Final and Mid-Year Examination

Index

What to do if...

5.4   Midterm Examination Arrangements

Midterm examinations are arranged by the faculty and/or department. The student must approach the professor at least seven days prior to the midterm to discuss appropriate accommodation. The faculty or department arranges for space, proctors and required technology. If a computer is required for midterms, they can be arranged through the Exams Office. To arrange for a computer midterm, the student must complete a Student Request Form and submit it to the Exams Office (Gordon Hall, Room 110) at least ten days prior to the midterm. The Exams Office will contact the instructor to make arrangements, and will notify the student via email once all documents are received and the time/date is set.

The recommendations made for final exams are meant to be applied, with common sense, to midterms as well. The need for extra time, distraction-free space, material in large print, use of computers or readers, and careful scheduling generally applies to exams other than finals, as well as to final examinations. Clarification of a few terms used for exam accommodations are as follows:

Extra time
Recommendations made by the Disability Services Office for each student will be applied to midterm and in-class tests. Extra time should be provided proportionately as indicated in the documentation regarding that student's accommodations. For example, if a student receives an extra hour on a three-hour exam, he or she would require an extra twenty minutes on a one-hour test. This may not apply in the case of students for whom the duration of the examination poses a difficulty. Limited sitting tolerance may not affect in-class tests as much as three-hour exams, for instance. Students themselves are the best resource for this determination; feel free to also contact the Disability Services Office.

In bond
The use of the bond room indicates the need to write separately from the class, to avoid the disruption of the class leaving, and to avoid singling out the student receiving extra time. This does not mean the student needs to be alone.

Special in bond room
This is a semi-private setting that is free of distraction. This means the student could use a quiet space that is not necessarily entirely alone, but needs to be at least as quiet as an exam hall, without the noise from the hall, adjacent offices, or public areas interfering with the student's concentration. The management of external distraction is important in this instance. Notices in the vicinity of the exam to the effect that an exam is in progress are helpful as well. A quiet classroom, an office, a study room or library carrel may suffice; the best person to assist in this determination is the student involved and perhaps the departmental assistant.

Separate space
A recommendation for a separate space means that the student needs to write alone.

Alternate formats
Students may require that exams be transcribed into alternate formats (Braille, large print, or disk). Please contact Carol Tennant tennantc@queensu.ca, Library Services for Students with Disabilities, to arrange for material to be Brailled.