SP22 Survey Shines Light on Faculty Testing
Key themes: academic integrity, accommodations, testing ctr.
In an effort to gather information on how faculty design and administer tests, DoIT collaborated with the Faculty Development Center (FDC) and Student Disability Services (SDS) to create and distribute a short survey to all 941 instructional faculty teaching in Spring 22. There were 157 complete submissions, representing a 17% response rate. Of these survey participants, 78% were full-time faculty, and about half (54%) were Associate, Assistant, or Full Professor. Almost all were from CAHSS (48%), CNMS (24%), or COEIT (22%), and 86% primarily teach undergraduate students.
The quantitative data, as illustrated below in Figure 1, indicate that faculty teaching larger courses and those teaching courses with high percentages of the overall grade contingent on a small number of tests (i.e., high-stakes testing) are considerably more concerned about academic integrity. Also, the survey's open responses suggest instructors believe assessments are important, but were not of a single voice in regards to balancing formative and summative approaches in face-to-face and virtual environments.
Figure 1: Percent of Final Grade from High-stakes Testing, by Course Enrollment
The majority of respondents (59%) taught classes of 50 or fewer students, and about one in five (19%) taught classes with more than 100 students. Additionally, of those instructors teaching courses with at least half of their students' final grades determined by high-stakes tests, 72% agreed or strongly agreed that "Academic integrity on high-stake assessments is a major concern in my course(s)." That same level of sentiment is shared with less than half (49%) of instructors with grading schemas that are not as dependent on high-stakes testing.
Academic integrity is approached in several ways, including the use of psychology (lecturing students and/or acknowledgment of an "honor" statement or pledge) and overall design of the assessments, such as question banks, randomization, synchronous testing, and, in direct conflict with student accomodation concerns, time constraints.1 These approaches are carried out in two different environments: in-person and online. In the case of the former, respondents indicated traditional means of face-to-face proctoring. With the latter, instructors may use Blackboard, along with the Respondus Lockdown Browser, and potentially the Monitor option. Other respondents described having their students turn their computer cameras on during the assessments. Plagiarism checkers such as SafeAssign and Turnitin are also leveraged.
There is an acknowledgement by some, however, that there may not be anything that can be done to fully redress issues concerning academic integrity "other than theatrics." As one respondent noted, "it is impossible to keep students from posting the questions (from memory) on the Internet as soon as they are done with their own test." Some stated, however, that they believe their tests are relatively impervious to cheating due to the tailoring and formatting of the questions. Others stated they didn't think they have a big problem with cheating, or did little to curtail it beyond making sure students aren't using their phones or looking at other students' papers, which can be of particular concern when rooms are at full seating capacity.
The student disability-based testing accommodations described universally involve faculty providing more time on assessments for individual students, or through the course of the pandemic, expanding the testing window for all students. Few faculty indicated a pervasiveness of need, with some emphasizing how few occurrences of student accommodations they've received in their teaching careers. Additionally, multiple respondents seemed to be under the false impression that SDS has a testing center to support this need, rather than just ad hoc space allocation that is only available for SDS registered students with disabilities. Meaning it is not for general make up test proctoring for all students, can only seat 15 students at a time, and has computer stations only intended for specialized assistive technology needs..
Interestingly, when asked about the possibility of a dedicated UMBC testing center, only 14% of respondents teaching 50 or more students don't believe a testing center would help them; none of the respondents teaching more than 100 students are of that opinion. In fact, several respondents voiced support for this kind of facility, with one saying "I would be THRILLED for a testing center at UMBC!"
Some faculty, however, never use high-stakes testing. They may choose not to due to a lack of familiarity or experience with it (e.g., having begun teaching during the pandemic), while other instructors stated they did not believe in using high-stakes assessments on pedagogical grounds, or employ qualitatively graded assessments, such as case studies or written assessments, rather than discrete answer assessments. These types of assessments, of course, can still be high stakes, although much more difficult to scale for larger classes than multiple choice bubble sheets. Other faculty described offering more "smaller" assignments or quizzes. One respondent specifically cited their PIVOT training for adoption of this "best practice."2 Of those who did make use of high-stakes assessments, some stated they were important to encourage students' motivation to learn. "You have to have some high-stakes testing to get students to study," responded one instructor.
