BwLehrpool-Exams

In this guide you will find the most important information for planning and conducting online exams in the PC labs J213, BS217 and G310 on the campus of the University of Konstanz. This form of exams is particularly suitable for exams that are close to the application, since the participants can use software that was also used in your course, for example. In order to create exam conditions, the accessibility of services in the network can additionally be prevented or only released for individual services according to your wishes. The pre-configuration of the PCs for your exam is done by us via the infrastructure environment "bwLehrpool", we therefore use the name "bwLehrpool exams".

The following information refers in particular to the planning process and the topics that are relevant for the practical implementation of the exam on site. At some points, we refer to our documentation that relates to the use of the ILIAS exam platform. There you will find all relevant information for preparing the content for an ILIAS exam course.

Please note that, as for conventional exams, you as a teacher are responsible for the organizational implementation of the exam. Please clarify with your department how you can receive support for your exam concerning room reservation, and how a subsequent change request of room reservations can be implemented. The KIM will assist you by providing the pre-configured PC environment according to your wishes. In the following it is explained where, in turn, the KIM is dependent on your participation.

1. Planning bwLehrpool exams

For planning and reserving, we recommend this order, which also guides the following sections in this text:

1. Determine date, time, and duration of the exam.
2. Clarify the availability of personnel support (e.g., auxiliary staff).
3. Decide which PC-lab rooms you want to use and check the availability
4. Clarify the availability of the desired software together with us
5. Send us a reservation request incl. the event details and software requests

1.1 Scheduling

First determine the desired date, the time and the desired duration of the exam. In order to do this, check the availability at the room scheduling department. If you already have a PC-lab reserved for your course, you can also use it for your exam of course - in that case there is no need for a separate reservation. Please note that not the entire length of the reserved time slots can be used for writing the exam: Plan approx. 10 minutes at the beginning for starting the computers and for informing about the exam procedure. This should not include the break times before and after the time slots, as the availability of these times cannot be guaranteed, e.g. due to delays of previous events. If you need an exam processing time of e.g. 90 minutes, please reserve two time slots.

1.2 Assistance staff

Check whether you need additional personnel to procter the exam and to support the participants in case of problems: if you use the PC-lab room used for your course, you can procter the exam yourself and the participants know the bwLehrpool environment, this additional effort may not be necessary. However, if you reserve another PC-lab for your exam and possibly have an exam written in several pool rooms at the same time, you should plan with two people per room (supervisor + support).

1.3 Select PC-labs and check availability

It is possible to conduct bwLehrpool exams in the following PC-labs:

J213, 40 Plätze	BS217, 23 Plätze	G310, 19 Plätze
Check availability	Check availability	Check availability

Please check availability for your desired date. If available, all three pool rooms can also be used simultaneously for one exam.

1.4 Check availability of desired software

Any pre-installed software that you use on the PCs in your course can also be used in bwLehrpool exams. In the exam, either the complete software selection that you have available on the PCs in your course can be offered, or we can prepare a special software selection ("image") for you, that contains only the software you need.

Here you will find a list of available software for bwLehrpool
https://www.kim.uni-konstanz.de/en/services/learning-and-working/study-spaces-and-other-tools/bwlehrpool/

If you would like to use software that is not yet offered on the lab computers, please be sure to contact us before you continue planning, so that we can check license questions and install the software according to your wishes. Please mention your software wishes in your reservation request (see below).

1.5. Should the ILIAS exam environment be used?

The ILIAS exam environment simplifies the handling of exam tasks, which is why we recommend to use it in your bwLehrpool exam:

• Assignments and sample data sets can be made available at specific time periods.
• Time limits can be set for the submission and upload of examinations; the uploads are automatically assigned to the registered examination participants.
• Additional exam questions can be graded automatically (e.g. multiple choice items) or manually (e.g. text questions).
• Examination results and evaluations can be made available for inspection.

In principle, you can conduct bwLehrpool exams without using the ILIAS exam platform, but then you would have to define your own methods of distributing the assignments and sample data sets, as well as collecting and assigning the student results (e.g. via upload to the cloud or to the file server). If you or the students do not have experience with such an alternative procedures, we recommend using the ILIAS exam platform - the access to the platform can easily be provided in the software configuration we prepare for you (e.g., through a link on the Windows desktop).

1.6. Reservation request including event details

Please submit a reservation request for a bwLehrpool exam using this form:
https://www.uni-konstanz.de/lehren/beratung-hilfsmittel-service/digital-unterstuetzte-lehre/formular/

2. Preparing exam

2.1 Preparing exam course (only when using the ILIAS exam platform)

We create your exam course for you on the ILIAS exam platform, and assign the necessary administration permissions. Moreover we configure its availability period, according to the information that you provide. From this point on, you can prepare the exam content, e.g.:

• present assignments with the object "exercise", and set the time frame for uploading the answers / results.
• provide files/data sets necessary to answer the assignments/questions
• prepare additional questions (multiple choice, free text) in the object "test"

To prepare for the exam course, please refer to our documentation of the ILIAS exam platform
https://www.uni-konstanz.de/en/teaching/advice-aid-resources-service/digitally-enhanced-teaching/instructions/

If files or links are to be provided outside of ILIAS on the Windows desktop, please send them to us as soon as possible after confirming your reservation request, so that we can incorporate them into your bwLehrpool exam image.

2.2. Exam without using the ILIAS exam platform

(tbd...)

2.3. Mock exam

To ensure that all participants are familiar with their account name and password, as well as the workflow and software usage, we recommend conducting a mock exam under authentic circumstances (including the selected software/network restrictions) before the "actual" exam.

Please plan and request a mock exam the same way you would do for a "real" exam, as the same requirements must be met (room availability, ILIAS practice exam course, software availability, etc.).

3. Conducting the exam

Within your reserved time slot, only the software configuration you have chosen can be used in the PC-labs; if desired, the Internet connection can also be restricted. It is not necessary to log into to the computers during this period of time, as the system will load automatically, when turned on - or ,if necessary, only the session has to be restarted. If the ILIAS exam platfoorm is to be used, the participants will find a link on the Windows desktop in order to log in to the exam platform with the university account names (usually firstname.lastname) and the corresponding password. There, you will find the link to the exam course with the content you prepared (assignments, files, etc.), within the set timeslot.

4. Evaluation, post-exam revision, make-up dates

Please refer to our documentation on how to use the exam ILIAS:
https://www.uni-konstanz.de/en/teaching/advice-aid-resources-service/digitally-enhanced-teaching/instructions/