FAQs related to Open-book Online Exam for Fall 2020

A) Students’ Queries Related to Online Open Book Examinations:

Question 1: What is "open book examination"?

An "open book examination" is an assessment method that allows students to refer to class
notes, textbooks, or other approved material while answering questions. An open book
exam can also mean that students are provided with the exam questions, as a take-home
exam.
Question 2: Why is it mandatory to go for open book examination?
In the wake of COVID-19 pandemic spread, the universities and educational institutions all
over the world switched to online mode of teaching to save students' precious time. For
examination process as well, universities need to switch to online mode and for online
examination, open book exam is the only viable solution to address the issues of students in
rural and urban sector.
Question 3: What is the purpose of open book exam?
The main premise for open book exams is that teachers can devise questions that require
students to answer in more critical and analytical ways thus encouraging high-order thinking
skills in their students; as compared to closed book or traditional exams that tend to
encourage rote learning.
Question 4: What should I expect of open book exam?

You should knowing that open book exam is not your typical assessment mechanism to test
your memorisation capabilities or knowledge. Rather you would be expected to apply,
synthesize and evaluate the knowledge you acquired during study. You should be ready to
use your higher-order thinking skills and your analytical abilities. For example, you might be
given a problem or a scenario and asked to apply concepts from several parts of the course
to it to develop an answer. The instructor will be looking for well-structured and presented
arguments or solutions.

Question 5: Do I need to study for open book examination?

You need to study extensively for open book examination. Do not expect that you will be
asked the exact same questions and be able to copy entire answers.  Your answers need to
directly answer the question that is asked, not the somewhat related question that you may
have prepared.

Question 6: How should I prepare for online open book examination?

The open book examination is likely to be more challenging, and the teacher is likely to have
higher expectations for the quality of your answers and the extent of your critical and
analytical thinking, knowing you have course materials available to draw upon. However,
you can use systematic approach to get yourself prepared for the open book examination,
using following techniques: -

● Organise your notes and divide these into sections or according to different
themes/concepts. Make a chart or table of contents for quick reference to concepts
for better organization. Annotate your chart or table of contents with summaries of
main ideas for each unit, topic, or category of information.

● Effective studying goes beyond just reading through your notes. If you’ve highlighted
themes, organized ideas, then try to make connections between those ideas.
Remember that open-book exam questions will be looking for more application
examples than simple recall of information.

● Anticipate potential questions and then test yourself by writing answers to those
questions.

Question 7: How should I attempt open book examination?

There is no specific formula/strategy to attempt open book examination; however, some
methodologies may be adopted to attempt or solve your questions wisely:
● Read the questions carefully. Try to understand what is being asked in the question;
identify key words in the question.
● Timing is the most important component: Plan the time you have per question,
based on grade/weightage and total time allocated. Check your pace and skip ahead
if you need to.
● For questions that you aren’t sure about, take time to refer to your notes. Use your
study charts or table of contents to find relevant content for the question quickly.
● Aim for concise, well-supported answers.
● If you have time for review at the end, you may check your materials more
extensively to verify accuracy or to find additional points.

Question 8: What is the tentative date/schedule for the terminal examination?

The examination for Fall 2020 semester shall commence from January 18 th, 2020, as per
academic calendar of the university.
Question 9: How will students be issued Roll No. Slips for online examination?
Students will receive their Roll No slips on their (IIU) email ids, after completion of fee
clearance process, by the fee section.

Question 10: What if I do not fulfil the attendance requirement for a course? Would I be
prevented to appear in examination for that course?
Attendance of the students can also be assessed by their responses or their correspondence with the
teachers through assignments and other online activities. Typical procedures and standards to assess
attendance requirement (attendance in online class) will not be used in the current scenario.
Students living in remote areas will have access to uploaded material on their ease/availability of
internet.

Question 11: How can I access or download the Date-sheet?

