Penn State’s Teaching and Learning with Technology (TLT) is prepared to assist faculty who need help with exam questions and assessments during the remote teaching period. One of several ways TLT plans to support faculty through assessment strategies will be by providing access to a database of peer-reviewed questions developed for large, entry-level courses.

The Unizin consortium, in collaboration with Ohio State University, hosted various events where faculty collaborated to develop and grow the adoption of open educational resources. Thanks to the collaboration of faculty from more than 30 institutions, including Penn State, these gatherings helped to produce rigorous exam questions for use in high-enrollment, entry-level courses.

“Faculty can feel confident using these questions,” said Bart Pursel, interim director of innovation with TLT. “Each question was developed by faculty within their respective discipline, and then underwent a peer-review and revision process.”

Questions address the following disciplines, primarily focused on the content covered in entry-level courses:

  • Political Science – American Government (1010 questions)
  • Psychology – Introduction to Psychology (1116)
  • Statistics – Introduction to Statistics (994)
  • Chemistry – Foundations of Chemistry (481)
  • Economics – Principles of Macroeconomics (1027)
  • Economics – Principles of Microeconomics (876)
  • Spanish – Basic Spanish (present-tense only) (2860)
  • Business – Principles of Business Management (994)
  • Biology – Introduction to Biology (1422)
  • History – American History to 1877 (1012)

Penn State instructors who would like access to these questions for possible inclusion in course assessments should email continuity@psu.edu. Please include discipline-specific requests regarding the questions. Following the initial email, a teaching and learning consultant will help preview and import the questions into Canvas (if desired).

If you need one-on-one help from an instructional designer, use this link to book a consultation. Penn State IT Learning and Development also is providing training sessions on Canvas, Kaltura and Zoom, as well as informal Q&A sessions.

Review remoteteaching.psu.edu for more resources on how to offer your course content and adapt your assessments remotely.