#4 CETL A & C Mentor Tips & Tricks
Best Practices in Online Testing
Nancy Woodward & Jennifer Lewis
Interested in teaching online? Concerned that your exams cannot be secure in the online classroom?
We have the tips and tricks to help you feel confident about your online course’s examinations.
1. Make academic honesty a priority in your course. This sets the stage for all course work and
assessments. How do you do this?
a. Include an academic honesty statement in your course syllabus. Consider having
students sign a code of honesty for the course.
b. Refer to the college’s Academic Integrity Code.
c. Remind students about the academic honesty policy early and then throughout the
course, especially before higher point course assessments.
2. Use frequent course assessments. Frequent assessments provide the student with more
feedback from the instructor and reduce the anxiety of larger assessments. They also allow the
instructor to become familiar with each student’s work.
3. Use varied and appropriate course assessments.
a. Don’t rely only on examinations if possible. Multiple assessment types allow the
instructor to become familiar with the student’s work and get the student thinking
about the subject manner in multiple ways.
b. Varied assignments also help reach a larger range of learning types.
4. Select course assessments wisely. Use examinations when appropriate.
5. Help prepare the students for the exam. Consider providing a practice exam or a study guide to
help them prepare for the exam. This helps students gain confidence before the exam and
makes them less likely to resort to cheating.
6. Select exam administration format carefully! Not every course or exam should necessarily be
administered online in the Blackboard course environment. Some options you have:
a. Online Exam administered in Blackboard.
 Be aware of ways students can cheat. Plan ahead! Provide students with ample
instruction. Decide well before administering the exam how you will handle
student excuses, like lock outs.
 Consider all online exams as open book. If you or a proctor is not present, the
textbook will likely be open!
 Select exam questions wisely.
o Rote memory questions (i.e. multiple choice) are good to gauge student
progress, however, students may be able to look these up.
o Use application questions (i.e. essay or case study). This requires the
student to apply knowledge. You can also use questions that require
the student to apply their personal experience.
o Consider using question pools to create unique exams for each student.
Most textbooks come with an exam pool that can be imported into
Blackboard.
o Randomize the questions within the exam.
 Utilize test administration features in Blackboard, such as passwords. Before
doing this, make sure you understand how they work!
 Set a time window for when the exam should be completed. This should span a
few days so that students who need flexibility in their schedules can complete
the exam.
b. Proctored Exam administered by an approved proctor.
 Don’t dismiss these because you think they require additional prep time.
Proctors can administer online exams in Blackboard for you! There are two
ways to approach a proctored exam:
o Instructor acts as proctor for students who can take the exam on
campus.
o Student must locate an approved proctor if they cannot take the exam
on campus.
 The proctored exam could be a good choice if you want the exam to be closed
book or you will use the same assessment in multiple semesters.
7. If you need training in how to use Blackboard for your exams, contact CETL at (608)246-6646 or
contact one of the Blackboard Mentors.
For additional information about Online Exams, check out these resources:
1. WCET, UT Telecampus and the Instructional Technology Council’s Best Practice Strategies to
Promote Academic Integrity in Online Education
2. California State University, Sacramento’s Online Exams: Strategies to Minimize Cheating
 Provides good instruction to give to your students.
3. University of South Florida Sarasota’s Best Practices for Online Testing from Start to Finish
 Provides good instructions for the instructor.
4. Community College of Allegheny County’s Best Practices for Online Exams
5. North Carolina Community College’s Online Testing Advice
6. TNCC's Best Practices for effective online Assessments
7. Late Night Learning with John Krutsch - How to Cheat Online