One of the most common accommodations requested in our department is extra time and a reduced distraction environment on exams. Instructors are always welcome to provide these accommodations themselves (in their office or the Math Research Library) or to utilize the DRS Testing Center. Note that the department cannot offer any support (space, proctors) for “in-house” exam accommodations.
Alternative Testing Agreement
If you have students taking exams in the DRS Testing Center, you must complete their Alternative Testing Agreement at the beginning of the quarter. You only need to do this once per course. It’s important to do this early in the quarter since your students cannot schedule their exams before the agreement is submitted.
Here is some sample language for the testing agreement (with thanks to Andy Loveless).
- Allowances for exams?
TI-30X IIS is the only calculator allowed.
One 8.5 by 11 inch sheet of handwritten notes (front and back) is allowed.
Students do NOT have to submit the note sheet with the exam. - How should the student contact the course instructor if clarification is needed during the exam?
Call the number provided below first.
If no answer, email the professor at this address.
I will be available to answer questions at the following times: list times available - In the even that the student cannot begin the exam at the same time as the class due to extended testing time overlapping with their next class, or conflicting with DRS closure hours, how would you like the student to proceed?
The student may schedule exams up to 45 minutes earlier or later than their quiz section start time. - Please list all exam dates, start times, AND amount of time allotted for the class, according to the syllabus.
Starting times for midterms are by student's quiz section.
AA, AC, and AE start quizzes/exams at 8:30 am.
AB, AD, and AF start quizzes/exams at 10:00 am.
Midterm 1: January 26
Midterm 2: February 23
Final Exam: March 11, starting at 1:30 pm - Additional Information:
Cell phone number (not to be shared with students)
Exam Cover Sheet
The DRS Testing Center requests that the cover of each exam include:
- the course number and section (e.g. MATH 124 A);
- the name of the assessment (e.g., Exam I);
- the instructor’s name;
- and the date.
Some instructors also recommend including an instruction to the student to check that they have the correct exam.
Questions During the Exam
DRS asks that an instructor or TA be available by phone or email in case a student in the testing center has a clarifying question during the exam. In the Testing Agreement, include the times that the instructor or TA will be available for questions. Discuss this with the student before they schedule their exams. If a student needs more flexibility in scheduling, they may not be able to ask questions during the exam.
Some instructors choose instead not to answer questions from anyone during the exam and should specify this policy on the Testing Agreement.
Going Over Time
Students taking exams in the testing center must monitor their own time. They are offered timing devices and are informed how much time they are allowed. If they go over the allotted time, any consequences are left to the instructor’s discretion. (It was once DRS policy to give instructors explicit notice whenever students went over time. This no longer seems to be the case unless the overage exceeds some threshold which is not clearly defined – either 10 or 20 minutes depending on how busy the testing center is. Exam start and stop times are always listed on the DRS cover sheet.) We recommend that instructors make explicit their intended policies in their syllabus or in their written communication with accommodated students (e.g., a grace period of 5 minutes and then a deduction of x points for each y minutes over 5).
Requests for Accommodations Prior to Official Intake
When a student has begun the process of obtaining accommodations but hasn’t yet had their official access planning meeting, DRS will not allow the student to take exams in their testing center and will instruct them to ask the instructor to provide temporary, informal accommodations.
This can create some big feelings on the part of students and faculty. Finding a time, place, and proctor to give an individual student an exam is not trivial but students may not realize the magnitude of such a request. At the same time, our instructors care about our students and may have trouble refusing a student’s request for help.
While the final decision whether or not to honor such requests lies with the instructor, the instructor is not obligated to provide accommodations prior to receiving an official Faculty Notification Letter. Further, in the absence of an FNL, faculty cannot assess which accommodations are appropriate for a given student (e.g., time and a half versus double time). We recommend in this case that faculty require the student to take the exam with the class as scheduled. While DRS accommodations are not retroactive, after receipt of the FNL an instructor may (but is not obligated to) treat the exam as they would an otherwise excused absence (e.g., by waiving the exam and weighting the final more heavily).
Processing scans from DRS
DRS will scan a completed exam and email it to the instructor or TA as indicated on the testing agreement. Each exam will arrive in a separate email with pages in the order given to the student hourly working the desk at the testing center. Instructors may delegate the processing of completed exams to a designated TA in exchange for some of their expected exam grading duties. Indicate on your Alternative Testing Agreement that completed exams should be emailed to the designated TA. (The instructor may instead have the TA pick up the exams from DRS and scan them in the department.) The TA will then need to download each scanned exam, check for legibility and missing or misordered pages, remove the DRS cover sheet, and upload the exam to Gradescope. This TA then gets a reduced grading load (e.g., a “short” problem on each exam or only grading one of the midterms).