GROUP EXAMINATION PROCEDURE
At the start of the examination it may prove advantageous for the group to present a written draft outlining the structure of the examination process.
1) At the start of the exam you must arrange with your examiner and external examiner whether you wish to receive your assessment collectively as a group or individually. As a rule, assessments are given collectively to the entire group. If you opt for individual assessment, you will most likely only receive your grades individually while the overall assessment and feedback will be given to you as a group. Group assessments are given to make the most of the time available for assessment and to make time for advice for further improvement. In any such cases, the examiner and external examiner are bound by confidentiality and are not allowed to disclose information about grades awarded to individual group members. This means that the assessment and feedback are provided on a general level.
2) Oral presentations – each group member will give a 5 minute oral presentation.
You might include a list of the presentations, including topic and the name of the group member presenting the subject, in your draft structure. You might want to leave room for detailed questions along the way or immediately after each presentation. You may request for discussions to take place after two or three presentations or after all presentations are given. Whether your request can be met, may depend on the number of members in your group, etc. It might be a good idea to wear name tags and to bring your own water or coffee.
3) After the oral presentations and the discussion of these, the remainder of the discussion will focus on the project.
Though the supervisor/examiner is the moderator and thus responsible for ensuring that all group members take part in the discussion, you too should contribute to ensuring that all group members participate equally in the discussion. The exam allows for an in-depth discussion of academic issues, and experience shows that this provides the basis for fair assessment. At the same time, the exam may even be a learning loop for the group, examiner and external examiner.
During your exam preparation, your group may benefit from sharing your individual experiences and feelings towards taking exams; you may then discuss how to show consideration for the strengths and weaknesses of each group member and how to cooperate on ensuring that all group members take part in the discussion.
You may request for a short break during the exam – the examiner and external examiner will manage any breaks.
You can see an example of an oral examination in the film below:
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PROJECT REPORT AND EXAMINATION PERFORMANCE
At Communication and Digital Media, group examinations take the form of project examinations; this means that project exams are oral exams based on written work. The project report and the oral presentation combined determine the overall assessment and grading.
Your project report is an indicator of what you know, what you can do with this knowledge and which particular field of study you have chosen to focus on. Therefore, the examiner and external examiner can use your written work for determining which questions to ask you during your exam and the academic level of such questions. A good project report allows the examiner and external examiner to initiate the discussion by asking relatively precise questions at a high academic level. On the contrary, a low quality project report will force the examiner and external examiner to spend more time sounding out your academic level and field during the first part of the examination, and it might take some time to adjust the questions to the academic level of each group member.
REGULATIONS FOR CONDUCTING GROUP EXAMINATIONS/PROJECT EXAMINATIONS