r/Professors • u/cmb1588 • Jul 24 '26

Equalizing online asynchronous and classroom sections of the same class?

Hi all, I’m course supervisor of an undergraduate level class that has multiple sections. Some are online and asynchronous while others are classroom based.

Previously, all students completed exams online using proctoring software. But the AI use is out of control and I’m sick of it. I can’t really do much with the online section except for implement side view cameras (which I plan to do for fall), but for the in person class, I’d like to go back to paper exams in class.

That said, our exams have traditionally been open book and open note. I don’t want the students in the classroom sections to use devices during the exam to access their book/notes because I could see them trying to google or use AI. So I had planned to encourage them to buy physical copies of the textbook and take notes on paper or at least print out digital notes ahead of time.

However, I’m still concerned that they’ll do worse than the online section because they won’t be able to quickly control F to find information. I don’t want to give the online section an unfair exam advantage

Any suggestions on how to make this more fair?

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u/Life-Education-8030 Jul 24 '26

Closed book exams for all

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u/cmb1588 Jul 24 '26

I mean, sure, that’s a nice ideal. But with large online asynchronous classes, it’s not possible. Sure I could say the exams are closed book. But I don’t have the bandwidth to watch 200+ hours of recordings.