Barnard College Barnard College
CARDS Faculty Information

Exam Accommodations

Exam Proctoring

Please be advised that CARDS will not be proctoring exams in person during the Summer 2021 term. We have limited ability to proctor exams virtually, and in general will only proctor exams for students in the following circumstances:
 

  • Student is approved for use of a reader and/or a scribe as a testing accommodation


Or, if your exams are being proctored via Zoom, when students have the below extenuating circumstances:

  • Student has a scheduling conflict with the exam time due to extended time accommodation length and back-to-back class schedule
  • Student missed the exam due to a disability-related reason and there is no other alternative for a make-up offered by the professor or TA
  • Student has an accommodation of only one exam per day and has two exams scheduled in one day, necessitating moving one exam, and there is no other alternative for a make-up offered by the professor or TA
  • Student has a final exam hardship that necessitates moving an exam and there is no other alternative for a make-up offered by the professor or TA



In these instances, we may agree to virtually proctor exams at the student's request. If so, we will contact you to inform you that we will proctor for a specific student and ask for a copy of your exam and/or any proctoring instructions. Please submit any requested materials to our office via email at cards@barnard.edu at least 2-5 business days prior to the scheduled exam date.

 

Exam Conflicts

CARDS expects that faculty will have a plan for proctoring their own exams for students with exam accommodations. However, we recognize that there may be limited circumstances in which this may pose a logistical challenge. In extreme circumstances, if there is no other option available for proctoring an exam offered by a professor, CARDS will still attempt to accommodate a student with approved testing accommodations. We ask that students and professors be in touch with CARDS as soon as possible to make us aware of a potential conflict, but ideally no later than one week in advance of the exam date. This advance notice is essential in order for us to schedule staff and make proper arrangements. Please be advised that we have very limited staff available to proctor and cannot guarantee that we are able to proctor at a specific time or day, but will work with the professor and student to find a mutually agreeable time for all involved based on proctor availability during our business hours.

 

 

Additional Assessment Guidance for Faculty:

We encourage all faculty members to consider alternative means of assessment, including take home exams. For timed exams, we recommend that faculty members simply set up accommodations in Courseworks or Canvas without requiring in-person proctoring. For those who do want some level of proctoring, you may consider using Proctorio, a proctoring software. (Please be advised that if you would like to receive access to Proctorio, you’ll need to email IMATS and receive basic training, which will include equity training.) If you are planning to proctor your exams via Zoom, please note that CARDS will only virtually proctor exams for registered students with alternative testing accommodations and in the aforementioned extenuating circumstances.

Please note that we are not regularly able to proctor Zoom exams, so we encourage you to have a plan for providing students with their extended time accommodations.

 

Timed Exams in Canvas/ Courseworks

For step by step instructions for assigning additional time in Canvas/ Courseworks, please refer to our Assigning Additional Time In Canvas/ Courseworks guide. We recommend that you cross-reference students' specific accommodation plan information in the AIM Faculty Portal as you’re setting this up.

 

Proctorio

If you are considering requiring virtual proctoring for exams (via Proctorio), examine the pros and cons, especially if you have students with accommodations: 

  • Note that proctoring software might unintentionally trigger anxiety for students with anxiety disorders.
  • You'll need to consult with CARDS in advance to make sure you're aware of all eligible accommodations and how to implement/ account for them with proctoring software.

A better solution may be to provide timed exams in Canvas (assigning a differently-timed version of the exam for students with testing accommodations), without requiring virtual proctoring. You can assign different sets of questions (for multiple-choice exams) that can even be randomized to help allay cheating concerns. Or you could opt for a take-home exam with a submission window of at least 24 hours, which usually negates the need for alternative testing accommodations.

 

Calculating Extended Time Testing Accommodations (including Untimed Break Accommodations):  

1.5x extended time:  time and a half (e.g. a 3 hour exam would be 4.5 hours long)

2.0x extended time:  double time (e.g. a 3 hour exam would be 6 hours long)

Untimed breaks:  stop the clock rest breaks; for remote exams, 1/3 of the total exam time is added (e.g. a 3 hour exam would be 4 hours long). Break time should be added in addition to any additional extended time the student may also have, so a student with 1.5x plus untimed break accommodations who is taking a 3 hour exam would have 5.5 hours to complete it.

 

Take Home Exams

Another solution may be to have essay-based exams that students have 1-3 days to complete.

In general, testing accommodations are not needed when students are given take home exams to be completed over a few days. However, please consider that students who are ill or have a disability may need additional time to complete take home exams. Have a plan for extension requests.

 

Extensions

CARDS typically tells students that they need to make the extension request to their instructor in advance and that the student should propose a date by which they will plan to submit their assignment. Instructors can then determine what is reasonable on a case-by-case basis given their course objectives. CARDS is happy to consult as needed.  

If you’ve set a time limit on Canvas for turning in an exam/assignment, be sure to communicate with students who have extension accommodations regarding how they can turn in the assignment with their extended deadline (e.g. offering them the option to do this via email). Here are additional suggestions:

  • If the student needs to access your course’s Canvas/Courseworks page to download the exam prompt but will be completing the exam via Word/Excel and then uploading it back into the Canvas/Courseworks site, please keep in mind the student’s end and submission times will be later than their peers. If you do not wish to extend the Canvas/Courseworks deadline for submission, we recommend communicating with the student directly regarding their specific submission time and having the student email you a copy that will also have a timestamp of submission.
  • Alternatively, you can duplicate the assignment, set it to a later time, and assign it to one student or a group of students in order to allow for extended time submissions. Please refer to the following two links: How to Duplicate an Assignment and How to Assign an Assignment to an Individual Student.