Since the coronavirus crisis has turned our classes upside down, I have been using the following format for exams (instructions for the exam are here). Basically, students take the exam, make a quick video of the their work, and I grade the video. I have written about it already, see Amazing Idea, Low Bandwidth.

Here were some of the things that happened this time:

• I gave the students three days to do an exam instead of a half of a day. The students did really well – my lowest grade is a typical average grade when I give that test in class.
• There were still complaints about the time it took to upload videos but there wasn’t much stress because of the extra days.
• Students caught their mistakes while they were talking over their exam.
• I gave the students the choice between moodle, google drive and Youtube. Youtube seemed to be the easiest.
• I really enjoy listening to them think through their problems. There are some funny jokes and gaffes in there.

Here are some of the things that still really bother me about this:

• Are my students cheating? I am sure they are not directly cheating. But I worry about them looking up odd formulas (that we haven’t seen in class and using them without proof). That happened. That is kind of cheating. (very very gray.) Students who did this got significantly lower scores and it didn’t happen often.
• BIAS! I go to great lengths to minimize the bias when I grade normally. I make sure I grade anonymously – as much as reasonably possible. When you grade these video exams you know exactly whose test you are grading and when. I am so worried that I am unknowingly introducing bias when I grade. (The best way to do this is to have a concrete detailed rubric and then adhere to it, but I prefer more flexibility. My rubrics tend to be more flexible.)

Still, I like the method and will use it in the future. It is a great solution in this time of craziness.

BTW when I wrote Amazing Idea, Low Bandwidth, I think it was day 1 on the coronavirus for me. I went from being so cranky that morning to feverish that evening.