An example of this approach, plus: pros and cons; requirements; resistance to academic misconduct and suggestions for making this approach more robust. Example These tend to be short time-limited assessments, attempting to replicate on-campus exams that would usually be invigilated in an exam hall. Requires online proctoring to increase confidence that it is truly closed-book, and yet even that cannot guarantee security. Pros Reassuring to examiners and external accrediting bodies. Cons Difficult to guarantee students are complying with closed-book instructions. All the risks of open-book assessments. Requirements Often accompanied by online proctoring, without which it is difficult to be certain that closed-book rules are being followed. Otherwise relying on trust alone. Online proctoring is widely used by some overseas institutions, and to a limited extent in the UK. It is neither straightforward nor foolproof; see Minimising cheating. Some exam-delivery technology can lock down your operating system and prevent use of the Internet on the device used for taking the exam. It cannot (without proctoring) prevent use of books, or searches on other devices, though time limitation reduces opportunities for that. Resistance to academic misconduct More resistant than other forms only if you add in high-resource requirements as above. Making it more robust If you are looking at these difficult options it is worth also reading or re-reading the pages on Assessment Design Minimising cheating Open-book exams - long form, and short form This article was published on 2024-02-26
