Straighterline Proctored and Closed Book

[perriquit]

One of my students took SL Business Ethics and to my surprise he told me that his final exam was proctored and closed book. I contacted SL immediately and they confirmed this and several courses have closed book examinations now and seems like they are going to expand this to other courses. The type of examination is called UA and seems like they have it custom designed to fit their courses.

This is a major major change! have you guys experienced that kind of examinations already? I need your valuable feedback!

Thank you

Perico

[ironheadjack]

Every final exam is proctored, that is not new. All of the SL courses I took were open book; if that is what SL told you then it must be some kind of new policy change.

They drove away customers when they started requiring ProctorU for the finals, if this is true about closed book finals, IMO they will lose more customers.

[Potatoloco]

I just took the Anthropology final today. I consider it an open book final as I showed the proctor that I currently had my etextbook open. They did not say anything to me about not being able to use it, though in the end, I did not look at it once. I imagine this will probably cause a lot of confusion as their official policy listed on their website still shows open book for all finals. Though it wouldn't surprise me that somewhere within the website there is language that says otherwise.

Either way, the use of proctoring and possibly having the final change to a closed book format hasn't really changed my approach to SL classes. I took several courses there dating back to Jan 2011 and have yet to use the book for a final. A general strategy of mine has always been to get as close to a 70% as possible before the final. I believe with the current format, with a little effort, coming into the final with above 600 current points should be attainable for anyone that takes the classes. The only real inconvenience at this point, is waiting a few days to take a final after scheduling it to avoid extra fees.

I would imagine that this is probably the end of the line of SL changes from a testing standpoint. The only thing they can really extend it to at this point is proctored mid-terms or eventually proctoring every test. But I really don't see them believing that course of action would help the profitability or the image of the company after the fiasco of last year.

[Saharapost]

I took SL Business Ethics final two days ago and I was allowed to use the textbook. With the open book option, I managed to score an overall grade of 73%. I think the Business Ethics course is dry...

[deucess]

I know for a few of my exams the proctor said they were closed book exams, and I was like 'the hell it is'. Then they verified it, and it was open book, and they apologized saying they were looking at the wrong window. It turns out ProctorU is monitoring 8 people at a given time. They also told me, they are not watching the whole time, and not even recorded. They only start recording if you get up and leave unexpectedlly or doing something strange.

But as far as straighterline is concerned, I don't know if this is a new requirement. Like Potatoloco, I make it my goal to reach 70 before I go into the exams.

[bs13]

For psychology exam, i was told by the proctor that book is not allowed. So I told the proctor that I was thinking that the exam is open book. The proctor allowed me to re-schedule the exam. The proctor I got for my re-scheduled exam allowed me to use the book.
Thanks
BS

[Daithi]

I've taken taken 7 StraighterLine courses and have my last 3 finals all scheduled for this weekend (10 courses total). ALL of my courses were open book (including Bus. Ethics).

[Lemurian_Spirit]

Hi There,

My contact at Straighter line says, "quizzes are all open book except for the final exam. The final exam has very recently become close book." My question is this: If I get the hard copy of the book (which I have just ordered--mainly because I like highlighting text, and from what I understand reading a book is easier on the eyes than looking at a screen for hours on end) and I take the final exam online, how do they know if I'm using the book or not? Is a Webcam involved? ;-)

Also, since some folks on this thread have experience with the Business Ethics Straighterline course, do you have to read the entire text, or is it just bits and pieces? I'm not the fastest reader in the world and am wondering how I am going to get through 512 pages with any kind of speed. Thanks bunches.

[ironheadjack]

Yes, a webcam is involved. That is how you are proctored.

[deucess]

Hi There,

My contact at Straighter line says, "quizzes are all open book except for the final exam. ...

Great, way to go straighterline.