Mini guides

EXAM Moodle

1. What is EXAM Moodle?
2. How is EXAM Moodle different to regular Moodle?
3. What is meant by an active exam?
4. What is meant by current time and location?
5. What is exam review?
6. How is the EXAM Moodle login page different?
7. How is the EXAM Moodle course different?
8. How are EXAM Moodle roles different to HUJI Moodle roles?
9. What are the HelpDesk role and HelpDesk tool?
10. How is the EXAM Moodle Exam settings different to regular Quiz settings?
11. How is the EXAM Moodle Edit exam different to regular Edit quiz?
12. How are the EXAM Moodle Group override and User override pages different?
13. How is the EXAM Moodle main view different?
14. How is the EXAM Moodle Grades report different?
15. How is EXAM Moodle Statistics report different?
16. How is the EXAM Moodle Manual grading report different?
17. What is the EXAM Moodle Security report?
18. How is the EXAM Moodle exam attempt different?
19. How is the EXAM Moodle exam review page different?
20. How is the EXAM Moodle question settings different?
21. What facilities are there for communicating with students during an exam?
22. The Announcements/Chats page
23. How are the Extension and Audition roles assigned?
24. What facilities are there for Helpdesk users and Invigilators?
       1. The Today's exams page
       2. The Helpdesk tool
       3. The BYOD Entry/Exit app
25. How can I...?
     ...Know what exams there are today, or over some other period of time, or what exams are currently open?
     ...Know what exams a particular student has today, or over some other period of time?
     ...Quickly give a time extension to a student during an exam or shortly after it?
     ...Quickly allow a student to start an exam after the Time delay has lapsed?
     ...Do a sanity check on my Gang questions?
     ...Check if there are any external links in the exam
     ...Check if there are any external links or audio files in any exams in a course, course category, or the system
     ...View all autosaves for a particular exam attempt and question
     ...Stress test EXAM Moodle
     ...Extend all active attempts, or attempts that were active a short while previously
26. How can I import grades from EXAM Moodle into HUJI Moodle?
27. What is a BYOD exam?
28. What is SEB?
29. How do I require students to use SEB
30. What is SEB with HUJI configuration?
31. Does requiring SEB with HUJI configuration provide sufficient security for BYOD exams?
32. How can one ensure that students do not take a BYOD exam some place else?
33. How can I prevent students allowing a remote agent to control their laptops?
34. What if some students will be taking the exam on workstations and others on their own laptops?
35. Why can't a student do his exam?
36. What if a student has more than one exam?
37. What if Max questions to grade is set and a disqualified question is graded?
38. How can I use EXAM Moodle to enable students to take regular pen-and-paper exams remotely?
39. How can I use the Assignment PDF editor on files uploaded to Essays?
40. How can I prevent a particular student from reviewing his exam?
41. What demo exams are available?
42. How can I see the detailed history of an attempt?
43. Is it possible for students to access their own files during an exam?
44. How do I authenticate to EXAM Moodle?


Under construction...
See also the Quiz miniguide and EXAM Moodle cookbook


General



What is EXAM Moodle?
EXAM Moodle is a variation of Moodle that, from the point of view of a student, behaves like an exam system.
It was developed at the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel (HUJI).
Exams are based on Moodle quizzes.
Exams can be of type Quiz or Assignment
An exam of type Assignment is a Quiz that is set up like an Assignment.
Exams of type Assignment, and optionally also Essay questions, are graded using an Assignment


How is EXAM Moodle different to regular Moodle?
Guest access is not allowed.
If the user has an exam at the current time and location, he is redirected to the exam.
(If the exam requires SEB, or SEB with HUJI configuration, and he is not using it, he is instead thrown out with an appropriate message.)
Otherwise, if he used the special review URL, and he has exams that have been graded and released for review, he is taken to the review page
Otherwise, if has a privileged role in any courses, EXAM Moodle behaves as a regular Moodle - but only those courses effectively exist.
Otherwise, he is thrown out with an appropriate message. (The message includes information on exams that he has that day and extensions that he is entitled to.)
Note: Ordinary access restrictions to courses and modules (other than those noted in this page) are irrelevent for unprivileged users.