In short, faculty vary in their approach to testing, but there are similarities based on course enrollment size and discipline/college. Also, adoption of a testing center could potentially benefit faculty conducting testing, particularly in high-stakes/enrollment environments to support academic integrity and accessibility needs.
[1] As one respondent points out, "Many institutions also offer disability accommodations within a broader testing center, which helps to reduce stigma for students with disabilities."
[2] About one in five respondents are now offering fewer high stakes tests since the pandemic shift to online learning.
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In an effort to gather information on how faculty design and administer tests, DoIT collaborated with the Faculty Development Center (FDC) and Student Disability Services (SDS) to create and...
https://doit.umbc.edu/post/119088/
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Mon, 02 May 2022 13:30:19 -0400
Mon, 02 May 2022 14:56:49 -0400
Generate & embed captions for Collaborate recordings in May
Support accessibility for recorded sessions in your classes
Creating captioning for recordings from scratch can be very time consuming for instructors or accessibility staff. Beginning in May 2022, instructors can leverage the help of artificial intelligence to improve the accessibility of their Collaborate recordings
with captioning.
Captions are a valuable instructional resource, improving the accessibility of content for individuals who are deaf or hearing impaired. Moreover, students gain new opportunities to access information in ways they need or want it, thanks to captions. For example:
- Anyone working in a noisy environment can read captions.
- Non-native speakers can read captions to reinforce their understanding.
- Students learning to read can follow along with the speaker.
- Students can see the spelling of terms that will be on a test.
As always, if you have any questions about teaching, learning, and technology at UMBC, please consider the following options:
Interested in attending an Instructional Technology Essentials session but unsure when it will be? Sign up for one of our sessions by May 20, 2022. Interested participants will be sent a Doodle poll on May 23rd to determine a time when all participants can attend.
The Essential tools that will be offered in June include:
Ultra Essentials I - Content & Engagement | 60 minutes |
Sign up here New to Ultra or need a refresher? This hands-on overview focuses on the essentials of using the Ultra Experience Blackboard course interface for communication and content creation. Topics include:
- Create and organize folders
- Upload files & link to Google Drive
- Post announcements & send messages
- Create discussions forums
- Access Collaborate for virtual web conferencing
Ultra Essentials II - Assessment & Grading | 60 minutes |
Sign up here New to Ultra or need a refresher? This hands-on overview focuses on the essentials of using the Ultra Experience Blackboard course interface for tests, assignments, and grading. Topics include:
- Creating assignments and tests
- Using the new inline grading tools
- Entering grades in the Ultra grade center
New to Blackboard Collaborate or need a refresher? This overview focuses on the essentials of using Blackboard Collaborate in your courses. Topics include:
- Using the Sharing Content Tools
- Examine active learning strategies to get participants involved in the sessions
- Create breakout rooms and polls
- Identify Collaborate features that support the needs of users with disabilities
- Describe how gallery view can be used for live remote proctoring
VoiceThread is a learning tool for enhancing student engagement and online presence. Instructors and/or students can create, share, and comment on images, Microsoft PowerPoint presentations, videos, audio files, documents, and PDFs, using microphone, webcam, text, phone, and audio-file upload. Session topics include:
- Upload media, comment and annotate on that media, and share it with others
- Create graded VoiceThread assignments in Blackboard
- Use comment moderation to formatively assess student work, give private feedback, and use threaded commenting
- Use VoiceThread as a catalyst for class discussions
Are you interested in learning how to create video screencasts? Using Panopto, faculty can capture and narrate anything they see on their computers, and then publish an online screencast video tutorial or mini-lecture for students to watch and replay on their own time. Panopto provides multiple recording and editing options for video and audio output and a cloud-based video storage platform for new and pre-existing media content. It is available for both Blackboard Original and Ultra courses. Session topics include:
- Getting started with Panopto
- Launching Panopto from your Blackboard course
- Recording videos using the Panopto application or browser-based capture tool
- Creating videos by uploading your own media content
- Creating automatic captions.
