NDQ - Exam invigilator📓Monitor and help participants
Your main task as an exam invigilator is to ensure participants can complete their exam in peace and quiet, and without using unauthorized aids. Therefore, you need to move around the hall, either all over the room or in your section depending on the type of room you are in, how many exam invigilators and how many participants there are. Pay attention to what the participants do without disturbing them.
Monitor participants during a digital exam
When you work at a test where the participants use computers, it can be difficult to see what they are doing. There are generally large, gray privacy screens placed on their table - if there is no screening - so the tables must be separated at least 1 meter from each other or similar. Therefore, you need to have supervision from the back of the room. This allows you to see into the participants "boxes" and also what they have on their computer screens. The Chief Invigilator often monitors the participants digitally via a computer/tablet.Monitor participants during paper exams
When participants have an exam session using physical paper, it is easier to see them from all angles. For example, the gray privacy screens should then be folded and, for example, hung on a hook at each table or similar. But you still have to move around the room to keep an eye on what the participants do.When a participant needs help
Your task doesn’t merely involve monitoring. You are also important to the participants when they need help. The only way participants have to ask for help is often to raise their hand, so when you see a raised hand, head over there as soon as you can. Participants may need help with a few different things, and it’s not guaranteed that you’re the one who can or should answer all questions.- "Could I get more paper to write on?" – Here, as an exam invigilator, you can help the participant.
- "I’m having trouble getting something to work on the computer."– There could be problems with logging in, a disconnected mouse or something else. Try to solve it on your own first, but if the problem persists you should contact the Chief Invigilator/education administrator/another person appointed to troubleshoot and fix the issue.
- "I don’t understand this question." – If the participant asks questions about wording or content of the exam, you must not help them at all. Contact the examiner/education provider/education administrator who will tell you what to do or speak to the participant themself.
The examiner and the Chief Invigilator can often send messages to one or all of the participants via the digital examination system. However, the participants often do not have the opportunity to answer or ask further questions via the system for the digital exam.
📓 ID checks
It is of course important to ensure that the right person is taking the test. Therefore exam invigilators also carry out ID checks during the ongoing exam.Rules
- Participants must identify themselves with valid identification
- Participants must have their identification lying visibly at their seat
- The exam invigilator checks the ID against the placement list and location code during the exam
- When the answers to the test are submitted, the exam invigilator checks the identification – except for in the case of digital exams
- The participant, that it’s the right person
- The validity period, that the ID document is still valid
- The placement list, that the participant is on the list
- The location code on the code paper, that the participant is seated at the correct spot
ID checks – Submission of an exam
In the case of digital examinations, the examiner may have decided that the participants must identify themselves in order to submit their answers. Sometimes it’s a setting in the digital exam system, so participants simply don’t proceed to submission until they have received to go-ahead on a final ID check. But most commonly participants can submit their digital exams without first identifying themselves.ID checks for digital exams
For digital exams you will receive a list from the examiner of which participants will participate.
Do the following checks during the examination:
- Check the participants ID document against the participant list and otherwise as above
- Check that the participant matches both the participant list, the login paper and the screen
📓 Allowed items at the seats
In order for the exam to be fair and the participants to be able to show their knowledge, there are of course rules about what they can bring to their seats. The list below is designed to reduce possible gray areas. If you are wondering about something specific, you will have to check with the examiner/Chief Invigilator/education administrator who will make decisions about what to do.
Rules
- Only identification, code paper, pens, eraser, pencil sharpener, snacks and drinks may be available at the seat. If the examiner has approved certain aids, books or other things in advance, it is also allowed.
- Pencil cases, eyeglass cases and packaging for snacks can not be on the table
- Outerwear and bags must be left in a designated location
- Mobile phones and other electronic equipment must be switched off and left at a designated location
- Wristwatches and other watches must be left in a designated location
- Students may not borrow equipment or aids from each other during the examination
- Only the papers that you or another exam invigilator distributed may be used
Case 1:
Before the exam begins, you see that a participant is wearing an advanced digital watch (such as an Apple watch).
Here you should ask the participant to remove the watch, and leave it at the designated location.
Case 2:
During an ongoing exam, you discover that a participant is wearing a digital wristwatch, and is using it in some way.
This could be an attempt to cheat. You should immediately tell the examiner what you have seen. It is then the examiner’s job to sort things out.
Case 3:
A participant has brought Bluetooth headphones to their exam.
This could be an attempt to cheat by enabling unauthorized communication. You should immediately tell the examiner what you have seen. It is then the examiner’s job to sort things out.
Case 4:
You see that a participant is lending another participant an eraser during an ongoing exam.
This could also be an attempt to cheat. In this case you should also tell the examiner.
📓 No conversation between participants
It is of course a rule that the participants are not allowed to talk to each other during the ongoing exam. This applies from the start time of the test to its end time and as long as participants are in the room. There are two reasons for this; partly because conversations can be disturbing for participants trying to concentrate, and partly because the conversations can be an attempt to cheat.
As a rule, the participants are allowed to talk to each other before the exam begins even when they are inside the room, but they should be as quiet as possible when seated. Also keep in mind that this applies to the entirety of the premises, including bathrooms and wardrobes.
Naturally, you can’t stop the participants from talking to each other after they leave the venue, but it’s good if they don’t do so too close to the entrances/exits.
Rules
- The participants are not allowed to converse or communicate with each other after the exam has begun.
Case 1:
A participant has submitted their exam and is heading out of the room. Before they’ve left the room they start talking to another participant.
Case 2:
A participant is talking to another participant after the official start time. You can’t hear what they’re saying, and they stop conversing when you come close.
In these cases it’s your responsibility to inform the examiner about the conversations. The examiner can then follow up on the matter and decide on possible measures if this is considered suspected cheating.
📓 If cheating is suspected
Cheating might occur, but remember that your task is to report when you see something that you suspect to be cheating, not to judge whether it really is cheating. That assessment is made by the examiner or the education provider/organizer of the exam. Your task is to report the suspicion of cheating to the examiner concerned, who takes the matter further. You report partly verbally directly to the examiner, and partly in a written report (a report template must be available) where the following facts must be included:- Name of the participants, social security number and code
- Description of what has happened
- Name of any witnesses
- Your name and signature
If it is possible to take a picture with, for example, a mobile camera of the suspected cheating for documentation, this is also good to have at hand to assess whether it can be confirmed as cheating.
Rules
- A participant suspected of cheating is often allowed to complete the exam.
- As an exam invigilator, you report the suspected cheating to the examiner or person appointed by the examiner, who then often acts as follows:
- Digital exam: The exam is flagged in the digital exam system. This is done by the Chief Invigilator in charge or someone else who is monitoring the examination digitally via a computer/tablet.
- Analog/paper exam: The participants' submitted exam answers are placed together with your report of the incident in a sealed envelope.
- The answers to the exam questions will probably not be assessed until after a decision has been made by the examiner.
Case 1:
You see that a participant has what you believe to be a cheat sheet under the table. You can't read what's on the note from where you're standing, and the student hides it as soon as you get close.
Case 2:
You suspect that two students have switched seats after a bathroom visit.