantage of the online environment.

Consider creating a tighter word limit for each question in order to limit the likelihood that students can copy/paste content into their answers, but also to ensure that you promote quality over quantity. There have been reports where students have written pages and pages for answers in 24-hour exams, simply because they had more time. Therefore, it’s important to explicitly detail your expectations for each question and share this in your assessment details. For guidance on word count, refer to the ‘Managing Assessments’ section (from page 28) of the Assessment Handbook 2022-23 . Also the following workload equivalence guide from Ulster University is helpful!

As with all content for teaching, learning and assessment, ensure the online open book exam is designed with accessibility and inclusion in mind, especially when providing assessment details as text documents for students to download and always ensure that your MS Word documents are accessible before exporting to pdf.

Consider the time allowed for the online open book exam. Limiting time significantly will mean that students may not be able to lean on additional access to resources too heavily. However, it is important to balance this out with ensuring that they have adequate time to complete the assessment and to allow some extra time for potential technical issues related to uploading their assessments (e.g., slow connection or poor-quality bandwidth). Many schools in Queen’s are running online open book exams based on an x+1 model within a 24-hour period. . Also ensure that extra time or a longer submission window is provided for any students who require greenroom accommodation or additional time and check school policy.

Where possible, allow students the opportunity to practice the online open-book exam by creating a mock assessment mirroring the submission requirements for the final exam (e.g., by setting up a mock assignment in Canvas under the same conditions they will experience at summative stage). Note that it is important to provide detailed instructions for students if they are required to submit documents or upload supplementary material (e.g. handwritten notes) through additional software like MS Lens.