A Doodle Poll will be sent to interested participants by May 23 to determine when the session will be offered. Webinars will take place in a Blackboard Collaborate virtual conference room.
Prior to the event
For the best viewing experience, we recommend using Chrome or Firefox, preferably the most recent updates to those browsers. Closing any unnecessary browser tabs will help conserve your bandwidth.
At least 5 registrations are needed for sessions to proceed. Sessions will be recorded if two or more people attend and the link will be distributed to everyone who completed the sign up form.
As always, if you have any questions about teaching, learning, and technology at UMBC, please consider the following options:
While teaching a synchronous session using web conferencing tools, instructors juggle content, conversation, and context. Engaging participants and maintaining a high level of interaction is an essential outcome of an online experience. Even when webcams are on, how do you know if students are engaged?
In late SP2022, Collaborate launches a new Engagement Insights Panel as a companion tool for faculty moderators to reveal how the student audience is engaging while the session is occurring. In this first release, instructors will be able to toggle a panel at the bottom of their live Collaborate session to show the percentage of hands raised and chat messages sent in both the main room and in breakout rooms. As the data refreshes, faculty can use this information to note high and low engagement in the live session.
Image 1: Example of Collaborate Live Engagement Insights
Collaborate will also offer metrics for session recordings including how many students have watched the recordings or downloaded the recording file (if downloads are enabled). Faculty can also see the last date and time when a recording was viewed or downloaded. This information will be available on the Recordings tab.
As always, if you have any questions about teaching, learning, and technology at UMBC, please consider the following options:
Date: Tuesday, April 12th
Time: 12:00-1:00 pm
EST
Register Today
About this Event
Finding a balance between raising and being a human isn't easy. After the last
two years, parents feel pulled in more directions than ever; guilty that when
they spend time on one thing, they're neglecting another. Our guest, Julie
Morgenstern, author of Time to Parent, will share a unique framework for
managing the conflicting priorities of the parenting years. Parents with kids
at every age and stage in their lives will get practical tips and liberating
insights, including how much time and attention kids need, clever ways to keep
your marriage and social life alive, streamlining and sharing household logistics,
and so much more. You'll learn how to gain more time, lose the guilt, and be
more deeply present in all you do.
These Care webinars are free to
attend, and a recording will be shared afterwards.
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Date: Tuesday, April 12th Time: 12:00-1:00 pm EST Register Today About this Event Finding a balance between raising and being a human isn't easy. After the last two years, parents feel...
Flyer
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Thu, 07 Apr 2022 12:26:02 -0400
UMBC Scans Akindi's 9 Millionth Bubble Sheet
DoIT began the transition to Akindi bubble sheets in FA2021
At the end of Spring 2021,
DoIT announced a pilot of Akindi,
a tool that serves as a Scantron alternative that allows instructors to print and score bubble sheets from any local printer/scanner. Akindi has been deployed with institutions across the country including Rutgers, Duke, USC Marshall, and the University of Tennessee.
Since UMBC's roll out, over 18,000 Akindi bubble sheets have been scanned by UMBC faculty and teaching assistants over 200 unique assessments.
On April 1, Jordan Wilson scanned in bubble sheets for Exam 1 in their CHEM 102L Introductory Chemistry Lab. That scan hit a milestone for our partners at Akindi: it included their 9 millionth scanned bubble sheet. Wilson has been awarded a complementary pair of socks from Akindi to celebrate.
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At the end of Spring 2021, DoIT announced a pilot of Akindi, a tool that serves as a Scantron alternative that allows instructors to print and score bubble sheets from any local printer/scanner....
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Thu, 07 Apr 2022 08:19:22 -0400
April Financial Webinars with Fidelity
Take charge of your finances!
No matter the financial situation, Fidelity can help with everything from basic budgeting to complex financial situations.
