Preparing for Success with Digital Assessments

Before assessment day: preparing for your assessment

When preparing for your assessment, check that you can answer these four key questions: 

• When is the assessment? 
• What am I required to do for the assessment? 
• Where can I find the resources that I need?
• If I have a question, who can I ask? 

On assessment day: doing your assessment

Before the assessment begins:

• Make sure you are well rested. If your “assessment window” begins in the morning, give yourself plenty of time to wake up fully before the assessment begins.
• If you are allowed additional materials, make sure you have them at hand . 
• Check that your study space is set up for the exam. 
• Make sure that your devices are fully charged. 
• Have some spare paper or a notepad and sufficient pens at hand .
• Put your phone away! If you need to use it during the assessment consider installing an app which limits distractions. At the very least, turn notifications OFF or put it in Flight mode. 
• Keep track of time with a clock or watch (not your phone!). 
• Remind family or housemates that you are doing an assessment.  

During the assessment

• Start by reading through all question(s).
• If you have choice, identify the questions that you are going to attempt.
• Work out how you are going to apply your time to each question. Consider the relative number of marks allocated to each question—the higher the marks, the longer the time you should spend on your answer.
• Save your work regularly and make sure you have a backup.  
• If you get stuck, stop, take a breath and focus. Reread the question and the instructions. Identify gaps in what you have done so far and try to fill them. If you are still stuck, leave the question and return to it later.
• Before you submit, give yourself time to review your work. Re-read the assessment instructions and ask yourself: 
  • have you met the requirements for the assessment? 
  • is there anything that you can add to improve your answer(s)? 
  • have you referenced your work adequately?  
• Run a plagiarism check (if required).   

Submitting your assessment

• Follow the submission instructions provided and make sure make sure that you are submitting in the format that is required. 
• You should only need to submit once, but if it doesn’t work the first time, try one more time. If you continue to have problems, contact the module tutors in the first instance and document the problems in detail! (Take screenshots of errors, note the times of any incidents and record what actions you took). For further information, see this IT Services Guide on Submitting Assessments & Viewing Feedback.

Academic integrity and plagiarism

Throughout your studies at Trinity, you will undertake assessments that require research. Your ideas will be expressed through words, images, diagrams and other multimedia forms. As you research you will be expected to understand and build upon the work of others. This requires acknowledging correctly and fully the contributions of others to your work.  You are expected at all times to take responsibility for the integrity of your work as you advance knowledge in your field of study.  

Plagiarism is interpreted by the University as the act of presenting the work of others as one’s own work, without acknowledgement. In some education systems, rules for avoiding plagiarism may not be clearly defined. Some of you may be studying in Ireland for the first time and may have different understands of plagiarism. Plagiarism is your responsibility, and you need to know exactly what it is in order to avoid it.   

Remember also that getting help from other people during the exam (collusion) and resubmitting work previously marked (self-plagiarism) are also forms of plagiarism.     

Trinity’s Plagiarism Policy: institutional policy and guidelines on plagiarism and procedures to be invoked when there is a suspected case of plagiarism.