What is meant by an active exam?
Only exams that are marked as active are available to students.
In flex courses, students register to take the an exam at a time of their choosing.
(Registration is through RishumNet. Currently, a few courses in the faculty of Natural Sciences are flex courses.)
In flex courses, the Moed must be set
In other courses, the time of the exam (i.e. Opening time and either Closing time or Time limit) must be set


What is meant by current time and location?
In order to be marked active, an exam must have
    • In flex courses: A Moed and Time limit.
      A user is considered to have an exam at the current time if he has registered to take an exam in that course/moed and and it is not more than an hour after his registration time, or he has already begin the exam that day, and the exam Time limit has not elapsed.
      The exam Time limit can be overridden
    • In other courses: An Opening time and either a Closing time or a Time limit.
      A user is considered to have an exam at the current time if there is an exam in a course to which he is enrolled as a student, and it is not more than the Start delay after the exam Opening time, or he has already begin the exam that day, and the exam finishing time or Time limit has not elapsed.
      The exam Opening time, Closing time and Time limit can all be overridden
  1. A network restriction (i.e. Require subnets must be set)
    Require subnets can be a combination of IPs, IP ranges, rooms and WIFIs
    (A room or WIFI is effectively a list of IPs. EXAM Moodle knows about most rooms that are used for exams on the various HUJI campuses. The only WIFI currently supported is exams-test.)
    A user is considered to have an exam at the current location if Require subnets is set and his IP complies with it.
    Unlike in regular Moodle, Require subnets can be overridden.
    Note: If, for whatever reason, a network restriction cannot be set then a password must be set instead.


What is exam review?
The teacher can release the exam for review.
A student can view all his exams that have been released for review at http://exam2.cs.huji.ac.il/review.
Note: A student never has access to anything in EXAM Moodle other than exams that have been released for review (and, of course, his current exam attempt, if any).
See How is the EXAM Moodle review page different?



How is EXAM Moodle different to regular Moodle?



How is the EXAM Moodle login page different?
  • There is no option to Remember username
  • If the IP is in a known room, or an a known WIFI, the name of the room or WIFI is shown
  • If the IP is in a room, or an a WIFI, for which there is a pre-configured SEB key, a warning is shown if the version of SEB is incorrect, or the SEB key is incorrect or not the current version.
  • If the SEB key is correct, there is a Quit SEB link. If the SEB key is not the current version, there is a Try to quit SEB link
  • There are links to:
    • The Exams released for review login page.
    • The Manage my files login page.
    • EXAM Moodle of the following year, if available, or the previous year


How is the EXAM Moodle course different?
  • In the Course settings:
    • All irrelevant options are hidden
    • There is a Force editor option. Used to force the use of TinyMCE in exams that require auto wordcount
    • Besides that, only Force language and Access key for test users can be changed
    • Section Test users is renamed Local users and includes an option to set the Access key for proctors. See below
The Add an activity or resource link is replaced by Add Exam of type Quiz and Add Exam of type Assignment links. Both are called Exam everywhere else in EXAM Moodle Sections cannot be edited - only renamed, highlighted, added and deleted There is no News forum Notifications and messaging are disabled Group mode is always Separate groups Only Quizzes (aka Exams) can be imported or restored. Only options relevant to exams are restored.
Assignments are created from exams of type Assignment using the Prepare attempts for grading option (see below), or from other exams by using the Essay question to Assignment utility (see below) Only Coordinators can duplicate exams.
Attempting to duplicate opens a confirmation dialog explaining the dangers and how to circumvent them. (Implemented also in HUJI Moodle.) The exam index page optionally shows also Group and User overrides. Whether exam is Active, group restrictions, and Opening time and Time limit are also shown.
(Partially Implemented also in HUJI Moodle)


How are EXAM Moodle roles different to HUJI Moodle roles?
  • Five additional roles exist at system and course levels: Extension 25%, 40%, 50% and 100%, and Audition
    A student with one of the Extension roles automatically gets an extension on the default Time limit and Closing time and also on any Group override, Time limit and Closing time.
    Such students are everywhere marked with a small superscript e.g 25.
    A student with the Audition role sees the audio players even if Hide audio players is enabled
  • Teachers and TAs see only IDs - not names, emails or pictures. This can be waived by assigning the secondary role of Unrestricted
    They can search the exam Grades report by ID prefix.
  • There are HelpDesk and TomaETest exempt roles. See next questions and the Roles miniguide


What are the HelpDesk role and HelpDesk tool?
The HelpDesk role and HelpDesk tool are intended for providing non-academic support during exams.
The HelpDesk tool is available to users who have role of Coordinator or HelpDesk on a course category (capability moodle/site:viewexamsummary).
It shows all exams scheduled on an any day, or during any period of time, in all courses in the category (or categories) including times, security restrictions, and the numbers of students who are eligible, started and finished.
In addition, one can:
  • Similarly, show all exams of a particular student
  • Allow a student who missing starting on time, to start (within an hour of the time he was allowed to start)
  • Allow a student extra time during the exam or after it was submitted (within an hour of the time it was submitted)
  • Exempt a student from using TomaETest
Users with the HelpDesk role can:
  • Use the HelpDesk tool
  • Manage User overrides
  • View the Participants page and assign the TomaETest exempt role
  • View, but not edit, the exam Settings page
  • View the Grades report
  • View active attempts only i.e. real attempts (not previews or attempts of test users) which have not yet finished or should have finished
  • View the TomaETest dashboard



How do EXAM Moodle exam pages differ from regular Moodle quiz pages?



