Jacqueline Peraza | EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
After nine weeks of class, UTRGV professors have administered online exams, and students have expressed their feelings over taking tests amid the pandemic.
Ana Aguilar, a psychology junior, said as a first-year college student, she is taking five courses, all of which are being taught online asynchronously.
Taking the majority of her classes without a meeting time has proven to be a challenge, especially when it comes time to take a test, Aguilar said.
“The difficulty [of the tests] is way different,” she said. “I think I did pretty good considering the circumstances, but it’s also hard to study because all my classes are online and I don’t have any Zoom meetings for any of them. So, I’m basically teaching myself.”
Aguilar said she has taken two midterms this semester that have required the use of Respondus LockDown Browser, a custom browser used to prevent academic dishonesty.
“For some of the classes, the professors would take off points if you looked somewhere else, were talking to someone or if someone was in the room,” she said. “That just made the experience really, it made me anxious.”
Brian J. Warren, a theatre associate professor, teaches his classes in three-week or month-long modules. After the module is complete, he assigns exams through Blackboard without the use of LockDown Browser.
Asked if students were allowed to use their textbook or notes, Warren replied there is no way for him to control how students take their tests.
“I could say to them, ‘Hey, you can’t use your notes!’ And I would never know,” he said. “Every test there is a time limit, so that helps a little bit with that kind of thing. In the end, it’s more important to me that [students] know the material than if they are using their notes.”
Warren said course materials for his classes can be accessed through Blackboard, but students in his class, and in general, struggle with making the time to look at all the material.
“With a teacher in front of them telling them, ‘You better read pages five through 10,’ that’s one thing but to see it posted, I think some of them don’t look at that,” he said. “I think most students have responded very well, but I also think that if we polled the students, they would say they much prefer to see the teacher live in the classroom.”
With his classes transitioning to online courses, Warren said he has not seen a big decline in productivity or participation from students.
“I wouldn’t say I see a big shift,” he said. “One of my theatre appreciation classes was always online. Totally online. So, I see a little bit of a dip, perhaps. But for most of it, they’re pretty consistent. There are some people, you can tell, who are really having trouble, but I reach out to those students personally.”
Aguilar said one of the hardest parts about preparing to take a test during these times is finding the motivation to study and learn the course material.
“I feel like if I was taking these classes in person, it would be way different,” she said. “I would be motivated and learn the material I need. Right now, I feel like I’m all on my own. It’s hard to sit down and study and learn the material I need to.”
Asked what she would tell professors about students taking exams during a pandemic, Aguilar replied, “What I would tell them, and this goes for some of them, because a lot of them are really understanding and stuff. But some of the professors are not as available through email. And also to be understanding. For example, I have my little sister and family around. So, when I’m taking tests they might come into the room and try to talk to me because they don’t know I’m doing the exam. I would … tell them to be more understanding about those situations because there are some professors that take off points, or they think we’re going to cheat, when that’s not the case.”
According to University Registrar Sofia Montes, the university will not offer the pass/no pass option for students this semester.
“We did in the spring semester because we understood that class instructional methods were being changed in the middle of the semester, and students did not knowingly sign up for online classes in many cases,” Montes said. “So, given that students signed up for classes, knowing the instructional methods in advance for all, right now there are no plans to offer pass/no pass grading.”
Despite the university’s decision to not offer students that option, she said there are many other resources available to help students academically.
Montes said the university offers its Learning Center for students wanting to reach out about class struggles, the Writing Center for help on assignments or essays and the Academic Advising Center to make decisions about classes they should be taking now and in the future. The Counseling Center is also available for students struggling with anxiety or having trouble with time management and prioritizing.
“Ultimately, what we want every student to do is succeed and obtain their degree here at UTRGV, and we want to make sure we connect them with all the resources to get there successfully,” she said.
Montes said students struggling to take online exams should reach out to faculty or their college and also learn about the different instructional methods being offered before registering and beginning classes next spring.
“The spring semester will look similar to the fall semester,” she said. “Early registration begins [tomorrow], followed by registration for seniors Monday, juniors [Tuesday], sophomores [Wednesday], freshmen [Thursday]. So, it’s really important that students take a look at how classes are being taught before they register for classes.”
Aguilar said she will adjust her spring schedule based on her experience this semester.
“I mean, I understand it because we don’t want the cases to rise again, and it’s a difficult situation,” she said. “But I would probably not take as many courses as I did this time ’cause I feel like I’m not learning enough, or what I need to, and I’m just stressing myself out.”
Warren said his best advice for students struggling to take virtual exams is to reach out, communicate and be transparent with professors. He added he admires students who continue to enroll in class.
“They’re persevering through a tough time,” Warren said. “For all of us, but to be a student during this time is tough. For those students that will have no break in their studies, I think that is really cool. I admire their determination.”
Montes said she hopes students can see that, at the university, everybody is “sympathetic and sensitive to the challenges everyone is facing” during the pandemic.
“If students do not know who to reach out to for help, my advice is to reach out to the next person they know that works with the university because we are here to help support them,” she said. “If we don’t have the resources ourselves we’ll connect them with people who do.”
