This slide set summarizes some experiences with a summative assessment or preliminary examination in a two-semester engineering course. An online assessment with numerical or multiple-choice questions was chosen, which required an elaborate preparation, especially in question design, but reduced the correction effort enormously. This investment is worthwhile for larger groups of more than 50 to 100 students. In contrast, online assessments with such simple question types cannot map and test all competencies that are possible via handwritten assessments. Therefore, other types of formative assessments such as personalized assignments with anonymous peer review for rapid feedback should be used along the semester. Another experience is that students cannot have enough information about the upcoming innovative online assessment, especially those with little experience in such formats to prevent ambiguity, queries, and frustration. Therefore, the same learning management system, similar types of tasks, the same input interface, and comparable scoring algorithms should be used for the summative assessment as along the whole semester. During the assessment, students should have multiple, low-threshold, redundant opportunities to ask questions, if possible (\eg, via a videoconference meeting, by phone, by email). The fear that students would perform much better in pure online assessment or that it would be much more difficult to evaluate their individual performance due to the usability of the Internet, numerical calculation tools or circuit simulation programs as well as the possibility of communication via online media, has not been confirmed, because the average score was very comparable to previous assessments in presence.

1. Experience with an Online Assessment in a Lecture
about Fundamentals of Electrical Engineering
Mathias Magdowski1
and Ingo Siegert2
1Chair for Electromagnetic Compatibility
Institute for Medical Engineering
2Group for Mobile Dialogue Systems
Institute for Electronics, Signal Processing and Communications
Otto von Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany
November 5, 2021
License: cb CC BY 4.0 (Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0)

2. Background and Motivation

3. Background and Motivation Preparation Announcement Implementation Evaluation and Outlook
Traditional face-to-face assessments
https://twitter.com/LehrstuhlEMV/status/1204833569266454529
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4. Background and Motivation Preparation Announcement Implementation Evaluation and Outlook
The big question
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5. Background and Motivation Preparation Announcement Implementation Evaluation and Outlook
The big question
+ = ?
Source left: https://pixabay.com/photos/school-exam-french-bad-wrong-fail-683553/
Source right: https://pixabay.com/vectors/germ-bacillus-angry-fight-against-158107/
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6. Background and Motivation Preparation Announcement Implementation Evaluation and Outlook
Idea
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7. Background and Motivation Preparation Announcement Implementation Evaluation and Outlook
Idea
Question text:
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8. Background and Motivation Preparation Announcement Implementation Evaluation and Outlook
Idea
Answer formula:
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9. Preparation

10. Background and Motivation Preparation Announcement Implementation Evaluation and Outlook
Procedure
▶ find a suitable tasks
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11. Background and Motivation Preparation Announcement Implementation Evaluation and Outlook
Procedure
▶ find a suitable tasks
Online Assessment in Electrical Engineering 9