Join Fidelity for one, or both, of these complimentary educational events:
Topic: Demystifying your credit score
Lenders use credit scores to decide whether to offer credit, and under what terms. Discover what goes into your credit score and how it's calculated, to understand the impact it has on your borrowing.
Date: Wednesday, April 13, 2022
Time: 12:00 pm ET
Register:https://fmr.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_c7luVOK8RGekDyPUYA0RMw
Topic: Understanding the basics of social security
Social Security may be an important income source for retirement. Learn about key Social Security claiming ages and how your benefit is calculated, so you can better understand the choices.
Date: Wednesday, April 27, 2022
Time: 12:00 pm ET
Register: https://fmr.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_sGhNeEdjTaGFbo1Kzck2nw
]]>
No matter the financial situation, Fidelity can help with everything from basic budgeting to complex financial situations. Join Fidelity for one, or both, of these complimentary educational...
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Wed, 06 Apr 2022 12:42:51 -0400
Six assessment & grading updates for Ultra courses in April
Review upcoming change & plan a course migration over summer
Beginning in late spring and moving into summer, faculty will see extensive upgrades to Ultra courses, particularly in the areas of assessment and grading. This focus aligns with feedback from UMBC faculty to Ultra developers,
prioritizing need on key areas. Six updates will be applied to assessments and grading:
- Display questions one at at time: Instructors can enable this Settings panel.
- Improved feedback display controls: Supporting academic integrity and protecting assessment content is important. If selected, the instructor defines when the student can view their assessment submission.
- Post grades automatically: When selected, an assessment grade appears to the student as soon as the attempt is graded.
- Calculated numeric question type: This assessment question type is important for math and other STEM courses. Students enter a number as an answer and the answer field will only validate numeric digits.
- Download test results: Instructors can download test results for external analysis and evaluation from either the gradebook grid or list views.
- Search for student submission receipts: For each attempt a student makes, the instructor can search for a receipt confirmation number. This helps instructors find student submissions when extra verification is needed.
Further updates to Ultra courses support content creation. Earlier this semester, Ultra courses
were updated to more easily allow copying content from Original courses. In April, Ultra courses can now
copy content from within the course itself, including folders, documents, tests, assignments, web links, discussions, and journals. This internal copying workflow also includes learning modules and individual items within those learning modules.
Additionally, instructors and students will be able to author and share computer code in the Ultra content editor
using a new Code Snippet tool. The content editor identifies eleven programming syntaxes (such as Python, Java, JavaScript, PHP, HTML, and others) to better support STEM courses.
Finally, the Blackboard Instructor app will include a fully Responsive Web Design interface for Ultra courses, allowing faculty to: - build courses, including create and upload content
- grade students work, including update assessment settings
- communicate, including participate in discussions
The enhanced Blackboard Instructor app will be available in mid-April from the iOS and Android app stores. If you have already downloaded the app then it will be automatically updated if you have this choice enabled on your device or will require a manual update if this choice is not selected. The next update to our test environment will take place on April 12, 2022. Faculty who are interested in test driving new features before they are released to production should open an RT ticket to request early access. Please watch the FAQs, including the What's New with Ultra page, and myUMBC for additional information about Ultra.
As always, if you have any questions about teaching, learning, and technology at UMBC, please consider the following options:
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Beginning in late spring and moving into summer, faculty will see extensive upgrades to Ultra courses, particularly in the areas of assessment and grading. This focus aligns with feedback from...
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Instructional Technology
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Fri, 01 Apr 2022 09:56:43 -0400
Fri, 01 Apr 2022 09:59:02 -0400
Mental Health Community Action Day-April 7th
It takes a community to lift each other up!
Dear Campus Partners,
An invitation was recently sent out to the campus community from Dr. Hrabowski, Dr. Rous, and the
University Steering Committee leadership for the first UMBC Community Mental Health Action Day on Thursday, April 7, 2022.
This event is focused on providing workshops and resources to help people in our community to take care of their own mental health, but to also to support those we care about, our colleagues, students, and our staff members.
For faculty, we encourage you to share this information with your students and/or incorporate a mental health activity into your course planning for April 7th.
