Exams place high demands not only on students, but also on teachers and technical staff. They require planning, the right infrastructure and, last but not least, didactic quality. But how can these requirements be implemented in the digital space?
At OTH Regensburg, examination practices are undergoing fundamental change: more and more examinations are being conducted with electronic support – innovatively, securely and in a competence-oriented manner. The Teaching and Didactics Service Centre team is actively supporting and shaping this change.
The digital infrastructure for examinations at OTH Regensburg is growing
Current figures show that digital testing has long since become common practice: in the last two semesters alone, over 50 electronically supported examinations were conducted at OTH Regensburg – mainly via the assessment server (Moodle), but also with EXaHM, a secure examination environment that enables practical examinations with third-party applications such as Excel, MATLAB or other specialist programmes. The Business and Management, Social and Health Sciences, and Applied Natural and Cultural Sciences faculties were particularly active in this area.
As the scope of digital examinations grows, so does the need for continuous support and reliable structures. The joint project Implementing Digital Competence-Oriented Testing (ii.oo) has provided significant support for this development – through didactic advice and technical support, in close cooperation with teaching staff, the IT centre and the university management. In addition, strong networking with other partner universities contributed to further development. In order to make electronic examinations smooth and fair, regular mock examinations were conducted as part of the project – as part of a comprehensive support package. Electronic examination was never an end in itself in the ii.oo project. The decisive factor was to develop viable solutions that are didactically well thought-out and accepted by teachers and students alike.
Exams of tomorrow: competence-oriented, practical and digital
Even after the completion of the ii.oo project, digital examinations will continue at OTH Regensburg in line with the Higher Education Development Plan (HEP), which aims to establish a competence-oriented and practical examination culture. With this in mind, an electronically supported exam using EXaHM was conducted for the first time in the current exam season at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in the module Fundamentals of the Finite Element Method. Students worked on practical tasks directly in their familiar simulation environment – a real benefit for competence orientation. Professors Florian Nützel, Marcus Wagner and Valter Böhm emphasise: ‘Digital examination with Ansys was the logical next step for us, not only to teach simulation as a key competence, but also to test it authentically.’
The motto of the Teaching and Didactics Service Centre, ‘From idea to teaching – inspire, plan, implement,’ also applies to testing: Technology follows didactics – not the other way around. Teachers who want to design their exams digitally, didactically sound and competence-oriented are welcome to make an appointment at any time to receive tailor-made support services.
Contact: Dr Irina Augustin
irina.augustin(at)oth-regensburg.de
More information at Assessment OTH Regensburg