How is the EXAM Moodle Exam settings different to regular Quiz settings?
Only settings relevant to an exam that is intended to be taken in real time are available.
Settings include:
  • General
    • Type of examQuiz or Assignment
    • Name:  Not seen by students (except when more than one exam is available)
    • CourseAdmin assignment name:  CSE courses only. Used for grading using CourseAdmin penalties
    • Instructions:  Shown at start of exam and in popup that can be opened during the exam
  • Exam settings
    • Active exam:  The exam is available only if enabled
    • Restrict to group/s:  If set, only members of the chosen groups (and users with a User override) can take the exam
    • Moed:  Used together with the course name to name the exam
    • Supplementary documentation:  A file that can be opened in a popup during the exam
    • Enable Chat:  If enabled, a Chat box appears below the quiz navigation block. See below.
    • Allow access to private files:  Currently available only in the Law school. See below.
  • Timing
    • Opening time:  Required
    • Start delay:  Exam must be started within this interval of the Opening time. Default is 1 hour for flex courses and 15 minutes for others. Advanced option if default.
    • Time limit: Either a Time limit or a Closing time is required. The exam cannot continue past midnight.
    • Closing time:  If set, it should be no later than the Time limit plus the Start delay after the Opening time. Advanced option unless set
  • Reopen attempts
    • Allow students to reopen attempts:  Useful if an extension is granted after attempts have finished
  • Grading - Assignment only
    • Grade usingAssignment or TomaGrade
  • Layout - Quiz only
    • New page
    • Navigation method:  If set to Sequential, the student cannot move on to next page before he has answered all the questions on the current page.
    • Shuffle sections:  Shuffle order of sections is shuffled. If enabled, edit options Keep the highest and Max questions to grade are not available
    • Show save button:  Useful if there are essay questions or pages with many questions.
      See section Quiz autosave of Is there an autosave feature? in the FAQ for teachers for how it interacts with autosave.
    • Hide audio players  If enabled, only students with the role of Audition see the audio players. Also, audio can be toggled in Preview
  • Question behaviour - Quiz only
    • Shuffle within questions:  Additonal option Yes, if shuffled in question
  • Exam review options
    • Release grades to students:  If enabled, students can review their attempt. One can optionally set a window of time.
    • Appeal subnets:  IPs from which attempts can be reviewed
    • Show marks and grades:
    • Quiz only:
      • Questions to showAll questions, Only answered questions, Only answered questions that did not get full marks......
      • Answers to show in Multichoice and Cloze questionsAll answers, All answers but no indication of correct answer, Only chosen answer, Only chosen answer and correct answer
      Note: One cannot review questions that were Disqualified. See below
    • Show feedback
  • Appearance - Quiz only
  • Extra restrictions on attempts
    • Require password:
    • Require subnets:  Multiselect menu of rooms and WIFI networks in the various campuses that are used for exams plus a textfield for additional IPs
    • Browser security:  Classic Require use of Safe Exam Browser and custom Require use of Safe Exam Browser with HUJI Exam Browser Key. (Section Safe exam browser is not shown.)
    • Declaration of honesty:  Per-faculty default decalarations. Declaration is configurable. Signature is optional
    • Enable Originality:
    • Enable TomaETest proctoring:
On saving, there is a warning if there are external links in the Instructions, Supplementary documentation, or any of the questions or answers.
Note: Many of the settings are not available in flex courses.


How is the EXAM Moodle Edit exam different to regular Edit quiz?
  • For a Quiz:
    • For each quiz section, one can set
      • Max questions to grade: If the student answers more than that number of questions, he is graded only on that number of questions, in the order of his layout.
        All further questions that he answered are marked as Disqualified
        Questions with a grade of zero are ignored.
        Disqualified questions are not included in overall grade, averages or statistics and the student does not see them in his review.
      • Keep the highest: If more than this number of questions are graded, only this number of questions - the ones with the highest marks - are included in the overall grade
      Of course, these options make sense only if all questions in the section with a non-zero grade are of equal value.
      Also, Keep the highest (if set) must be less than Max questions to grade (if set) and both must be less than the number of questions in the section.
      Any attempt to set any other value will be ignored.
  • For an Assignment:
    This is simply the edit page of an Essay question, preconfigured and without all irrelevant headings and options. Thus the Teacher requires no knowledge of creating questions.
    The Response options depend on whether Grade using is set to TomaGrade or Assignment


