Link to WISEflow: WISEflow - More than paperless  

Overview 

What is a lockdown browser assessment?

A lockdown browser assessment provides enhanced security measures to support supervised closed-book assessments. The lockdown browser is an application within WISEflow that provides students with the necessary tools to complete an assessment while restricting their device from accessing unauthorised material within the test period. An up-to-date version of the application must be installed and tested on the participant's device before the start of the assessment. 

A lockdown browser assessment can take two forms:

i)  FLOWlock: a written assessment conducted in the browser using a text-editor

ii) FLOWmulti (with lockdown browser): an MCQ-type assessment conducted in the lockdown browser

Staff and students can try out the lockdown browser assessments for themselves via the platform. As a pre-requisite, users must ensure that they install the latest version of the lockdown browser application. Once installed, users can log into the platform > select the Participation tab > select 'Demo flows' at the bottom of the page > and select either FLOWlock or FLOWmulti (with lockdown browser):

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Who sets up and manages the delivery of lockdown browser assessments?

Lockdown browser assessments must be departmentally-managed. This means that departments are responsible for all aspects of administering the assessment, including the flow set up on WISEflow, invigilation (online & in-person), marking, and student communication and support.

The guidance on this page should be used by departments coordinating and running lockdown browser assessments locally. In addition to this guidance, departments are strongly encouraged to conduct their own research into the suitability and feasibility of implementing this assessment option.

Key Considerations

There are several factors you should consider before proceeding with lockdown browser assessments:

1. Proficient WISEflow expertise 

- the lockdown browser assessment includes advanced features and settings, such as assessment passwords and access to in-browser tools (i.e. webcam, permitted internet sources). Administrators (Managers) setting up the assessment within your department should have a strong grasp of these features to ensure correct setup. For more information, please refer to the WISEflow guidance on lockdown browser' tools and features.

2. Sufficient departmental admin and invigilation resource

- you will need to consider the availability of resource to manage all aspects of the lockdown browser assessment delivery, managing the online and in-person logistics involved, from flow set up and activation to invigilation support on the day and marking of submissions.

3. Appropriate equipment and venue

- in the case of in-person delivery, it is the responsibility of departments to ensure that every student has access to a suitable device pre-tested with the lockdown browser application, as well as reliable Wi-Fi connection and power supply. Additionally, departments will need secure a suitable venue for conducting the assessment, such as securing UCL PC cluster rooms on campus.

4. Student preparation and familiarisation

- departments should ensure their students are informed of their requirement to complete a lockdown browser assessment well in-advance of the assessment day. Students should be provided with an opportunity to practice on a demo flow - on the same device intended to be used on the day - before their summative assessment. Two demo flows for the lockdown browser (one for text-editor assessments, one for MCQ-type assessments) are available on the platform - please refer to WISEflow's preparation guidance and the departmental checklist for lockdown browser assessments to ensure your students are well-prepared.

5. Assignment content 

-  while traditional in-person exams comprise of pen-and-paper formats, lockdown browser exams necessitate students to work within the confines of a browser. Therefore, departments should pay special attention to the content of your assignment or question paper to ensure the instructions are appropriate for this assessment method. For instance, in FLOWlock exams, students are required to input their answers on a continuous, blank page within a text-editor and do not have the option to annotate or modify the assignment/question paper directly. Hence, remember to design your questions and instructions to students (i.e. on answer input) accordingly.

6. Responsible for 'troubleshooting' on the day

- with the heightened security measures involved a lockdown browser assessment, unique issues may arise that would not otherwise in pen-paper or non-lockdown browser assessments. Familiarity with WISEflow's troubleshooting of known challenges is crucial for effective management and resolution of issues that may arise on the day. 

7. Assessment regulations - your assessment records and information should accurately reflect the delivery of an in-person digital exam (such as a lockdown browser exam). Departments must ensure that the relevant parties have been consulted (i.e. Student Lifecycle team) and changes have been requested and approved (please refer to UCL's assessment review guidance and module amendment regulations).

Department checklist 

The following checklist should be used by departments who to ensure smooth planning and delivery of in-person lockdown browser assessments:

As early as possible

• Brief students - your students should be informed at the earliest opportunity that they are due to take a lockdown browser assessment and what is expected of them (departments are responsible for providing guidance and communications to their students)

• Secure appropriate devices and venue. Ensure the devices to be used have access to the latest version of the lockdown browser application (installation and testing guidance) and that the venue has enough space to accommodate students with sufficient spacing in between each workstation to minimise potential for cheating.

