Exam Alternatives
Cadmus is a secure, online assessment platform that enables academics to easily create, manage and deliver summative assessments as an alternative to exams. With Cadmus, teachers can use any written assessment (Essay, Case Study, Short/Long Response Questions etc.) paired with a time-limited or staged instructions release, as an authentic exam alternative.
Use Cases
Time-Limited Task
Similar to a take-home exam, students are given a task to complete over a fixed period of time, with access to notes and resources while writing their submission. These tasks could take the form of any written task, including:
Short answer questions
Long answer questions
Extended responses
Essay
Case Study
Discipline-Specific (e.g. media article, briefing paper, memorandum)
Staged Task
A staged task is a version of the time-limited task where students receive their instructions in stages. For example, during the first stage students might be instructed to research or prepare notes around a larger topic area, before being given a specific topic to write about in the second stage.
See how Ross Monaghan used Cadmus to deliver an innovative exam alternative
Benefits
Easy assessment design and setup
Cadmus is designed to guide teachers through designing and setting up assessments, making the process simple and easy. Teachers have access to Exam Alternative Templates (e.g. Take Home Exam: Essay) which act as a base for assessment instructions, as well as online guides, video tutorials and webinars to ensure a simple and supported onboarding experience.
With Cadmus, teachers will be able to set scheduled instructions releases and time-limits for students working. The extensions functionality also enables easy management of special consideration requirements for students. Cadmus also supports alternative disability and accessibility arrangements (for more details you can contact our team).
A secure platform with academic integrity assurances
Students write their assessment in a secure, online environment accessed through the LMS, allowing data to be captured throughout the construction of a submission. Teachers can access individual student analytics logs on request after a task has been completed, which include information like locations of work completed, session times and text pasted in from external sources. Cadmus is also integrated with Turnitin, which means that tasks can be set up to make similarity reports available to markers, while hiding them from students.
Simplified management and marking
Teachers can easily access submissions for marking through the Class List in Cadmus — which is automatically synced with the LMS class roster. With a range of class management tools and Turnitin Feedback Studio functionality, teachers can filter, group and sort submissions; simplifying the process of working with multiple markers and providing greater visibility overall. Marking teams can also streamline academic integrity processes by tagging submissions for further investigation as they go.
Continuous support for teachers and students
The Cadmus team offers first-level support to both teachers and students throughout the entire assessment process, via an online support channel and a self-service Help Centre. Cadmus also provides resources to assist with onboarding students in preparation for a Cadmus Exam Alternative task.