How are the EXAM Moodle Group override and User override pages different?
    • The Group override pages warns that it is usually preferable to use the Restrict to group/s setting of the exam settings rather than a Group override.
      If Restrict to group/s is set, it warns that the Group override will apply only to students who are also member of those groups
    • The User override page warns that it overrides the Exam's Restrict to group/s setting
  • Start within, Require subnets (rooms/WIFIs and/or IPs) and Browser security can also be overridden
  • The student must be selected before opening the User override page.
  • The User override page lists the Closing times and Time limits that the student would receive by virtue of his Extension role (if any) and Group overrides (if any).
  • Time fields are fully validated, as on the Exam settings page
  • If extra time has been given using the Extend selected attempts button, or the Allow extra time feature of the exams.php utility, a log of changes since the start of the attempt is shown
  • During an exam, there is a utility on the Group override page for creating a group consisting of students currently taking the exam in one of the allowed rooms or subnets.


How is the EXAM Moodle main view different? - for exams of type Assignment:
  • The Edit exam link leads directly to the edit page of an Essay question. See above
  • There are buttons, enabled as appropriate,:
    • Prepare attempts for grading: Exports attempts to a real Assignment.See below
    • When Grade using is set to TomaGrade:
      • Upload to TomaGrade:  Uploads attempts to TomaGrade
      • Save grades:  Imports grades and links to the TomaGrade graded assignments
      When Grade using is set to Assignment
      • Grade attempts:  Redirects to the grading page of the real Assignment
      • Save grades:  Imports grade and feedback back from the real Assignment


How is the EXAM Moodle Grades report different?
  • Column Time limit shows the time limit taking into account whether the student has an Extension role (see ) and/or a Group overide or User override).
    For exams that are already finished, it shows the time limit that was in effect during the attempt.
  • In addition to the Overall average row, there is also a Standard deviation row.
    Both do not take into account Disqualified and Unanswered questions
  • Disqualified grade_disqualified and Unanswered grade_notanswered questions are distinguished from Incorrect grade_incorrect answers
  • Quiz only: If there are any Essay questions in the exam, link Grade essays (below each link Review attempt) opens a page for grading all the essays in the attempt.
    The page is similar to the Manual grading page, but is per exam attempt rather than per question.
    It can be toggled to show all questions - not just essays.
    It can also be toggled to hide the question text i.e. to show just the responses
  • There are Submit selected attempts and Unsubmit selected attempts buttons in addition to the Regrade selected attempts and Delete selected attempts buttons.
  • There is an Extend selected attempts button with an accompanying time field:
    If an attempt has not yet timed out (i.e is in progress or was submitted early), the extra time is added to the Time limit and/or Closing time (whichever set).
    Otherwise, the extra time is measured from that moment.
    If the attempt has finished, it is first unsubmitted.
    See above
  • If Chat is enabled, there is a Send message to selected students button with an accompanying message field. See below
  • If the Navigation method is Sequential exams, there is a Allow continuing to next page in selected attempts button. This allows the student to continue to the next page from whichever page he happens to be on at that moment, even if his response is not considered complete.
  • Exam of type Assignment only: The Marks for each question option and all the Regrade buttons are missing
Note: Grade essays and Submit/Unsubmit selected are also implemented in HUJI Moodle


How is EXAM Moodle Statistics report different?
  • Disqualified and Unanswered questions are not included in the calculations. (This is clearly indicated.)
  • Options Calculate statistics from and Analyze responses for are not available.


How is the EXAM Moodle Manual grading report different?
One can select questions. There are options to:
  • Print selected questions sorted by question and Print select questions sorted by student
  • Export selected questions to an Assignment. See How can I use the Assignment PDF editor on files uploaded to Essays?
  • In CSE courses: Grade/Regrade selected questions to grade feedback based on CourseAdmin penalties and Export selected questions to CourseAdmin to export CourseAdmin compliant feedback


What is the EXAM Moodle Security report?
The Security report shows the start and finish times of each attempt.
Also, the IP and time at the start and whenever the attempt was continued.
If the BYOD Entry/Exit app was used (see below), it shows also the entry and exit times. Any security concerns are clearly highlighted.
For each attempt, there is a link to its full history. See below.


