Exam Supervision Guidelines for Students Learning at Home
Students learning at home may be allowed to write chapter/unit exams at home, under the supervision of a parent/guardian. In addition to these chapter/unit exams, any course that has a midterm and/or final exam will require a proctor from outside the student’s family. Proctors must be approved by the teacher. Further information on the proctoring process is found in the document Proctor-Related Information for Students.
It is very important that we ensure the academic integrity of our examination processes, and that our practice of allowing home supervision of exams does not call into question the validity of our final course grades. Therefore, if marks on proctored exams are lower by 25% or more than on home-supervised exams, or the quality of work is noticeably different, the student may be required to demonstrate that the home-supervised exams accurately reflect learning. The teacher may:
- require the student to rewrite the chapter/unit exams in the presence of a proctor;
- require that all remaining chapter/unit exams be written in the presence of a proctor;
- require the student to show understanding of the content via a Microsoft Teams interview with the teacher;
- assign greater weight to the proctored exams when calculating the final mark; and/or
- determine that credit cannot be granted for the course.
The above actions may also be taken if there is evidence of academic dishonesty on hand-in assignments. We acknowledge that these procedures may inconvenience some students and families, but we also believe that it is in our students’ interests that the Sask DLC maintains a reputation for integrity in assessment.
Exam Supervision Expectations
The student should email the teacher at least two days before the exam will be written and should inform the teacher of the date and time during which the exam will be written. All exam supervisors must also complete and return the Exam Supervisor Agreement.
Paper-based exams and passwords to online exams will be sent only to the supervisor’s email address. This must be an address that the student cannot access. Passwords are to be entered by the supervisor, not given to the student. Students must not have any access to exam papers outside of the time during which they are writing.
The supervisor must follow all exam requirements provided by the teacher via email or specified on the exam cover sheet. Examples include time limits for writing, reference materials allowed during the exam, permitted technology, etc.
The supervisor must not provide any assistance whatsoever to the student while the exam is being written. If accommodations are required, such as a scribe or reader, this must be discussed with the teacher before the date on which the exam is scheduled.
The supervisor must be in the same room as the student during the exam and be able to observe the student. For an online exam, the supervisor must be able to see the computer screen at all times to ensure that only approved programs and internet windows/tabs are open.
Once the student has completed the exam, the supervisor is to collect all exam papers and scan and email the exam to the teacher. Please ensure that all pages are present and readable before sending the scanned exam. The supervisor must email the exam from the email address that cannot be accessed by the student. Students must not be allowed to email the exams to the teacher; this is the supervisor’s responsibility. After emailing the scanned exam file, the file must be deleted from the computer so that the student cannot access the exam.
The exam must be completed in a single sitting and returned to the teacher as soon as possible. Exams that are not returned promptly may need to be rewritten.
Once the teacher has confirmed that the exam has been received, paper copies of the exam must be destroyed, and all emails containing the exam deleted.
If the above requirements for home-supervised exams are not met, the teacher may require that all subsequent exams be written in the presence of a proctor.
Feedback on Exams
The teacher will mark the exam and send the student the mark and some general feedback. Marked copies of exams are not emailed back to the student or supervisor. Students are welcome to contact their instructor if more detailed feedback is needed.
Thank you very much for your help with supervising these exams and helping to maintain the academic integrity of our courses. If you have questions or concerns please contact the course teacher.