  • For example, book a PC cluster room:  

    • It is recommended that you book a room with 10% more computers than you need, this will ensure that there will be spare computers in the room in case of a computer failure.

    • If you use a non-centrally bookable room please familiarise yourself with the login requirements/facilities in the room BEFORE the assessment takes place.

  • If not using a PC cluster room, you will need to make arrangements for ensuring devices are available to students (i.e. bring your own device or department-provided) and an appropriate room is secured.

• Notify ISD & Digital Education. Please make sure to complete the Exam Notification Form so that ISD/Digital Education are aware of your scheduled assessment and the necessary pre-checks can take place, such as PC/venue checks.
  In addition, you should ensure that you have;
  i) quality checked the lockdown browser settings of your assessment against the recommend settings;
  ii) checked that there is no planned maintenance for the WISEflow platform, on or near the assessment date. 

• Decide what you will do if there are technical issues that prevent you from running the assessment on the day - e.g. have paper copies ready to be printed, reschedule.

• Check for assessment clashes - check your assessment is not scheduled to clash with any other assessments and is not planned to take place during platform maintenance (see section 'Scheduled Maintenance' via WISEflow's status page).

• Set up flow on WISEflow: administrators (under the Manager role) are responsible for setting up the assessment instance (flow) on WISEflow, following the guidance for administrators.

6 weeks before

• Students who require special arrangements must notify Student Support and Wellbeing.

4 weeks before

• Practice opportunity for students:  Familiarise your students with the WISEflow assessment before they sit the assessment. Students should be given an opportunity to complete a demo assessment on the device they will be using on the day; it is recommended that departments schedule a practice session where students can complete the demo flow available on the platform. Departments can utilise or adapt the following student guidance on completing a lockdown browser; FLOWlock (FLOWlock demo flow guidance.docx) or FLOWmulti with lock (FLOWmulti with lock demo flow guidance.docx).
  
  

• Identify and brief the invigilators who will attend the assessment in each location.

  • It is essential that you have enough invigilators to ensure that candidates supported if issues arise and to prevent occurrences of cheating/collusion. Invigilators will need to be familiar with the WISEflow environment and with the lockdown browser assessment.

  • Administrators (under the Manager role) will have access to full assessment and student details to conduct online invigilation via WISEflow. Additional staff can be provided with Basic Invigilator to monitor candidate progress while maintaining student anonymity. More information can be found on section, Online invigilator access for non-Managers.

2 weeks before

• Activate flow: administrators (under the Manager role) should activate the flow a minimum of 2 weeks before the assessment start date. Activating the flow will send an automated email to students to notify them of their upcoming lockdown browser assessment. Students will be able to access the assessment portal on WISEflow but will not be able to start/access the assignment of questions until the start date/time arrives. Please refer to section, Guidance for administrators (Managers).

• Quality check your flow including the recommended lockdown browser settings

• Check the lockdown browser application has been tested on student devices (if using a PC cluster room, ensure that you can access the FLOWlock and/or FLOWmulti with lock demo flow on the computers). If you encounter issues with testing the lockdown browser application, please refer to the staff support page for WISEflow.

1 week before

• Remind students to ensure they are able to log into WISEflow at least 2 working days before the assessment. If they are unable to log in, please ask them to contact the ISD Service Desk. If on the day a student cannot log in, please contact the Digital Education team, who will be able to set a temporary password for the length of the assessment.

• Provide students with the Lockdown Browser 'Checklist for Success' below:

On the day

• Help & Support: make a note of the number to call during the assessment if you experience any technical problems.

  • Up to date contact details for ISD can be found on the Help & Support page.

• Room check: Ideally the night, or in the morning, before check the room to ensure the all computers are working, all computers have keyboard and mice and that the room furniture is as required. You should also check that the lockdown browser is installed and working as expected on the computers by logging into WISEflow and starting the FLOWlock and/or FLOWmulti with lock demo flow. If you encounter issues with testing the lockdown browser application, please refer to the staff support page for WISEflow.

