Engineering update: More updates and tips on W2020 teaching

This message was originally sent to instructors in the Faculty of Engineering by Daniel Davison, associate dean, undergraduate studies.

Here are some updates and tips:
 
1. When must my contingency plans be in place? You have until Wed March 18 to get your plans in place. Don't forget to bounce them off the class and make a "good faith" attempt to incorporate any significant concerns that might arise. I found my class was very understanding and reasonable when I presented my plans to them.
 
2. When are grades due this term? All grades should be submitted on Quest by May 1. The absolute deadline (no exceptions since AP cycle starts) is May 3.
 
3. What about students who leave Waterloo to go to their home countries but then don't have reliable internet connections? I'm aware of one or two cases like this already. I encourage instructors to be compassionate and use INC grades, or some alternative method of getting a numeric grade, instead of something severe like DNW.
 
4. Some ideas to replace in-person final exams: I've been asked to share what others are doing. This is just a partial list of options, in no particular order:
 
(a) Get rid of the exam entirely: Replace the final exam with assignments or a project.
 
(b) Design an on-line exam: One way to use this is to use the "quizzes" feature in LEARN. You can create a pool of questions and have LEARN randomly select questions for each student (see https://uwaterloo.ca/learn-help/instructors/quizzes#Creating%20Random%20Sections%20in%20Quizzes). I'm planning to use this approach, and to run the exam during the 2.5 hour slot reserved for my course.

• Tip 1: At least on windows machines, you can use the "snipping tool" (or "screen clipping" tool in Word) to cut and paste exam questions directly into the LEARN quiz question boxes, making it easy to incorporate any graphics or math into your questions.
• Tip 2: To ensure the technology works for everyone, consider running a small (1 question) quiz a day or two prior to the exam which students can try out. 
• Tip 3: Make the exam shorter than 2.5 hours so that students have some buffer when trying to log in at the start of the exam.

(c) Design a take-home exam: Some profs are designing longer (say 4 hours) exams that students can do during any 24 or 48 hour period. It's important to give them a large window to write the exam since you can't guarantee students are available in any particular time interval except the 2.5 hours reserved for your course in the exam period.
 
(d) For a small class, do individual oral exams: There are lots of tools (e.g., zoom) where face-to-face oral exams can be done virtually.  Students can sign up for a time slot.  Ideally you should record the videos in case a student files a reassessment challenge later on.
 
5. What about academic integrity during on-line final exams? There is no fireproof method of ensuring students don't cheat. You could ask students to sign (digitally) that they following the exam rules. You could ask them to scan in their watcards. You could ask them to send an image of themselves writing the exam. But all of these methods are easily defeated. There are companies out there that you can pay to digitally "proctor" your exam, but we looked into that and were not persuaded (plus it costs a bundle). I'm just going to rely on the integrity of students and trust that my randomization of questions from a big pool will be a big hurdle.
 
6. What about the S2020 term? The university is currently deciding on how S2020 will progress (e.g., will it be an on-line term?). Hopefully the final decision will be made within the week or early next week at the latest.