The "Solutions to organize the examination and assessment of courses in the context of social distancing" Workshop

In the context of the current complicated situation of the Covid 19 pandemic, the trend of online teaching, learning and assessment is an appropriate solution chosen by domestic and foreign universities. In order to adapt to the new situation, the University of Science and Technology, the University of Danang flexibly switched to dynamic learning, online teaching, and the final exam to the online form to ensure the learning progress for students.

In order to prepare well for the online examination and assessment, on the morning of July 20, 2021, the University of Science and Technology, the University of Danang held a workshop on solution for evaluating the courses of the second semester, the summer semester of the academic year 2020-2021 in the context of social distancing".

The workshop was chaired by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Doan Quang Vinh- Rector of the University, with the presence of Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Dinh Lam - Secretary of the Party Committee, Chairman of the University Council with nearly 300 lecturers from various faculties of the University of Science and Technology, and lecturers from the University of Economics, University of Education, University of Foreign Languages - UD.

Delegates attending the workshop

Speaking at the opening of the seminar, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Doan Quang Vinh- Rector of the University said: In the context of the current pandemic and complicated developments, the examination and final exams for the semester II, summer semester of the school year 2020-2021 and to prepare for the new school year 2021-2022 is an urgent matter. The workshop was organized to assist in providing more information for staff and lecturers through the sharing of reports and presentations by teachers who had previous experience in implementation. He also emphasized that lecturer should refer to more information channels to choose from and flexibly apply to the subjects they are in charge of teaching.

Assoc.Doan Quang Vinh- Rector of the university gave the opening speech

The workshop heard 6 presentations on the following topics: Prepare multiple-choice questions with Microsoft Forms; Assessment of large assignments and Q&A on MS Teams; Build essay and multiple choice exam on LMS; Essay, multiple choice, question and answer exam on MS Teams; Build exam questions and monitor exams on MS Teams using Testportal tool; Multiple choice exam on LMS; Review PBLs, Project and Product Reports on MS Teams.

Dr. Pham Thanh Hung - Lecturer of the Faculty of Civil Engineering, Deputy Director in charge of the Center for Learning Information Resources and Communication, presented on how to prepare multiple-choice questions with Microsoft Forms

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Vo Ngoc Duong - Lecturer of Faculty of Civil Engineering, Deputy Head of Training Department presented a report on how to approach assessment of large assignments and Q&A on MS Teams

Dr. Le Van Dung - Faculty of Mathematics, Da Nang National University of Education shared his experience in preparing exam questions on LMS

Dr. Nguyen Dinh Son - Lecturer of the Faculty of Traffic Mechanics presents this essay, multiple choice, and Q&A exam on MS Teams

Dr. Nguyen Minh Hoang - Lecturer of Faculty of Chemistry presented a presentation on Examining and Exam Monitoring on MS Teams using Testportal tool

Dr. Vo Duc Hoang - Lecturer of the Faculty of Information Technology shares his experience of taking multiple-choice exams on LMS

Dr. Ngo Dinh Thanh - Deputy Head of Department of Testing & Quality Assurance presented on PBL Evaluation, Project and Product Report on MS Teams

The participants all confirmed that the knowledge shared by the teachers at the workshop was very valuable and useful, especially the topic of the report by Dr. Nguyen Dinh Son - Lecturer at Faculty of Traffic Mechanics presented this essay on MS Teams and Dr. Nguyen Minh Hoang - Lecturer of the Faculty of Chemistry presented a lecture on Examining and Exam Monitoring on MS Teams using the Testportal tool, which received a lot of attention and discussion from the teachers.

At the conference, the teachers actively discussed the advantages and disadvantages of each form of examination in order to organize the exam effectively, minimizing problems arising during the exam such as physical conditions. (computer), power supply and Internet connection quality in rural areas, or areas where power outages often occur. Many opinions also suggest organizing mock exam training before students take the official exam, and have a plan to organize a backup exam class in case of an incident. In particular, a lot of discussion related to the need to develop specific regulations to ensure the transparency, fairness and efficiency of the online exam. Some other suggestions discussed related to the use of the method of shuffling questions and answers in the construction of exam questions to limit cheating in the exam, or investing in the use of software to monitor the test results and check students' honesty during the exam.

The workshop was organized by the University in a very timely manner, attracting nearly 300 lecturers to participate and lasting for nearly 4 hours, showing the correct direction of the School's Leaders, the interest and coordination between the University and the faculty members and functional units to prepare carefully for a serious and successful online exam.

Delegates participating in the discussion at the Conference

Concluding at the conference, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Doan Quang Vinh affirmed: the School team will join hands to overcome difficulties to end the 2020-2021 school year and be ready to enter the 2021-2022 school year. Faculties deploy to subjects, each subject and professional group to choose the most appropriate exam plan for each module, coordinate with the Department of Testing & Quality Assurance, the Department of Education affairs to have support on the exam techniques and regulations. For cases where students cannot participate in the exam due to an objective incident, the exam will be postponed according to the instructions of the University. At the same time, the Information and Communication Center, the Department of Student Affairs,  the Youth Union-Student Union together cooperate to promote communication activities to call for students to promote self-discipline and honesty to ensure a good exam season. The most serious and effective online. He also noted to encourage lecturers to use the MS Teams system to organize exams and store exams. For the organization of multiple-choice exams, attention should be paid to the time factor so that students can focus on doing the test, limiting cheating. For out-of-school courses, the Department of Testing & Quality Assurance and the Department of Education Affairs coordinate to support these lecturers in organizing the exam. Faculties and subjects have plans to provide technical support to older teachers in organizing online exams. The Department of Education affairs and the IT Team need to review and support the instructors in creating online exam classes. In particular, the Department of Education Affairs needs to arrange the exam schedule accordingly, organize an orientation session for students to take the initiative and feel secure during the exam. Finally, I hope that the entire school will try to overcome difficulties to successfully implement a serious and effective online exam season.

Taking souvenir photos after the conference was held successfully

News, photos: The Center for Learning Information Resources and Communication, University of Science and Technology, UD