OPAL Exam@TUD Examination Platforms
Table of contents
Three OPAL Exam@TUD examination platform were introduced at TU Dresden. Each is a stand-alone, customized OPAL instance with associated ONYX server that is used exclusively for written examinations. Access to the examination platforms is via ZIH login and Two-factor authentication.
OPAL Exam@TUD 1: https://exam.zih.tu-dresden.de
OPAL Exam@TUD 2: https://exam2.zih.tu-dresden.de
OPAL Exam@TUD 3: https://exam3.zih.tu-dresden.de
The examination platform supports both automatically and manually evaluated online examinations, as well as those in which the answers are submitted via upload. Please also take a look at our overview of the Platform Functions for both ONYX and uploaded examinations, including further information and instructions.
Capacity
Each examination platform allows examinations with up to 500 students at the same time (250 when using Maxima); it can be used for one large examination or several small ones. When using all three examination platforms, the maximum number of participants of an online examination can be tripled accordingly. In this case, please see the Notes for implementation on several platforms.
Exam Registration
Equivalent to on-site examinations, online (mock) examinations on one of the OPAL Exam@TUD examination platforms require registration by the examiners to the Examination Office. Assigning of Examination dates is needed in order to regulate the maximum number of accesses and to thus prevent system overload. When confirming the date, pay attention to the assigned examination platform and conduct the examination exclusively on this platform.
Mock Examination
A short, but organizationally comparable mock examination is important for students both for testing the hardware and software used and for getting to know the examination system. In addition, you as the examiner can test examination controls and communication with students in a situation comparable to the examination. Note that this must also be registered with Examination Office, so that the required time slot can be allocated on an examination platform.
Differences Compared to the Learning Platform
In contrast to the Saxony-wide OPAL learning platform, the OPAL Exam@TUD examination platforms are used exclusively at TU Dresden. There is a reduced number of available course elements compared to the OPAL learning platform. The task module, which can be used for uploaded examinations, provides 307 MB of storage space per examination for each participant. Furthermore, the programming task in ONYX is not currently usable in examinations.
Note that the examination platforms are standalone platforms. To be able to manage users, an initial login is necessary on each platform. This concerns other persons who support the test proctor, but especially applies to all students, because only then is it possible to add them to a learning group. The latter is mandatory because without inclusion in a learning group it is not possible to view examination results and to restrict access to students registered for the examination.
Transfer of Existing Content
Already created OPAL courses can be transferred via Export and Import from the OPAL learning platform to the examination platforms or between the examination platforms. Likewise, ONYX tests can be exported and imported.
Notes About Using Several Examination Platforms Simultaneously (Large Examinations)
The maximum number of participants for an online examination on the examination platform is 500, or 250 when using Maxima. If the examination exceeds this number, the parallel use of platforms is necessary. As a rule, all participants are distributed evenly across the platforms (equivalent to lecture halls for on-site exams). An assignment can be made, for example, based on last names. For ONYX examinations, it is additionally recommended to divide the participants into learning groups of about 50 students, each of which is supervised by at least one person during the examination. Inform participants accordingly about the assignments to the different platforms, providing the different links.
Examination Creation
The creation and setup of the examination can first be done on one of the examination platforms. After completion, the OPAL course will be exported and can be imported on the other platforms afterwards.
You can then import the participants into the respective learning groups/platforms and assign the invigilator. Add any additional course leaders, if necessary. If required, you can customize the names of the learning groups on the additional platforms and add platform-specific information for the students. Finally, set the visibility of the courses to "Public—Visible for Registered Users." Corrections after export must be repeated on all platforms.
Parallel Examination Control
If you want to access the examination controls on multiple platforms at the same time during the examination, use a different browser for each platform if possible (recommended: Firefox and Chrome) or open one in private or incognito mode in addition to a normal browser window.
Notes on Using Maxima in ONYX Examinations
Using Maxima (a system for the manipulation of symbolic and numeric expressions), it is possible to work with random numbers or more complex formula comparisons in ONYX examinations, for example. This also enables the creation of individual examinations.
Depending on the type and extent of the use of Maxima in ONYX examinations, a significantly higher load can be generated on the platform than without. Therefore, for Maxima examinations, only half of the seats are allocated on an exam platform. In addition, attention must be paid to resource-saving implementation.
It is particularly important here to avoid global variable and function definitions, since this has an extremely negative effect on the performance of the online exam system. Multistep Maxima instructions should therefore be executed as block instructions. The variables can be explicitly defined locally. The following documentation provides instructions for implementation:
Language Settings
To conduct English-language exams, users can switch the system language of the exam platform to English; see OPAL Manual for System Settings.