Cindee Giffen was co-teaching Biology 171, Introduction to Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, when the 2020 pandemic hit Michigan and students were sent home to learn online. One of the biggest challenges for Cindee and her colleagues was how to administer online exams. Before the move to remote instruction, paper/pencil exams were administered in the lecture hall during class. Now, Biology 171 instructors had to quickly pivot to designing and administering remote exams in Canvas. They knew students would essentially be using their notes, books, and Internet for the exam, so they designed exams with unique application-based questions, which could not be looked up online. They taught students how to prepare for an open-book/open-note exam and found their approach improved learning, as students were required to “do something” with what they had learned. They also integrated other practices to support academic integrity. Watch the video to learn more about how Cindee and her colleagues successfully designed open-book/open-note exams.
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