Take-home examinations, assignments/theses and portfolios

Take-home examinations, assignments/theses and portfolios are different forms of unsupervised assessment, with a set date for submission. These may be conducted as individual or group assessments.

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Guidelines for examination c​andidates

​Students are obliged to familiarise themselves with the Supplementary provisions for examination candidates (pdf) at Nord University​.​​ 

Please note paragraphs 37-39 Referencing and plagiarism:

37. When work is submitted in writing, the candidate shall provide information about sources, both in-text and in the form of a complete bibliography. Quotes and excerpts shall be marked clearly with italics and indent, or similar, and include a page-specific reference. Deviations from this provision shall be considered as plagiarism and will be addres​sed as an act of cheating.

38. Nord University uses a plagiarism detection programme to check submitted work for instances of plagiarism.

39. All examinations aids are permitted during take-home examinations. However, candidates are not permitted to collaborate on individual take-home examinations. Examination candidates should exercise caution in cooperation and discussion about tasks/responses that can give rise to similarities in content, structure, language, interpretation and analysis. 

Take-home examination

Take-home examinations are characterised by the fact that there is a set and limited period of time for distribution of the examination paper and submission of the answer. They usually take place over a few days, for example, the examination paper may be distributed on Monday at 09:00 with a submission deadline of Friday at 14:00. 

Preparations before take-home examinations

  • Log in to Inspera using FEIDE: nord.inspera.no​
  • Please make sure that you have a valid password before examinations take place, and that the test is available in Inspera the day prior to the examination. 
  • It is recommended that ​you run a test of Inspera. After logging in, choose Demo tests, then select Demo – Examination with all the permitted aids.
  • Familiarize yourself with the requirements for submissions. For example Save as pdf, merge multiple documents to one pdf, transfer photos/scans from phone to computer, and insert into the exam document. Check out the tips under Submission of response. 
  • The examination paper will be available from the start time for the examination stated in Studentweb.

Assignment/thesis

The thesis as a form of examination is typically a semester, project, bachelor's or master's thesis. Guidance can be provided that is adapted to the level and scope of the thesis. Unless othervise stated, the assigmment is normally published in Canvas, and should be submitted in Inspera. 

Publish your master's thesis
When submitting your thesis in Inspera, you must fill out a form where you consent to whether or not your thesis can be published online. This is in accordance with Norwegian regulations on copyright.

Read more about publishing and clauses on the Library's website.

Group submission
See the instructions for creating groups​ (scroll past the Norwegian text for English).

Thesis title in Studentweb
The thesis title for candidate's, bachelor's and master's theses shall be registered in Studentweb in order for it to appear on your diploma. The deadline for the registration of a thesis title is normally until midnight on the same day as the deadline for submission.​

  • Click the relevant course under "Upcoming Events"
  • Click "Edit"
  • Click "Show Thesis Title"
  • Enter the title in both fields – both in the original language (Norwegian) and English
  • Click "Save"

Submission of response

When submitting an answer, it should be submitted as a combined document in PDF format, unless otherwise stated in the course description or the question text.

  • Convert a word document to PDF:
    Select "Save as PDF" or 
    click "Print" and select "to PDF".

  • Merge two or more PDF documents: 
    www.sejda.com/merge-PDF

  • ​Photos of hand drawings, or similar: 
    - Take a photo with your phone
    - Send the photo to your own e-mail
    - Open the e-mail on your computer
    - Save the photo locally on the computer
    - Upload the photo to your exam (word document, directly to Inspera or similar).
    - Make sure it is clear which assignment the photos belong to.  ​ 

  • Scan documents with your phone:
    As an alternative to your mobile camera, you can use an app, e.g. Office Lens from Microsoft, to take pictures and scan documents or hand drawings. The app enables you to crop and edit pictures of documents, and save them as pdf or jpg. If you save them as pdf and send the to your e-mail, you can easily merge several pdfs into one pdf as described above.

    Office Lens is available for iOS and Android. 

  • Cover page templates:
    Use a cover page template from Nord University for bachelor and master theses, take-home examinations and assignments. 

  • Upload your response: 
    ​In Inspera, you can upload an answer as many times as you want within the set and limited period of time. The last file uploaded will automatically be submitted when the examination period expires. All answers are stored under "Archive" in Inspera.

Portfolio

Portfolio submission is often several different elements that when combined constitute a basis for assessment, and which is given an overall grade based on an overall assessment. A portfolio may, for example, include written works, species samples, lab exercises and artistic work.

The document Approved Forms of Assessment at Nord University (pdf) provides a complete overview of our various forms of examination.