Strategies and System Implementations for Secure Electronic Written Exams

Osvaldo Gervasi,Marco Simonetti,Damiano Perri

doi:10.1109/access.2022.3150860

Osvaldo Gervasi, Marco Simonetti + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1109/access.2022.3150860

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Abstract

The pandemic has accelerated the process of digitization in many fields, highlighting some critical issues that have slowed the development of digital technologies in many areas. One of these is undoubtedly that of skills assessment, which on a digital platform is a more streamlined, reliable and faster process and allows some individuals from disadvantaged groups to be able to carry out the exam more easily. We present some strategies for enabling online remote secure written exams and their implementation through the open-source system LibreEOL. The system can be used for university exams (in presence or from remote locations) and training courses of all types to evaluate the effectiveness of learning in itinere, i.e., before, during and after a course, to provide quantitative data on training effectiveness. We outline the architecture of the services underpinning the system and the logical organisation of the various user roles and content relating to questions and exam delivery. We describe the algorithms that have allowed us to develop an environment that appears to be an essential aid both for teachers and students in light of the questionnaires conducted on students. The system is successfully used in the EchemTest, promoted by the European Chemistry Thematic Network, and allows comparison of chemistry training outcomes in different European countries. Despite the importance, it has taken on in the last two years due to the pandemic, such a system makes it possible to carry out a valuable skills assessment.

Highlights

F ROM the very beginning, the dissemination of knowledge and information has been one of the needs most keenly felt by humankind
The question asked for an overall assessment of the system’s quality: 81.4%, i.e. 1158 students, said that the system has a high level of quality and praised its features; 10.3% of the students considered the software invasive from the point of view of privacy; 8.3% of the students felt that the system was not appreciated and that it should not be used
WORK We have created a platform for secure remote online exams that respects personal data and the users’ primary needs

Summary

Introduction

F ROM the very beginning, the dissemination of knowledge and information has been one of the needs most keenly felt by humankind. The COVID-19 epidemic has hastened the digitization process in many industries, revealing several significant challenges that have hindered the development of digital technology in many domains One of these is, without a doubt, skills testing, which on a digital platform is a more streamlined, reliable, and speedier procedure, allowing certain persons from disadvantaged groups to take the exam more readily. We discuss various ideas for facilitating online distant secure written examinations and how they may be implemented using the open-source system LibreEOL. Our experience in this direction started more than 20 years ago with our participation in a European Union initiative called Leonardo 2 with a project called DASP[30], [13], [12]. We moved in the following years to a

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