12. Background and Motivation Preparation Announcement Implementation Evaluation and Outlook
Procedure
▶ find a suitable tasks
▶ develop a sample solution, check the effort
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13. Background and Motivation Preparation Announcement Implementation Evaluation and Outlook
Procedure
▶ find a suitable tasks
▶ develop a sample solution, check the effort
▶ write down the task and solution in L
A
TEX
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14. Background and Motivation Preparation Announcement Implementation Evaluation and Outlook
Procedure
▶ find a suitable tasks
▶ develop a sample solution, check the effort
▶ write down the task and solution in L
A
TEX
▶ convert the task text into HTML format
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15. Background and Motivation Preparation Announcement Implementation Evaluation and Outlook
Procedure
▶ find a suitable tasks
▶ develop a sample solution, check the effort
▶ write down the task and solution in L
A
TEX
▶ convert the task text into HTML format
▶ convert the solution into an answer formula
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16. Background and Motivation Preparation Announcement Implementation Evaluation and Outlook
Procedure
▶ find a suitable tasks
▶ develop a sample solution, check the effort
▶ write down the task and solution in L
A
TEX
▶ convert the task text into HTML format
▶ convert the solution into an answer formula
▶ generate randomized input values
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17. Background and Motivation Preparation Announcement Implementation Evaluation and Outlook
Procedure
▶ find a suitable tasks
▶ develop a sample solution, check the effort
▶ write down the task and solution in L
A
TEX
▶ convert the task text into HTML format
▶ convert the solution into an answer formula
▶ generate randomized input values
▶ think about a meaningful feedback
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18. Background and Motivation Preparation Announcement Implementation Evaluation and Outlook
Procedure
▶ find a suitable tasks
▶ develop a sample solution, check the effort
▶ write down the task and solution in L
A
TEX
▶ convert the task text into HTML format
▶ convert the solution into an answer formula
▶ generate randomized input values
▶ think about a meaningful feedback
▶ store the question in the catalog
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19. Background and Motivation Preparation Announcement Implementation Evaluation and Outlook
Procedure
▶ find a suitable tasks
▶ develop a sample solution, check the effort
▶ write down the task and solution in L
A
TEX
▶ convert the task text into HTML format
▶ convert the solution into an answer formula
▶ generate randomized input values
▶ think about a meaningful feedback
▶ store the question in the catalog
▶ transfer the questions into the actual Moodle test
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20. Background and Motivation Preparation Announcement Implementation Evaluation and Outlook
Procedure
▶ find a suitable tasks
▶ develop a sample solution, check the effort
▶ write down the task and solution in L
A
TEX
▶ convert the task text into HTML format
▶ convert the solution into an answer formula
▶ generate randomized input values
▶ think about a meaningful feedback
▶ store the question in the catalog
▶ transfer the questions into the actual Moodle test
▶ protect the test and forward it for testing
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21. Background and Motivation Preparation Announcement Implementation Evaluation and Outlook
Feedback from colleagues
1. estimate a realistic amount of time needed for the solution
Source: https://pixabay.com/de/vectors/alarm-uhr-wecker-zeit-aufwachen-1673577/
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22. Background and Motivation Preparation Announcement Implementation Evaluation and Outlook
Feedback from colleagues
1. estimate a realistic amount of time needed for the solution
2. find typos and ambiguities in the wording
Source: https://pixabay.com/de/vectors/alarm-uhr-wecker-zeit-aufwachen-1673577/
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23. Announcement

24. Background and Motivation Preparation Announcement Implementation Evaluation and Outlook
Sent about one day before the assessment
Dear students,
as discussed in the online plenary today, here is all the information about tomorrow’s assessment. The
assessment will be conducted as an online test via Moodle and will include various numerical and
multiple-choice questions.
Access link: https://elearning.ovgu.de/mod/quiz/view.php?id=xxxxx
The online assessment will be available on Wednesday, January 20, 2021, between 7:00 pm and 9:00 pm.
However, the completion time only is limited to 1 hour and 30 minutes, leaving 30 minutes buffer for any technical
issues. You will have one allowed attempt for the solution to answer all nearly 30 questions. All participants get
the same questions, but in different order and with different numerical values.
Randomizing the order may separate similar subtasks from related task types. Therefore, it is useful to note
down intermediate values to avoid multiple identical calculations, because the numerical values are always the
same for these related subtasks.
To prevent guessing the solution, the tolerance for the numerical values is set to ±1 %, so you should not round
too much.
. . .
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25. Implementation

26. Background and Motivation Preparation Announcement Implementation Evaluation and Outlook
Settings
https://twitter.com/MMagdowski/status/1351953295879843845
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27. Background and Motivation Preparation Announcement Implementation Evaluation and Outlook
The students are on time!
After one minute:
After ten minutes:
https://twitter.com/MMagdowski/status/1351956093946224644
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28. Evaluation and Outlook