• Identity checking and attendance:  Ask students to bring their UCL photo ID cards and check this off on the attendance sheet (above).

• Logging in: Ask students to log in to WISEflow as they arrive and navigate to the assessment to begin reading the assessment guidance. Allow at least 10 minutes before the assessment for all students to log in and open the lockdown browser flow. When students have successfully opened the lockdown browser, their screen will display a countdown timer to when the assessment will begin. 

• Assessment announcements: if you have enabled a participant password to enter the lockdown browser assessment, invigilators should announce this password at the start of the assessment and, if possible, display the password on a screen or whiteboard in the room. Students will not be able to log in until you give them the password.

• Allow extra time: If you are manually timing students (as recommended) you can make a note of any extra time a student needs due to technical, or other, reasons. 

  • If you are running a timed assessment, you will need to change the individual participation end date for individual students.

At the end of the assessment

It is essential to ensure that all students have submitted their responses before they leave the room - otherwise (a) they may be able to re-open and complete the assessment from another location, and (b) they will not receive a mark for the assessment. You can use the Participation monitor to see who has not yet submitted their responses - please refer to section, Monitoring student progress & submission. Those who have not submitted will display a greyed-out 'Submitted' status in the 'Progress' column. Only those that display a green 'Submitted' status have successfully submitted their answers. 

•   If students ask to leave early it is advisable to check their individual submitted status in the Participation monitor.

•   If you do discover that a student has left without submitting their answers, please contact Digital Education (via the ISD Service Desk) for advice.

Guidance for administrators (Managers)

Flow set up

The 'How-to' guidance for Managers provides step-by-step instructions on setting up and managing assessments (flows) on WISEflow.

The guidance covers how to create a flow and update general flow settings (steps covered in the Manager tasks table). For this assessment method, Managers are required to update several lockdown browser-specific settings (covered in the next section).

Lockdown Browser: recommended settings  

The lockdown browser comes with specific settings that can be enabled/disabled based on your assessment requirements. These settings are found within All participation settings under the Participation heading:

Below are recommended settings for the lockdown browser:

Monitoring student progress and submission (Participation Monitor)

Administrators can monitor student progress live from WISEflow, within their role as Manager, via the Participation monitor.

By selecting Participation monitor within the flow overview page, the Manager will be presented with the following information:

1. Choose to see the participation monitor as an overview instead of a list for a more compact overview of participant statuses on the flow.

2. Display the participation monitor in full screen mode

3. Go to the direct messaging centre, where messages can be created and sent directly to all active participants on the flow

4. Filter the table according to different status: opened, paper saved, handed in, present, absent, active and inactive

5. Reset any filters

6. Decide which columns in the participation monitor should be displayed and which should be hidden from view for better overview

7. Filter the content of the monitor to find a specific information/participant

8. Optional: Set the attendance status in bulk by either marking all participants as present or absent. The status can also be cleared for all.

9. Optional: Set the time for when a participant should be shown as inactive (this will be remembered on the flow)

10. Optional Reset the time you have set for inactivity to 0 minutes

11. Choose how many participants to show in the table.

Managers should keep a close eye on the Progress column to verify how students are progression through the assessment. A summary of Progress status are listed below:

Managers should ensure that all students taking the assessment appear with the green 'Submitted' status in the Progress column by the end of the assessment.

For more information on invigilators, please refer to WISEflow's guidance on the Participation monitor. 

Online invigilator access for non-Managers 

As Managers have access to full non-anonymised student details, additional staff supporting the invigilation of the lockdown browser exams should be provided with Basic Invigilator access. Basic Invigilators have access to general information about the assessment, including a candidate list and their progress through the assessment. Invigilators can be added by Managers under the Associates tab.

For more information on invigilators, please refer to WISEflow's guidance on Flow Overview for Invigilators. 

Guidance for markers

The marking functions for lockdown browser assessments are similar to other assessment types on WISEflow:

• For FLOWlock written assessments, student answers are converted into PDFs that can be marked in the same way as standard PDF upload assessments.

• For FLOWmulti with lock (MCQ-type) assessments, student answers are recorded in the same way as standard MCQ assessment

Markers should therefore follow the marking guidance found in WISEflow's Marking and Reviewing guidance and UCL's Assessor and Reviewer guides.

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For further support, please refer to the staff support page for WISEflow.