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I want to conduct a digital examination. What do I do?

Please submit a for a consultation and speak with the Educational Developer in your department.

For a brief overview of the steps to take after a request has been accepted, see preparation.

What is a digital examination?

A digital examination is a written performance assessment conducted on a computer which is connected to a network. At ETH written examinations on the computer are conducted as digital examinations. Like conventional paper-based examinations, digital examinations take place in a central location in designated, invigilated examination rooms.

When were the first digital examination conducted at ETH?

The project "Online examinations at ETH Zurich" was launched in 2007 and became the university-wide digital examination service in 2010. Beginning of 2024 the service changed its name to Service Digital Examinations. At ETH Zurich ca. 14,500 students are currently (Spring Semester 2024) examined digitally in ca. 180 examinations.

What examinations may be conducted as digital examinations?

Digital examinations are written examinations. All written session examinations, end-of-semester examinations, semester performance tasks or assessments (Semesterleistung) and continuous performance assessment tasks may therefore be conducted as digital examinations. Whether a specific examination is well suited for the digital examination format, however, must be looked at case by case. The availability of examination rooms on the desired date must also be established. EduIT is happy to consult and support you in these matters: please contact us, with your questions, at digital-​.

How many students can sit an digital examination?

Please consult Overview of rooms for examinations regarding the location and the maximum possible number of candidates per room.

For additional information on the computer rooms, please visit examination rooms.

What are the advantages of digital examinations?

Digital examinations have the potential both to improve examination quality and to reduce the amount of work required in the examination process. The main advantages are:

Because deciphering illegible handwriting is no longer an issue, correcting examinations is significantly simpler, faster and more objective. In addition, many examiners have commented that texts written on the computer are of significantly better quality in content and style than the handwritten texts of earlier examinations.

For certain question types, such as multiple-choice, matching and short-answer questions, correction time is massively reduced by (partially) automated scoring in comparison to examinations on paper. Only wrong answers require manual checking.

Digital examinations offer various possibilities for practice-based, competence-oriented testing: To solve examination tasks students use subject-specific programs and electronic resources (e.g. R-Studio, Matlab and statistical datasets) which are already known to them from exercises. This facilitates an authentic and efficient assessment of students' competencies, and is often regarded by them as more motivating than the non-authentic nature of conventional examinations.

Electronic open-book examinations with selective access to resources such as lecture notes, exercise texts, websites or literature databases save paper and connect the examination with the semester's learning activities. They may also inspire more engagement with lecture content than does mere memorisation.

There is no pile of examination papers to be collated, separated, distributed among correctors and re-collated. No pages can get lost. The coordination and logistics of creating the examination, conducting it and correcting it are much simplified and less prone to error, especially if there are large numbers of students, examiners and/or correctors.

What are the advantages of examinations on paper?

Freehand drawing and handwritten notation of mathematical derivations in examinations is not yet possible electronically. (Examiners may continue to set such tasks on paper and combine them with tasks on the computer, however.)

What question types are possible in digital examinations?

Using the Moodle quiz module, digital examinations offer a large number of task formats which include multiple-choice, short-answer, drag-and-drop questions; essay tasks; and file upload. They also offer a flexible, secure environment for competence-oriented examinations using third-party applications (e.g. R-Studio or Matlab) under controlled conditions, and for open-book examinations which allow selective access to electronic information sources (e.g. lecture notes, exercise tasks, web resources).

I want to deploy a specific program in my examination (e.g. R, Matlab, Excel). How do I proceed?

Arrange a meeting with EduIT to discuss the software and/or other resources (e.g. files to be worked on) which you wish to deploy in your examination.

We will then contact you in due time to coordinate a test date. The test, where you can check and ensure the functioning of the allowed software and files, will take place on EduIT test computers. The examination environment will subsequently be adapted, if necessary.

I want to conduct an electronic open-book examination. How do I proceed?

Arrange a meeting with EduIT to discuss the resources you wish to make available during the examination. These might include, for example, lecture handouts, exercise documentation, websites or literature databases.