Department-wise date sheet will be uploaded on the university website as well as on LMS,
clearly mentioning the dates and starting-ending time of examination. Online examination is
always time-bound.
Question 12: Which platform will be used for online exam?
Question papers will be posted in the LMS/Google Classroom, which can be downloaded on
the scheduled date and time for the exam (as per announced date-sheet). The hand-written
answers can then be submitted in PDF format, through Google Forms.
Question 13: How will students download the question paper?
The question paper (in pdf format) will be downloaded from the Google Classroom/LMS.
Once downloaded, students can start solving exams on plain papers.
Question 14: How many questions will be there in the open book question paper?
At undergraduate level (BS/MA/M.Sc./MBA) there will be 3 questions and at Graduate level
(MS/Ph.D.) there will be 2 questions.
Question 15: Is it mandatory that online exam be time-bound? / Will there be time—
restriction in online examination?
Yes. It is the sanctity of examination process that exam should always be time-bound or
conducted within prescribed timeframe. If time restriction is not applied on exam process,
then its sanctity or authenticity can be challenged. Therefore, the starting and end time for
the exam will be set and shared explicitly with students, to avoid any ambiguities.
Question 16: How much time will be allowed to attempt online examination?
As per approved policy, 8 hours will be allowed to solve and upload online examination
responses/answer scripts.
Question 17: What if a student is unable to submit the paper in given time limit?
If a student is unable to submit the paper within the given time limit, the concerned teacher, with
the consent of HoD or Dean may allow him/her a time-relaxation of up to one hour, but after
informing examination section and LMS team. No relaxation in time would be allowed after that
under whatsoever circumstances.

Question 18: What should be the mode of examination? Should it be computerized or

hand-written, whose picture will be shared/submitted after completing the paper in
specified time?
Students will have to submit scanned copy/pictures of the hand-written solved answer
sheets, after completing the exam. They will have to upload the pictures of the solved
examination papers using a cam-scanner (software). The pictures of solved answers will be
saved in the word file shared for Answer script in the Google Classroom for the subject. And
finally, they will convert the Word file into a PDF document and this PDF file will be shared
through Google Forms for the Course.
Question 19: What are the necessary gadgets for taking online exams?
Laptops/notebooks are the necessary gadgets (to download question paper and upload
solved paper) to take up online exam. In addition, a reliable internet connection is also
mandatory to take up online exam. A mobile phone with camera will also be required to
upload photos of hand-written answers.
Question 20: If a student lives in some remote area where he/she does not have a
dedicated internet facility, how will they be able to appear in online exam?
The only way to appear in online examination is through dedicated internet facility. If some
students are not having this facility, they availed the option to get their semester either in
the beginning or during the semester. It is further reiterated that date-sheet for conduct of
online exam will be prepared and communicated to all the students well in time, to enable
them to make their arrangement to participate in online exam.
Question 21: If a student is unable to appear in online exam due to genuine reason, what
would be the alternative for that?
In principle, we assume that students will participate in the online examination. However, if
a student gets absent due to illness or any other genuine reason, for which he/she could
provide some evidence, then her subject may be withdrawn from his/her registration record
of the semester, based on that evidence. In other case, they will be declared as ‘Fail'/ F in
that course, as per routine practice.
Question 22: Do I need to complete the exam in one go or can I take a break and come
back to it later?
Yes. You can take break during online exam: as online exam submission time would be 8
hours. So, students will have ample time to complete their exam with snack and tea-breaks.
Question 23: What materials can the students be allowed to consult? All course materials?
Google? Outside research articles?
The specified material/sources to be consulted during exam will be explicitly announced by
the teacher, in the instruction’s manual for the course, well before the exams. The relevant
material would have been provided during online classes.
Question 24: If there is a problem with an examination paper, how will I get in touch with
my examiner?

The Department will provide you with information regarding the examination committee
members and contact information of your teacher for how to contact them if you believe
there is a problem with the examination paper.
Question 25: Will there be any call centre support or live chat support in case of query
during online exams?
Yes. Examination committee members/Concerned teacher, examination team, LMS and IT
support shall be available to you, throughout the course of online examination.
Question 26: What should I do if I have IT-related or electricity issues during examination?
For any problem during examination or uploading of answer sheet, examination committee
members or concerned teacher may be informed about the issue. They may allow a
relaxation of time if they would deem appropriate in genuine/emergent cases. Furthermore,
IT assistance will also remain available during examination.
Question 27: What if a student is unable to tick the check box for honestly pledge?
Simply double click the box, in case you are unable to find the tick mark symbol then go to
insert tab in the task bar and choose appropriate symbol or write Yes/ I agree.
Question 28: What if students are unable to download question paper and answer
sheets?
Question paper and answer sheets are already in soft form and can be easily shared via
email by teacher if someone is unable to download from Google classroom.
Question 29: Where should I submit my answer-sheet? In the Google Classroom or
through Google Forms?
Papers must be submitted through Google forms' link shared by the teacher. However,
students should also turn in the answer-sheet as assignment in the Google Classroom.
Question 30: Will paper include both theory and practical for the subjects like
communication skills, introduction to computer, etc?
Theoretical as well as practical aspect of a subject will be assessed through analytical and
synthetic questions, which will require students to utilize their concepts or practical
understanding of a subject.