For supervisors, we ask you to share this information with your staff and support them by encouraging their participation.
We hope this day will provide tools and spark meaningful conversations that are useful to you in the moment and for the future. If you have questions about Community Mental Health Action Day, or suggestions to improve the experience, please contact
usc@umbc.edu.
UMBC Community Mental Health Action Day
Thursday, April 7, 2022
10 a.m.-11:30 a.m. Connecting with Nature at UMBC
Locations: Library Pond and Administration Circle
Audience: Open to all, with a 20 person cap on each saunter
11 a.m-Noon Cultivating Resilience with Mindfulness with Jill Wardell
Location: Virtual
Audience: Open to all
11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Restorative Practices at UMBC with Jeff Cullen
Location: Hybrid; Center for Well-Being, Room 118, and Online
Audience: Open to all
12:30 p.m.-1 p.m. Mental Health Awareness Walk
Location: Breezeway
Audience: Open to all
1 p.m.-2 p.m. Group Fitness Pop-Up
Location: In front of the RAC
Audience: Open to all
2 p.m.-3:30 p.m. Grief and Healing Circles
Three concurrent in-person sessions capped at 12 attendees each
Staff Circle Led by Jill Wardell
Location: 231 RAC
Student Circle Led by Beatriz Gutierrez Malagon
Location: Apartment Community Center MPR
Faculty Circle Led by Bambi Chapin
Location: 230 RAC
3 p.m.-3:50 p.m. Behaviors of Concern: How and Who to Report To
Location: Virtual
Audience: Staff and Faculty
3:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m. Graduate Student Mental Health Panel and Listening Session
Location: Retriever Room, Undergraduate Admissions Office, Albin O. Kuhn Library, Pondside, Room 012
Audience: Graduate Students; attendance capped at 34
3:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m. Faculty Mental Well-Being with Susan and Orianne
Location: Virtual
Audience: Faculty
4 p.m.-6 p.m. Student Government Association: Snacks and Mental Health Chats
Location: SGA Office, Commons 2B20
Audience: Undergraduate Students
6 p.m.-7 p.m. Community Conversations
Location: Library Gallery
Audience: Students
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Dear Campus Partners, An invitation was recently sent out to the campus community from Dr. Hrabowski, Dr. Rous, and the University Steering Committee leadership for the first UMBC Community...
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Training
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Fri, 01 Apr 2022 09:15:00 -0400
Fri, 01 Apr 2022 09:33:37 -0400
Free Training for Respondus Lockdown Browser & Monitor
Join an upcoming webinar to see the latest features
Join an upcoming training webinar from Respondus to see the latest features and integrations for LockDown Browser and Monitor. Learn how these applications are used with a range of online testing environments, virtual proctoring and Blackboard.
Instructor Training: LockDown Browser & Respondus Monitor
This comprehensive 45-minute training is intended for instructors who plan to use LockDown Browser and/or Respondus Monitor to protect academic integrity and ensure student identity during online testing. The training will cover:
- How to use LockDown Browser to prevent digital cheating in proctored testing environments
- How to use Respondus Monitor in non-proctored environments, to protect exam integrity and confirm student identity
- The student perspective using each application
- Efficient review of the assessment data collected, including the Review Priority system, timeline, and milestone features
- Best practices and tips for success with both applications
Pick your date/time and register directly with Respondus:
All attendees will receive a link to a recording after the session.
NOTE: Students should not register for any instructor training session but instead, contact use the Respondus support tools embedded in RLDB, or
review this FAQ for further help.
About Respondus Lockdown Browser
RLDB is a custom browser that locks down the testing environment within Blackboard. Students are unable to copy, print, access other applications, or visit other websites during an online exam. For additional information, please review
our FAQ collection.
ALSO AVAILABLE
Respondus 4: Quickly Create Online Exams
Find out how Respondus 4 allows you to create and manage exams that can be printed to paper or exported to upload directly to Blackboard.
Exams can be created offline using the Windows environment and imported into Blackboard. For additional information, please review our FAQ collection.