How is the EXAM Moodle exam attempt different?
  • The Start attempt/Continue attempt page shows either when the exam will close or how much more time the student has, depending on his starting time (if he is continuing) and the Time limit and/or Closing time
    The page includes includes forms for declaration of honesty, signature and password, as appropriate, but no further information on other access restrictions
  • During an exam attempt, the user picture is enlarged and there is no Log out link
  • The header is fixed (i.e. non-scrolling) and includes the course name and moed (if any), and Student's name, ID number and picture.
  • There is no navigation bar or footer, or any links to anywhere outside the exam attempt (or exam review, during review).
  • The wording is everywhere appropriate to an exam
  • There are links to the Supplementary documentation (if any) and Instructions (aka Description) on every question page. Both open as popups
  • For a Quiz:
    • So as to allow a student to opt not to answer a particular question, radio buttons (in e.g. Multichoice and True/False questions) can be toggled.
    • If the Navigation method is Sequential, clicking on the Next page link is ineffectual until all the questions in the current page have been answered
    For an Assignment:
    • There is now navigation block
    • In the Summary page, there is no summary
  • The timer gradually changes from pink to red during the last five minutes. It has a Refresh button
  • There is an Announcements box and a Chat box (if Chat is enabled) below the Navigation block. See below
  • If the student's laptop is connected through the HUJI exam WIFI network, link Recover from lost connection in the Navigation block allows the student to continue working after the WIFI connection is restored i.e. without the need to reload the page (as would be required on Windows) and thus lose unsaved answers.
  • The Start attempt button is replaced by an Open the exam browser if Vix is required and not running


How is the EXAM Moodle exam review page different?
  • By default, a Student sees only questions that he answered and were not Disqualified, and only the answers that he chose.
    This can be changed. See question How is the EXAM Moodle Exam settings different to regular Quiz settings?
  • Both Teacher and Student can toggle between paged and unpaged views of the exam.
    In the Student view, empty pages are not shown i.e the Next page or Previous page link points to the next or previous page with viewable questions.
  • A Teacher can toggle between his view and the Student view
  • In the Student view, there is an Announcements box and a Chat box (if Chat is enabled) below the Navigation block. See below


How is the EXAM Moodle question settings different?
  • At the top of the page, there is a:
    • Notice if the question is used in any quiz, including a link to a popup that lists all quizzes in all courses that use the question.
    • Warning if there exist any attempts on the question, including a link to popup that lists all attempts including course, quiz, quiz state, question state and correctness
    (This feature is now included also in other Moodles.)
  • Option Alert text:  See below
On saving, there is a warning if there are external links in the question text or any of its answers





Communication during an exam



What facilities are there for communicating with students during an exam?
  • Course staff can post Announcements on the Announcements/Chats page.
    In both Student attempt and review, Announcements are shown in a box below the Navigation block.
    If Chat is enabled, a Chat box appears below the Announcements box.
    Both Announcements and Chats have a Refresh button. The button turns to red when a message arrives (except during review).
    Students can initiate chats and staff can respond. (Staff can initiate chats on the Grades report.)
    A chat is unique to an attempt.
    Staff can view all chats that await a response, and respond to them, on the Announcements/Chats page. See below
  • One can set an Alert on a question. (Field Alert text in the question Settings under Question text when Show more... is enabled).
    If there is an Alert, it appears in red-on-pink above the question text and the question is highlighted in pink in the quiz navigation block.
One would normally delete any Announcements and Alerts (and fix the questions) at the end of the exam.



The Announcements/Chats page
In the Announcements section, at the top of the page, there is a single comment block.
Below it, in the Chats section, there is a comment block, headed by the Student's name, for each Student with whom there is a conversation. (The Chats section appears only if Chats is enabled in the exam Settings.)
To help distinguish messages from students from one's own, and those of other staff, the Student's name is in the same color as the heading and the name in one's own posts is Me in yet another color
A conversation can be initiated by the Student during the exam or review, or by the Teacher on the Grades report. See above
Conversations can be selected by group.
Normally only conversations in which the Student was the last to send a message are shown
If no response is required, there is an option to send a 👍 to ensure that the conversation is not shown when the page is reloaded
However, one can choose to see all conversations.
The conversations can be sorted by various criteria.
One can choose to be alerted if a new message arrives from another user. (An alert is shown only on the first new message after reload.)
If other Teachers are also responding to Students, one should click on the Grab button before responding to see if another Teacher has already grabbed the conversation or if there are any new messages in the conversation.
Clicking on the Release button, or sending a message, informs other Teachers that one is no longer dealing with that conversation.



Extension and Audition roles



How are the Extension and Audition roles assigned?
The Extension and Audition roles are automatically assigned, at system level or at course level, from information from Minhal Talmidim. They are updated daily.
  • Minhal Talmidim grants extensions to users for a particular year unconditionally, or per degree, semester, course, or up to a certain date.
    Extensions are 25%, 40%, 50% or 100%.
    Ambiguities are resolved as follows:
    • If a date is specified, there is no extension after that date
    • If both semester and course are specified, the semester is ignored
    • Otherwise, if the semester is specified, the extension is for all that semester's courses (regardless of the date of the exam)
    • If the degree is specified, it is invariably the student's degree in that year and is therefore irrelevant
  • Minhal Talmidim grants the right for all Hebrew and/or English exams to be read aloud to the student
    The Audition role is assigned only to students who have the right in Hebrew exams.
Note: There are equivalent Extension and Audition roles that can be assigned at course level.