You may also make the students’ own documents, notes and work templates available to them in the examination environment. Send EduIT all the resources (e.g. files and links) you want to include in advance. We will contact you in due time to coordinate a test date. The test, where you can check and ensure the functioning of the allowed software and files, will take place on EduIT test computers. If necessary, the examination environment can be adapted.

How are digital examinations made secure so as to prevent cheating?

As with every conventional paper examination, the examiners check the identity of each student via the Student ID Card. Furthermore, digital examinations take place at ETH and with invigilators present. Students authenticate themselves on the computer via their nethz usernames and passwords. The examination environment is technically secured via the external page Safe Exam Browser, which blocks access to forbidden resources such as websites, programs, files or system functions.

What happens if there is a technical glitch during a digital examination?

Individual examination computers may freeze or fail during an examination, but this happens very rarely. Work is continually saved on examination servers during the examination. Every examination room has a minimum number of free reserve computers; if there is a technical problem, the affected person can continue the examination on one of these. The time lost in the process is recorded and re-allocated to the individual student once the examination continues. This procedure has been tried and tested, and enjoys high student acceptance. The digital examination infrastructure also contains appropriate redundancies, is routinely tested in advance, and is monitored during the examination.

How does the viewing of digital examinations work?

Digital examinations where Moodle is deployed have the advantage that viewing is very easy and uncomplicated to organise: students are simply granted access to their examination corrections in the examination system. Supervised viewing of examinations is also possible. If there are a large number of requests it is recommendable to reserve computer rooms. Both procedures are detailed in the instructions on viewing examinations in instructions on viewing examinations in Moodle.

Digital examinations where Moodle is not deployed can be viewed in the same way as written paper examinations.

Is there a duty to store digital examinations?

Like all other written examinations, digital examinations must be stored for two years. They may be stored digitally

See these detailed instructions on how a backup of a digital examination can be created from Moodle to fulfil the storage requirement.

What technology is deployed in digital examinations at ETH?

At ETH the external page quiz module of the learning management system Moodle is deployed as the standard examination tool. It offers a external page large number of question types and configuration possibilities. The external page Safe Exam Browser is used to access the examination in Moodle. The Safe Exam Browser locks the computer in a "kiosk mode" and ensures that no forbidden resources (websites, software, files, system functions) can be accessed.

If the granting of access to certain electronic resources (software, files, websites) during the examination is desired, a more advanced setup is deployed which comprises the Safe Exam Browser, a virtual desktop infrastructure ("VDI"), Moodle and the desired electronic resources. These "third-party application" examinations offer maximum flexibility and configuration potential. Besides the Windows-based VDI environment, it is also possible to conduct online examinations in a Linux environment; here, however, no access to the Moodle test module is possible.

Is it possible for students to sit digital examination using their own laptops?

Yes, please see for further information unassisted digital examinations DIY-BYOD.

What help will I get if I conduct a digital examination? What must I do myself?

EduIT  will help you to plan and conduct your digital examination and stand by to provide guidance.

EduIT develops, tests, maintains and monitors the technical examination system in partnership with IT Services, and its team members are present during the digital examinations. The settings of every digital examination are checked and tested before it starts. 

The examiners are responsible for creating questions, setting up the examination in the examination tool, communicating with students, organising invigilators, supervising the examination, scoring the examination, and making and storing a copy of the examination. They must also test any third-party applications which students will use in the examination. EduIT will prepare a test examination environment for this purpose and set up a test date with you.

What deadlines apply to new digital examinations?

To ensure the necessary capacity, applications for new digital examinations must reach EduIT by the last Sunday before the previous semester begins. This way, the examiners receive EduIT's decisions in time for the Correction Phase for Lecturers and Examiners.

The deadlines are:

  • end of calendar week 37 for the Spring Semester
  • end of calendar week 7 for the Autumn Semester

Later applications will apply to the following semester or year.

If you are interested in conducting a digital examination, please fill in the at EduIT.

I have further questions. Where can I find the answers?

Please refer further questions to . The team of the Service Online Examinations is happy to help.

 

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