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Using a special computer works too. I do my exams with our institution's Computer-Based Testing Facility, a bank of computers with fixed software and firewall r

Using a special computer works too. I do my exams with our institution's Computer-Based Testing Facility, a bank of computers with fixed software and firewall rules that only permit connections to the exam site. As a result, I've been able to challenge students to solve interactive software security challenges on the midterm and final with automatic grading - something that would have been impossible with pen and paper. Scalability is really the major challenge. We're rolling out more CBTF rooms and rolling out access to other departments due to demand, but it's definitely more resource-intensive than pen-and-paper. One possibility is to treat CBTFs as computer labs when not actively administering exams (or maybe even vice-versa), something we're looking into doing.

ElProlactin 4mo ago
This is just...depressing. BSL-4-like rooms just to test university students.
- nneonneo 4mo ago
  I'm sure you're exaggerating, but the exam process in a CBTF is pretty lightweight. Students arrive, drop off their bags and phone etc., check in (swipe an ID card, get their picture matched), log into the computer and the exam website. When the exam starts, they refresh the site and do the exam; we've got proctors in the room as usual to watch for any conventional cheating (using a phone, consulting a friend). If you find that onerous, I guess a paper exam would probably also feel pretty depressing to you.
  - goosejuice 4mo ago
    The loss of trust would be the depressing part (to me). That said the amount of cheating I witnessed in undergrad was also depressing.
    - nneonneo 4mo ago
      TBH - for me, it’s an opportunity to do a different kind of exam, with a level of interactivity and realism that isn’t possible with paper exams. It is possible but much more annoying to run such exams in a BYOD setting: for example, the lack of consistency between people’s machines, and the risk of device failures, are just two reasons why BYOD is hard even before you get into the cheating aspects.
StrauXX 4mo ago
My university does that, it works quite well. The devices net-boot either into a locked down exam OS or regular Debian, depending on the current need.
zahlman 4mo ago
> firewall rules that only permit connections to the exam site. ... did LANs (Ethernet, with wifi disabled) stop being a thing?
- nneonneo 4mo ago
  The machines are connected via Ethernet (reliability!) but our exams are hosted on Internet sites like PrairieLearn and Canvas. Those are a lot easier to work with than, say, having to load exams onto a machine accessible on a private LAN. Yes, said machine could have both the LAN connectivity and WAN access, and we could set up the whole exam website on it, but we would lose out on the flexibility to let profs choose the platform that works best for them.
- deleted 4mo ago
  [deleted]
jnwatson 4mo ago
But what's wrong with pen and paper?
- atakan_gurkan 4mo ago
  The grading cannot be automated easily and becomes time consuming.
  - sithadmin 4mo ago
    Should anything more complicated than what could be automated with a paper ScanTron form really be subject to automated grading anyway?
    - mrngld 4mo ago
      Right? For all the money paid by modern students is it unreasonable to expect some expert human interaction? The cost explosion has been centered outside the classroom, elsewhere in the org, so can't play that card.
      - gaoshan 4mo ago
        You should see how little many of the people providing that expert human interaction are paid. My wife is a professor (in the humanities) with 2 decades of experience and degrees from excellent schools, gets top reviews from students as well and she barely earns enough to live on. If I weren't in tech we would be financially destitute. She already works 60 hours a week with just the courses, prep, grading and meetings she has... any more and she would probably just keel over and faint.
        alsetmusic 4mo ago
        A strong argument for reform. The costs of higher education have multiplied while the people providing the education have probably not moved meaningfully, or may have declined with inflation. All that money going to management and other executive corporate positions should be clawed back. How can a person enter a contract to be in debt for decades and your spouse is still paid so little from the arrangement? It’s wage theft.

ElProlactin 4mo ago

This is just...depressing. BSL-4-like rooms just to test university students.

nneonneo 4mo ago
I'm sure you're exaggerating, but the exam process in a CBTF is pretty lightweight. Students arrive, drop off their bags and phone etc., check in (swipe an ID card, get their picture matched), log into the computer and the exam website. When the exam starts, they refresh the site and do the exam; we've got proctors in the room as usual to watch for any conventional cheating (using a phone, consulting a friend). If you find that onerous, I guess a paper exam would probably also feel pretty depressing to you.
- goosejuice 4mo ago
  The loss of trust would be the depressing part (to me). That said the amount of cheating I witnessed in undergrad was also depressing.
  - nneonneo 4mo ago
    TBH - for me, it’s an opportunity to do a different kind of exam, with a level of interactivity and realism that isn’t possible with paper exams. It is possible but much more annoying to run such exams in a BYOD setting: for example, the lack of consistency between people’s machines, and the risk of device failures, are just two reasons why BYOD is hard even before you get into the cheating aspects.

StrauXX 4mo ago

My university does that, it works quite well. The devices net-boot either into a locked down exam OS or regular Debian, depending on the current need.

zahlman 4mo ago

> firewall rules that only permit connections to the exam site. ... did LANs (Ethernet, with wifi disabled) stop being a thing?

nneonneo 4mo ago
The machines are connected via Ethernet (reliability!) but our exams are hosted on Internet sites like PrairieLearn and Canvas. Those are a lot easier to work with than, say, having to load exams onto a machine accessible on a private LAN. Yes, said machine could have both the LAN connectivity and WAN access, and we could set up the whole exam website on it, but we would lose out on the flexibility to let profs choose the platform that works best for them.
deleted 4mo ago
[deleted]

jnwatson 4mo ago

But what's wrong with pen and paper?

atakan_gurkan 4mo ago
The grading cannot be automated easily and becomes time consuming.
- sithadmin 4mo ago
  Should anything more complicated than what could be automated with a paper ScanTron form really be subject to automated grading anyway?
  - mrngld 4mo ago
    Right? For all the money paid by modern students is it unreasonable to expect some expert human interaction? The cost explosion has been centered outside the classroom, elsewhere in the org, so can't play that card.
    - gaoshan 4mo ago
      You should see how little many of the people providing that expert human interaction are paid. My wife is a professor (in the humanities) with 2 decades of experience and degrees from excellent schools, gets top reviews from students as well and she barely earns enough to live on. If I weren't in tech we would be financially destitute. She already works 60 hours a week with just the courses, prep, grading and meetings she has... any more and she would probably just keel over and faint.
      - alsetmusic 4mo ago
        A strong argument for reform. The costs of higher education have multiplied while the people providing the education have probably not moved meaningfully, or may have declined with inflation. All that money going to management and other executive corporate positions should be clawed back. How can a person enter a contract to be in debt for decades and your spouse is still paid so little from the arrangement? It’s wage theft.