Other utilities



What facilities are there for Helpdesk users and Invigilators?
The following facilities do not require any knowledge of Moodle.

  1. The Today's exams page
Available to Coordinators and Helpdesk users through link Today's exams on the EXAM Moodle frontpage
Lists all today's exams, including User and Group overrides.
Shows Faculty, Course, Moed, Exam name, Opening time, Closing time, Time limit, Start delay, Browser security and Require subnets.
Also the numbers of students who can do the exam, the number who have started, and the number who have submitted.
There are options to:
  • Show less detail
  • Show also exams that have not been marked as Active
  • Show also exams in flex courses
  • Show exams on another day, or over a period of time within any month
  • Show all exams of any particular student. See the next item.
  2. The Helpdesk tool
This is an extension of the Today's exams page.
Lists all today's exams, as above, for any student.
  • Shows also adjustments to Closing time and Time limit for Students who have an Extension role.
  • If the student has not yet started, shows the latest time at which he can start.
    If that time has passed, and it is not more than an hour later, link Allow start now enables the student to start within the following ten minutes.
    If the student has started but not finished, shows the time by which he must finish
    If he has finished, shows the time at which he finished
  • If has not yet finished, or it is within an hour of the time he finished, link Allow more time takes one to a page on which one can add extra time, along with a reason for doing so.
    If he has not yet finished, or he finished early, the extra time is added to the Time limit and/or Closing time, as appropriate.
    If the time by which he had to finish has passed, the extra time is measured from the current moment.
    (In effect, a User override is created and, if necessary, the attempt is unsubmitted.)
    The page includes a complete history of who gave extra time, when, and for what reason. (Shown also on the User override page.)
  3. The BYOD Entry/Exit app
This is a tool for recording entrance and exit from the exam room.
(Item BYOD Entry/Exit is in the Exam administration block and in the Exams block on the frontpage of Moodle for site-wide Exam HelpDesk users)
It is also available as a web service that requires the course Access key for proctors and as a Mobile app (based on the web service).
Useful in exams in which Students are not restricted to a particular room e.g. BYOD exams
The invigilator must enter course ID/s and, optionally, the room/s.
(He can enter only courses on which he has appropriate permission.)
Also, ID of student and either Enter or Exit
If the student is registered to any of the courses, his entrance or exit is logged.
The Security report (see above), highlights cases of a Student entering after he started, leaving before he finished, or not entering or leaving at all



How can I...?
...Know what exams there are today, or over some other period of time, or what exams are currently open?
   Use the Today's exams page. (Item Today's exam on the frontpage of EXAM Moodle for users with appropriate privilege. Also under Reports in the Site administration block.)
...Know what exams a particular student has today, or over some other period of time?
   Search for the student in the Today's exams page.
...Quickly give a time extension to a student during an exam or shortly after it?
   Search for the student in the Today's exams page and click on link Allow more time. When necessary, reopens the attempt. Shows a log of all changes.
   (Requires no knowledge of how Overrides work or what what Overrides apply to the student.)
...Quickly allow a student to start an exam after the Time delay has lapsed?
   Search for the student in the Today's exams page and click on link Allow to start. Option appears only within an hour of the Time delay lapsing.
   (Requires no knowledge of how Overrides work or what what Overrides apply to the student.)
...Do a sanity check on my Gang questions?
   Use the gangs.php utility.
...Check if there are any external links in the exam
   Click on link Show external links below the Preview exam now button
   This is especially important if the exam is on a restricted network e.g EXAM net (exams-test) or in the CSE computer farms
...Check if there are any external links or audio files in any exams in a course, course category, or the system
   Use the sbin/external_links.php and sbin/has_audio.php utilities
   Shows all instances in all questions and optional answers and also in Supplementary documentation
...View all autosaves for a particular exam attempt and question
   Use the Attempt log (Links Show full log in Security report.) Includes a link to the full contents each autosave
...Stress test EXAM Moodle
   Use the create*StressAccounts and exam-stress* scripts. Runs any number of simultaneous attempts on any quiz, from login to loading first page, including all redirects and file loads. (Admin only.)
...Extend all active attempts, or attempts that were active a short while previously
   Use the exam_extend_all.php utility. Useful in case of a major disruption. (Admin only.)

Note: These utilities (except for the last three) are available also in HUJI Moodle.


