Course Testing Requirements

 

The Testing Services area of the Center for Academic Achievement (CFAA) proctors online tests in courses, subject to the limitations of our testing capacity. This document explains

Test Proctoring at the CFAA

The CFAA proctors online tests delivered through D2L (multiple-choice, essay, or short answer). Students typically take tests over a three- to five-day period on a walk-in basis during the center's testing hours.We will approve requests to reserve a block of seats so an entire class can take a test at the same time if the request does not interfere with open seating for students in other courses. Because the center administers tests for several courses concurrently, students may have to wait in line during peak testing hours; if lines are long and testing hours are drawing to a close, they may not be seated. However, over the entire period that a test is offered there will be enough seats for all students needing to take it, provided they have not waited until the last day the test is open. The center will proctor up to four tests per term per course. We administer tests of any time duration, however test timed for longer than one hour are subject to testing capacity at time of request.

Testing Services does not ...

  • proctor paper or Scantron tests;
  • provide in-class proctors;
  • collect homework or other assignments from students;
  • administer tests in multiple sessions (all tests must be completed in a single session);

Faculty Responsibilities

If you wish to use the CFAA's test proctoring services, it is your responsibility to ...

Create your test, or copy an existing test into, D2L. If you need instruction on how to do this, follow the links here.

In order to ensure that everything runs smoothly for your students,  follow our recommendations regarding D2L settings and test design:

  • Use testing methods that satisfy basic standards for test security, e.g. requiring the use of the Respondus Lockdown Browser, creating banks of test questions in D2L in order to generate different versions of the exam or at least randomize the order in which items appear on the test.
  • Give names to your tests (under Assessments in D2L) that indicate which are to be proctored in Testing Services (e.g., "Exam #2, Proctored in CFAA").
  • Review your exams to check time and days, and proper settings have been applied. Make sure each test is complete and "active" at least 72 hours before it is set to open. Please run a "Preview" on each test to ensure that it works properly.
  • Add CFAA Director Rob Russell (russellr@mail.etsu.edu ) and Interim Coordinator Eric Hunt (huntej@etsu.edu) to your course as instructors so that one of them can preview your tests, add the additional security settings that will prevent students from taking your tests in any location other than the CFAA, review your date/time settings, and contact you if anything needs to be changed.
  • Post testing instructions, dates, and times on your D2L site, as well as the general guidelines for student test-takers (available here).
  • Remind students that they must make appointments to test here

  Handle cases of suspected cheating. If CFAA staff detects cheating, they will write an Incident Report, collect any evidence of cheating, and turn over both to you. Staff will inform the student of the suspected cheating, but allow him or her to complete the test.

Actively discourage cheating. The CFAA follows nationwide best practices to reduce cheating. To assist us, please do the following:

  • Inform Testing Services staff and your students about materials allowed during the exam, such as calculators, books, notes, pencils and scrap paper.
  • If you permit scrap paper and, you wish to review scrap paper, let us know in advance. We collect and dispose of all scrap paper on exit. 

Accommodations for Students with Disabilities

The center is able to provide certain accommodations for students who have followed ETSU's protocol for documenting disabilities. Available accommodations include wheelchair-accessible testing stations, low-distraction testing and extra time. Low-distraction testing consists of seating students in a corner of the main testing area and offering them earplugs (available to all students upon request). If a student requires other accommodations, the instructor and student should contact the Office of Disability Services. Faculty planning to send students to the CFAA for testing accommodations must notify the center in advance. Students receiving accommodations should call 439-6708 to schedule an appointment.

For special circumstances, please contact Interim Testing Coordinator Eric Hunt at huntej@etsu.edu

Approval Criteria

Although we would like to honor all requests for test proctoring, if requests exceed our capacity we will use the following criteria when reviewing requests. We give highest priority to:

  • Requests for test proctoring in course sections enrolling at least 100 students and multiple course sections collectively enrolling at least 100 students and using common exams.
  • Requests received earlier.
  • Requests with flexible testing dates.

We give lower priority to:

  • Requests received less than two weeks before the first preferred test date.
  • Requests to proctor tests lasting longer than one hour.
  • Requests to reserve blocks of seats (e.g., so everyone in a class may test together). Faculty or departments making such requests must provide proctors to oversee students during the reserved time, if approved.
  • Requests from faculty who used testing services in the past and did not follow through on responsibilities.

Requesting Test Proctoring

To request test proctoring as described above, use the Scheduling Request Software. To request proctoring after you have enrolled, follow this link

 

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