Take Home/Open-Book/Notes Exams

Open-book/notes exams test for more than just rote-learning/ mimicry-memorization learning.
Simply memorizing and repeating information is not enough to get a student a good mark.
Senior High School and Higher Education are supposed to equip students with intellectual
abilities and skills. Open-book exams test students’ ability to quickly find relevant information
and then to understand, analyze, apply knowledge and think critically. In the time of pandemic,
take home/open notes exams are also helpful to prevent unethical student behavior on non-
proctored exams.

Open-book/notes exams don't test the student’s memory; they test their ability to find
and use information for problem solving, and to deliver well-structured and well-
presented arguments and solutions.

Open-book/notes exam questions usually require you to apply knowledge, and they
may be essay-style questions or involve problem solving or delivering solutions.

Sample Take Home/Open Notes Exam Questions

Note: Make sure that the question is not so generic that they will be able to plagiarize anything
off the web for any part of it. 

1. Questions that will require students to reflect back that they have read, digested, and
understood the lesson/course/module.

2. Compare/contrast readings using the concept learned. If it's an essay exam, make each
essay a compare-contrast one using very specific pairings of sources. 

3. Ask students to apply a concept/theory from the readings to an unfamiliar situation not
discussed in class and to then give textual support for their conclusion.

4. Ask students to apply a concept/theory learned in class to their own specific experiences and
to then give textual support for their conclusion.

5. Ask students to respond to an inaccurate statement using evidence from the course, give
examples of their own to illustrate concepts or analyze a process, discuss how Example A fits
Model B.

6. Assign a short reading for the exam (news article, essay) and ask the students to summarize
it before using it as a model to discuss the concept/lesson using their own experiences or from
an example they provide. 

7. Use Assignments in Brightspace for a take home exam.  Set the time limit of the test with
the start date and due date  (or end date if you do not want the possibility of turning in the
assignment after the deadline.) 
 Remedies for unethical student behavior on non-proctored

1. Design questions that require a thorough understanding of course material.

2. Ask for proof and justifications to all answers.

3. Introduce an honor code.

4. Grade down for copy without reference .

5. Answers must make direct references to course-specific material.

6. Make questions “highly contextualized.”

7. Narrow the timeframe to complete the test.

8. Ask for hand-written answers.

Resources: Google. Various sources.