How can I import grades from EXAM Moodle into HUJI Moodle?
Use the EXAM Moodle import type in the HUJI Moodle Gradebook.



BYOD



What is a BYOD exam?
BYOD stands for Bring Your Own Device.
In the case of an exam, it implies that students will be allowed to take the exam on their own personal laptops.


What is SEB?
SEB stands for Safe Exam Browser SEBIcon_40_2x.png.
It is an application that is available for Windows and MacOS.
It is essentially a full-screen web-browser that opens on a pre-configured URL - in our case EXAM Moodle.
By default, the browser has no navigation menus and keyboard shortcuts (such as Back and Forward). Also system control by keyboard and mouse is disabled.
SEB (or equivalent) should be used for all exams - regular and BYOD.


How do I require students to use SEB
To force students to use SEB, select one of the Require the user of Safe Exam Browser options from the Browser security menu in the exam or override settings.
If in all the exam workstations, SEB will be running and students won't be able to quit it, it is not strictly necessary to set the Browser security.
However, in a BYOD exam, it is absolutely essential.
Students should configure their SEB with Start URL https://exam2.cs.huji.ac.il.
However, SEB has many other configuration options. For proper security in BYOD exams, students should use SEB with the HUJI configuration.
See next question.


What is SEB with HUJI configuration?
To save students the trouble of configuring SEB on their laptops, and also to ensure that they cannot exit SEB during the exam
(or allow themselves to navigate outside their exam, or view files that are not part of their exam)
they should be required to use SEB with the HUJI configuration
To do so, simply select Require the use of Safe Exam Browser with HUJI Exam Browser Keys from the Browser security menu.
Prior to the exam, students should have installed and tested SEB on their laptops according to the instructions under BYOD on the frontpage of Moodle.


Does requiring SEB with HUJI configuration provide sufficient security for BYOD exams?
No! It does not ensure that students are not taking the exam some place else.
It also does not prevent a remote agent controlling students' laptops.
See the next two questions.


How can one ensure that students do not take a BYOD exam some place else?
To ensure that students do not begin or end the exam (or take it entirely) some place else:
  1. Use the BYOD Entry/Exit app. See above
  2. Then, after the exam check the Security report. See above

Alternatively:

To ensure that students do not begin the exam some place else:
  • Students are not allowed to enter the exam room after the Opening time
    During the exam, the invigilator makes a note of the student ID shown in the header of the EXAM Moodle window on each laptop.
    It is later checked that no other students took the exam.
    Or...
  • Require password is set.
    The password is announced only after all students have opened SEB and authenticated to EXAM Moodle.
    The time at which the password is announced is noted and it is later checked that no student authenticated after that time.
    (This assumes that students cannot communicate by mobile phone or other device.)
To ensure that students do not continue the exam some place else:
  • When a student wishes to leave the room, the invigilator makes a note of his Student ID and the time.
    The time is later checked against the time that Moodle shows the student submitted.
    Better still, the invigilator checks that Moodle shows the student has submitted.
    Or...
  • A Closing time is set.
    Students are not allowed to leave the room before the Closing time
To ensure that an accomplice does not assist during the exam:
  • It is checked that no student changed IP.


How can I prevent students allowing a remote agent to control their laptops?
You should set Require subnets to EXAM net (exams-test) and instruct students to connect to the exams-test network.
The network is available everywhere on campus. So it doesn't provide a solution to the problem posed in the previous question.
However, the only IP/port it connects with is that of the EXAM Moodle server (http://exam2.cs.huji.ac.il)
So it prevents communication with all other agents.
Note: If there is an image in the exam instructions, or in any of the questions, that is hosted on another site, it will not be displayed.
(A utility is available to list all links and images in an exam to external sites.)


What if some students will be taking the exam on workstations and others on their own laptops?
Either set Require subnets to a combination or rooms and WIFIs.
Or create a Moodle group and Group override for just the BYOD students.



Troubleshooting



Why can't a student do his exam?
If a student is thrown out with message Sorry! You do not have an exam scheduled at this time and location, it could be because:
  • Option Active exam has not been enabled
  • He is not in one of the rooms selected, or his IP is not in the list in section Require subnets
  • The student has not yet started his exam and either more than an hour has elapsed since the exam Opening time or it is after the Closing time
  • There is a Group override for a group to which he belongs, or he has a User override, which overrides one of the above two items
  • He is not enrolled to the course (or is not registered to an exam in a flex course).
  • If he is trying to review his exams and is not using the exact URL http://exam2.cs.huji.ac.il/review. See next question
Note: During the first few weeks of the semester, if the student does not have an exam at the current time and location, he is redirected to the previous year's EXAM Moodle.
Thus if he does not have an exam in that year's EXAM Moodle either, the message ultimately comes from the previous year's EXAM Moodle.



