15 Handwritten Responses
Quick links to Exam Resource Webpages
- Alternatives to Timed Online Exams (“Take-home” exams/assignments or oral exams)
- Designing Online Exams: choosing a platform, question types, etc.
- Deployment of Online Exams: technical considerations before and during the exam.
- Academic Integrity considerations
- Handwritten Responses (you are here)
- Exam Accommodations
- Canvas FAQs & Lessons Learned from Online Exams
Possibilities with handwritten response submissions
- If written responses can be submitted in a text format, students could submit via a Canvas assignment by pasting directly into an open response question (or upload a document – see https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-10151-415241295 for options).
- For tests that require handwritten responses (e.g., include diagrams or computations that won’t fit in online text boxes), students could be asked to print a test (this may be difficult to achieve consistently with all students!) or work on blank paper and submit completed work digitally, like taking pictures of the pages with their phone and uploading those to a Canvas assignment, or to Crowdmark, or to Gradescope (more on these below). Students can “scan” to a multiple page PDF using apps like Microsoft Lens, GeniusScan or CamScanner; more app choices and example text provided to students can be found in:
- Microsoft’s Lens app handles paper submissions well and is somewhat integrated into Office – this may be the easiest option for many students.
- R. Talbert’s How to have students submit handwritten work in an online setting post: http://rtalbert.org/handling-timed-exams-in-the-online-environment/
- This guide specific to GeniusScan, from Stanford: https://docs.google.com/document/d/18pWfVe3xK1JsMkWPRslcHNQ-ZonVMGfgZbXwc2ZgyC4/edit
- Gradescope’s student workflow information: https://www.gradescope.com/help?_ga=2.21642171.1033840888.1584644129-2076721442.1583952721#help-center-item-student-scanning
Grading uploaded responses via online platforms
You can distribute the grading load among an instructional team (including TAs) by grading online.
Canvas
You can use rubrics and have multiple graders using SpeedGrader: https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-12774-415255021.
Crowdmark
Crowdmark allows students to submit directly to their system through the use of “Assigned Assessments”: questions can be hosted on the Crowdmark platform and students can respond with a photo/scan/PDF upload of their answer (they cannot enter answers directly on a web form like a Canvas Quiz) or a PDF generated from a Word document if the answers are text-based. Grading happens online and can be distributed among a team (instructors and TAs).
- To get started, you will need to submit a request to the LT Hub to have your course created in Crowdmark; see: https://lthub.ubc.ca/guides/crowdmark/.
- Crowdmark’s services are being funded by UBC centrally through December, 2020, so can be used for the Fall 2020 exam period.
For more information on fully online approaches in Crowdmark: https://crowdmark.com/press/2020-03-10-ensuring-continuity-of-education-with-remote-grading-workflows/.
Gradescope
In addition to testing online (see below), Gradescope accepts scans of student work and uses AI to break it into questions that can be graded by multiple graders simultaneously or by the AI itself. Grading happens online and can be distributed among a team (instructors and TAs).
- To get started, you will need to submit a request to the LT Hub to have your course created in Gradescope. See: https://lthub.ubc.ca/guides/gradescope/.
- Gradescope’s services are being funded by UBC centrally through December, 2020, so can be used for the Fall 2020 exam period.
- For more information on fully online approaches in Gradescope: https://blog.gradescope.com/recent-updates-to-help-with-urgent-remote-assessment-needs-responding-to-covid-19-61dae0d57d4a.