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Exams at the Testing Center

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Instructor Responsibilities

The instructor must be reachable, preferably by cell phone, from 7:30 - 8:30 am on the first day of each exam. Instructors may appoint a proxy for this role, but they must have decision authority and be able to change exam settings in Canvas. Please plan to be reachable during your exam because problems can arise in the middle of the day.

Testing Center staff cannot make changes to your Canvas exams. Canvas Support staff may be able to intervene for some technical issues, but they cannot change content.

Supported Canvas Quiz Features and Options

  • Quiz items and information (e.g., images, audio files) must be stored on Canvas because the LockDown Browser blocks access to everything else.
  • The LockDown Browser includes an option for an on-screen calculator, either standard or scientific.
  • Testing Center staff cannot distribute paper handouts. Embedded on-screen notes may be included by the instructor in Canvas. See the quiz setup instructions for more information.
  • At the discretion of the instructor, students may bring the following items for their exam:
    • Calculators may be permitted, but our staff cannot confirm that students have the correct calculator.
    • Ruler and/or protractor.
    • Hand-written or typed notes. Students will be asked to leave their notes in the tray at the check-out desk after the exam.
    • Wired headphones - 3.5mm or USB-A only (Bluetooth or other wireless headphones will not work).
    • Textbook
    • Instructors may allow blank scratch paper for calculation- or note-intensive exams, but they need to provide sufficient paper in advance for all students and all exams. For example, 4 exams x 100 students is 400 sheets of paper.
      • Bar codes will be printed on the paper you provide and linked to the student at check-in.
      • Please allow scratch paper only if your students need it. Distributing scratch paper that goes unused wastes paper and slows the check-in and check-out process.
      • Staff will distribute scratch paper one sheet at a time. If students need a second sheet, they must return their first sheet.
      • Students cannot check-out unless they return their scratch paper.

Setting up Your Exam in Canvas

Please follow the instructions for Preparing an Exam for the Pollock Testing Center. If you do not follow these instructions, your exam will not function properly on the day(s) of your exam. If there is a problem and we cannot reach you, all subsequent testing will be impossible.

Exam Naming

Exams should be named in the following format: Exam_#_CourseNumber_Semester
Examples:
Exam_1_SOC101_SP23
Exam_4_MATH41_FA23

To ensure our staff do not link to the wrong exam, please re-name all old or similarly named exams by adding “Instructor-Only” to the beginning of the exam name.

Please keep your exam names relatively short. When you enable Respondus LockDown Browser in Canvas, that program automatically adds a note to the title indicating that it requires Respondus.

Pre-Exam Linking and Deadline

Five (5) business days before your exam start date, Testing Center staff will manually link your exam to our testing systems. After this date, the exam name and settings cannot be changed, but exam content can be updated until 24 hours before the exam.

In rare cases, instructors may need to change the exam within that 24 hours. If this happens, please contact Testing Center staff to let them know. Failure to notify the Testing Center staff will cause your students to receive the wrong exam. Regular use of this emergency change service could make your course ineligible for future scheduling.

Makeup Exams

Instructors with exams administered in the Testing Center are welcome to try to schedule makeup exams in Pollock. However, there are relatively few spots available in any one timeslot. Some days do not have any free space.

  • Use the eTesting Faculty page for your makeup exam requests.
  • Instructors with large numbers of makeup exams may want to:
    • Schedule an eTest in a college computer lab.
    • Request a Computer Lab Classroom (STEC) using the Registrar's Evening Exam Form.
    • Print copies of your exam from Canvas and ask students to use a Scantron answer sheet.
  • We cannot schedule makeup exams during finals week.

ADA Accommodations


Canvas Status

Stay up-to-date on Canvas's current status at http://status.instructure.com/


eTesting Hours of Operation

Fall and Spring

Week 1-2: 8:00A - 5:00P, Monday through Friday

Week 3-15: 8:00A - 11:00P, Monday through Friday

Summer

eTesting Closed


Scanning Operations

Fall and Spring

Week 1-2: 8:00A - 5:00P, Monday through Friday

Week 3-15: 8:00A - 11:00P, Monday through Friday

Summer

Hours to be determined.


Closed on University holidays

Closed during UP campus closures


Contact Us

eTesting Lab

504 Pollock Road
104 Pollock Building
Phone: (814) 865-9784
Email: eTest@psu.edu

Scanning Services

504 Pollock Road
105 Pollock Building
Phone: (814) 863-2802
Email: scan@psu.edu


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