29. Background and Motivation Preparation Announcement Implementation Evaluation and Outlook
Problem with rounding errors
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30. Background and Motivation Preparation Announcement Implementation Evaluation and Outlook
Point distribution – online assessment (2021)
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31. Background and Motivation Preparation Announcement Implementation Evaluation and Outlook
Point distribution – face-to-face assessment (2019)
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32. Background and Motivation Preparation Announcement Implementation Evaluation and Outlook
Main experiences and lessons learned
▶ higher preparation time (question design)
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33. Background and Motivation Preparation Announcement Implementation Evaluation and Outlook
Main experiences and lessons learned
▶ higher preparation time (question design)
▶ drastically reduced correction effort
(worthwhile from 50 to 100 students)
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34. Background and Motivation Preparation Announcement Implementation Evaluation and Outlook
Main experiences and lessons learned
▶ higher preparation time (question design)
▶ drastically reduced correction effort
(worthwhile from 50 to 100 students)
▶ cannot map all competencies of handwritten assessments
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35. Background and Motivation Preparation Announcement Implementation Evaluation and Outlook
Main experiences and lessons learned
▶ higher preparation time (question design)
▶ drastically reduced correction effort
(worthwhile from 50 to 100 students)
▶ cannot map all competencies of handwritten assessments
▶ intensively inform students to prevent ambiguity, queries, and frustration
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36. Background and Motivation Preparation Announcement Implementation Evaluation and Outlook
Main experiences and lessons learned
▶ higher preparation time (question design)
▶ drastically reduced correction effort
(worthwhile from 50 to 100 students)
▶ cannot map all competencies of handwritten assessments
▶ intensively inform students to prevent ambiguity, queries, and frustration
▶ trial assessment on the same platform with similar tasks
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37. Background and Motivation Preparation Announcement Implementation Evaluation and Outlook
Main experiences and lessons learned
▶ higher preparation time (question design)
▶ drastically reduced correction effort
(worthwhile from 50 to 100 students)
▶ cannot map all competencies of handwritten assessments
▶ intensively inform students to prevent ambiguity, queries, and frustration
▶ trial assessment on the same platform with similar tasks
▶ multiple, low-threshold, redundant opportunities to ask questions (e. g., via
Zoom, by phone, by email).
Online Assessment in Electrical Engineering 20

38. Background and Motivation Preparation Announcement Implementation Evaluation and Outlook
Main experiences and lessons learned
▶ higher preparation time (question design)
▶ drastically reduced correction effort
(worthwhile from 50 to 100 students)
▶ cannot map all competencies of handwritten assessments
▶ intensively inform students to prevent ambiguity, queries, and frustration
▶ trial assessment on the same platform with similar tasks
▶ multiple, low-threshold, redundant opportunities to ask questions (e. g., via
Zoom, by phone, by email).
▶ students don’t take great advantage of Internet usage, numerical calculation
tools such as MATLAB/Octave, . . .
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39. Background and Motivation Preparation Announcement Implementation Evaluation and Outlook
Portfolios and social media
www.researchgate.net/profile/Mathias_Magdowski
twitter.com/MMagdowski
www.youtube.com/c/MathiasMagdowski
mathiasmagdowski.wordpress.com
Logos from:
ResearchGate: Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=14747778
Twitter: GageSkidmore, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15869489
YouTube: Fank Stone, Berg Eckle - YouTube, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=32602914
WordPress: WordPress - http://wordpress.org/about/logos/ “Vector, for web”, GPL,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9764285
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40. Background and Motivation Preparation Announcement Implementation Evaluation and Outlook
References
Cole, J. R. (2005). Using Moodle: teaching with the popular open source
course management system.
O’Reilly Community Press, Sebastopol, CA, USA, 1 edition.
Swart, A. J. and Sutherland, T. (2014).
Student perspectives of open book versus closed book examinations—a case
study in satellite communication.
International Journal of Engineering Education, 30(1):210–217.
The MathWorks, Inc. (2015). MATLAB. Natick, MA, United States. Version
R2015b.
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