Members of the Honor Committee gave a presentation to the Faculty Senate yesterday about its proposal for flexible exams, a new method still in the works that would change the way professors administered exams.
College Rep. Catherine Anne Daley explained there are two areas where the Committee sees "potential for flexibility" -- in the scheduling and administration of an exam.
Flexible exams would allow professors to administer an exam during a time period of their choice as well as give an un-timed or open-book exam, Daley said.
"Flexible scheduling would be beneficial for students and for faculty by alleviating the stress for students of a randomly scheduled exam time," she noted.
She added that flexible exams would also ease some of the pressure professors face in having to grade exams by a deadline near the end of the semester.
Exams would be administered through Collab, the new course informational system that will replace Toolkit by Spring 2009, allowing students to access the exam in a secure online environment, Daley said.
"We see this as a unique opportunity that we have only because we live in a community governed by an honor code," Daley said.
Flexible exams would also minimize the hassle of paper and blue books, as well as simplify logistical issues such as proctoring an in-class exam, according to Daley.
"We're looking at a program where we can marry the benefits of an honor system with new technology," she said, adding that the use of flexible exams and Collab would not force professors to change their exams' content and structure.
The Committee is currently seeking undergraduate College professors to try administering a flexible exam during their pilot program next semester. Faculty Senate Chair Ricardo Padron said the pilot project would be more meaningful if a wide representation of disciplines participated.
Committee Chair Ben Cooper said flexible exams are a benefit that could be extended to students and faculty because of the University's honor system.
"One of the charges of the Honor Committee is to both preserve and to promote the community of trust," Cooper said. "I think for too long this has been viewed as solely an obligation to run trials ... This year's committee has really been ... looking at ways that living under an honor system can benefit not only the students ... but also the faculty"
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