FAQ



What if a student has more than one exam?
If according to course enrolment (or exam registration for flex courses) and the exam Opening time and Closing time and Require subnets (and relevant overrides, if any), a student currently has more than one exam at the current time and location, then he can chose between the exams


What if Max questions to grade is set and a disqualified question is graded?
If a grade is given to a question that was originally marked as Disqualified, it will no longer be considered Disqualified.
Note 1: Simply adding a comment to a Disqualified question does not change its state.
Note 2: If a grade was given to a disqualified question, the question's original state can be restored by removing the grade and regrading.


How can I use EXAM Moodle to enable students to take regular pen-and-paper exams remotely?
  • Create an exam of type Assignment, configured as follows:
    • Instructions: General instructions.
    • Active exam: Yes
    • Enable chat: Yes - enable to allow students to communicate with you during the exam
    • Opening time: As for the onsite-exam
    • Time limit: As for the onsite-exam plus allowance for scanning and uploading
    • Grade using: Either Assignment or TomaGrade
    • Declaration of honesty: Required
    • Browser security: Full screen pop-up with some JavaScript security (or Require the user of Safe Exam Browser. See below)
  • Click on Edit exam and enter Question text
    If grading is with Assignment, configure whether response should be text and/or uploaded files,
  • Add a single Essay question configured as follows:
    • Question text: An image of the exam question paper
    • Response format: No online text
    • Allow attachments: 1 or Unlimited (to save combining pages into a single PDF)
    • Require attachments: 1
    • Accepted file types:
      • jpg - quick and easy but insufficient quality
      • pdf - requires a scanning app such as Camscanner, Adobe Scan, MicroSoft Office Lens or Google drive Most scanning apps can combine several pages into a single PDF
      • doc - for documents written on Word, or
      • A combination of the above
  • During the exam, check for new messages from students under Announcements/Chats.
    See also What facilities are there for communicating with students during an exam? above
    Consider how to communicate with students before they start the exam and after they have finished.



How can I use the Assignment PDF editor on files uploaded to Essays?
  • On the Manual grading page, select one or more Essay questions and click on Export selected questions to Assignments.
    A new Assignment is created for each question exported (unless the question has already been exported).
    The Assignment's name is a concatenation of the Exam name and the question name.
    A submission is created for each student who answered the question. (Or each student who answered the question since the previous export of that question.)
    The submission includes all uploaded files, as well as any text entered in the editor.
    The Assignment Settings page includes only options relevant to grading.
After grading:
  • On the Manual grading page, select one or more Essay questions and click on Import selected questions from Assignments.
    Feedback files, comments and grades are imported back from the Assignment to the Essay question
Of course, one can use any of Assignment features: Offline grading, Advanced grading, plagiarism checking using Originality etc.
In particular, PDF files and Word documents can be graded using the Assignment's built-in editor.



How can I prevent a particular student from reviewing his exam?
Assign him the role of On hold in the exam as follows:
  • In the Exam administration block, click on Locally assigned roles
  • Click on On hold
  • Enter the student's ID in the search box below the Potential users panel and click on Search
  • Click on the ◄ Add button between the panels



What demo exams are available? The links are for preparing the demo. A demo is available for one hour only from the time of its preparation.
Note: The TomaETest demo can be taken only once.


How can I see the detailed history of an attempt?
Use the Attempt log. (Link Show full log alongside each Student's entry the Security report.)
By default the Attempt log shows all page saves and page loads, including IP, time and page number.
However, there are options to show also:
  • Autorefresh events, including IP, time and page number, and/or
  • Autosave events, including time, slot number (with link to the question) and size of the autosaved response (with link to the response)
The Attempt log is useful to help dispute claims that a student lost connectivity or lost his response to a question.


Is it possible for students to access their own files during an exam?
Yes. Enable Allow access to private files in the exam settings. (Currently available only in the Law school.)
If enabled, a Private files block appears in the quiz attempt.
Prior to the exam, students will be able to use the Manage my files link on the login page to manage their files.
A student will be able to manage his files only within the week before he has an exam in which this option is enabled.
Note: Clearly, this option is useful only in an exam on a restricted network



How do I authenticate to EXAM Moodle?
Mispar Zehut and Kod Ishi is sufficient for most access.
However HUJImail or CSE credentials are required to access CSE courses and by users with role of Coordinator, Exam HelpDesk or Editing at category level or higher.
HUJImail, Savion or CSE credentials are sufficient to take or review an exam, and to manage private files.
Two-factor authentication is required for all other purposes. (Implemented but not yet enabled.)