Question 31: How will university facilitate handicapped students?

The university has a clear policy regarding facilitation to the handicapped students during
examination process. Such students may be advised by the departments to seek prior approval for
helper/writer, through email, from exam section as per policy and practice.

Question 32: How a student will get his /her Roll No Slip.

Students shall receive their Roll No slips at their designated email ids upon clearance of pending
dues / fee (if any). The same can also be generated through LMS Portal.
 B) Teachers’ Queries Related to Online Examination:

Question 1: Which format of videos can be used for recording videos or which player can
support the videos? Audios/videos couldn’t be downloaded/played by audio/video player
like VLC (for language paper mostly)?
MP3 and MP4 formats are recommended for recording audio and video. These two
standard formats are supported by all the Audio/Video players and are also supported by
VLC.
Question 2: What if students complain that while entering the registration number in
Google form only digits and numbers can be entered; signs, symbols and alphabets cannot
be entered?
The question field type in Google Form should be selected /set (by the teacher in Google
Form settings), as Short Answer or Paragraph to accept alphanumeric and symbols.
Question 3: Will teachers need to add the answer-sheets of students manually in the
Excel Sheet created through Google Forms?
Answer sheets shall be automatically displayed in the Excel Sheet created through Google
Forms. This Excel file shall contain all the results/answer-sheets (links) submitted through
Google Form. However, if a student fails to submit the answer-sheet through Google Forms
and he/she is allowed by the Dean or Head to submit the answer-sheet/paper through
Google Classroom, then in that case, the paper shall be downloaded by the teacher from the
Google Class and its link shall be manually added (the paper shall be copied in the Google
drive for the course and by right clicking on the paper/file, and selecting 'Get link' option
and copying the link and pasting in the Excel sheet).
Question 4 : What if students forget to write his/her name and registration number on
the answer-sheet?
Departmental Heads or Deans should decide on these matters. Though teachers can track
the student's name/identity through his/her email id that will be reflected on the Google
Form.
Question 5: What is the procedure to reset the time in Google-Form, to start accepting
responses through form limiter by the teacher, after expiry of the time-period?

Open Google-Form of Terminal Exam > Click Add-ons icon in top right menu > select Form-
Limiter > select date and time in Limit Type of Form Limiter window > Enter date and time
and then Save and enable to apply date and time restrictions. Video tutorial to schedule
exam via form limiter is also available on LMS Website at: https://lms.iiu.edu.pk/exam.

Question6: How can teachers share the Google Drive link for answer scripts with the
examination section?
Get the shareable link of Google drive folder, which contains PDF answer-sheets/papers for
the course and paste it in the award list of the course, in dashboard. Access of this Drive
folder should also be shared with the result email of your faculty mentioned above.

Question7: What is the procedure of sharing the results with the examination section?

Teachers can share their results with the examination section, by following the procedure
explained below: -

i. Open excel sheet wherever they have checked/marked all the papers.

ii. Press “share” option available on the top right corner of the sheet.

iii. Enter “(YourFaculty).results@iiu.edu.pk”. List of faculty emails for sharing result

has already been shared.

iv. To check by yourself whether your result has been submitted successfully, open
dashboard>award list: if you see there “Forwarded to Exam: it means that result
has successfully been sent and received. If not, then you need to send it again.

Question 8: Which email id shall be used to share results/award lists with the examination
section ?
Following email ids shall be used to share the results with the examination section, as per
faculty of the concerned teachers:

S. No Faculty Result Email

1 Arabic fa.results@iiu.edu.pk
2 Basic & Applied Sciences fbas.results@iiu.edu.pk
3 Engineering & Technology fet.results@iiu.edu.pk
4 Languages & Literature fll.results@iiu.edu.pk
5 Management Sciences fms.results@iiu.edu.pk
6 Social Sciences fss.results@iiu.edu.pk
7 Shariah & Law fsl.results@iiu.edu.pk
8 Usuluddin/Islamic Studies fui.results@iiu.edu.pk
9 International Institute of Islamic iiie.results@iiu.edu.pk
Economics