Home / Computer-Based Testing Facility (CBTF)

Computer-Based Testing Facility (CBTF)

by |
As part of overall Mastery Learning effort, ACELab PIs have worked with EECS, CDSS, CoE, and RTL staff to deploy a Computer-Based Testing Facility. Contact Armando Fox if after reading the below you’re potentially interested in using it in your course(s). Our current part-time CBTFs are Evans B3A (left) and Wheeler 210 (right). To reach Evans B3A, take the elevator to the basement of Evans Hall and turn right out of the elevator. Note that B3A is different from B3, another room in the basement that is not a CBF. To reach Wheeler 210, go to floor 2 of Wheeler Hall and you’ll find the lab at the northern end of the building (the end closest to Hearst Ave.)

Why are we doing this?

For a couple of years, some of us have already been making the case for computer-based testing at Cal as a way to improve equity, academic integrity, and faculty/TA/student well-being. There is now UC-systemwide interest in going down this path, with some campuses such as UC Riverside already well on the way.

Instructors: Interested in using the CBTF?

Interested in using the CBTF in your courses? Information for you and your teaching staff on exam formats, constraints, procedures, and how to prepare your exams for CBTF-based administration.

Students: Taking an exam in the CBTF?

Please familiarize yourself with the procedures before your first CBTF exam.

Students: Want to be a paid proctor?

Onboarding and FAQ for existing proctors
  • Note 1: Proctoring is an active task. You will not be able to do homework, use your phone, read, do other work, etc. during your proctoring shifts; the work will require 100% of your attention while on shift. Please keep this in mind if you want to apply.
  • Note 2: This is not a reader, tutor, or TA/ASE role. NO EXPERIENCE with teaching, nor with the material(s) in the course(s) whose exams are being proctored, is required or expected, as proctors are NOT permitted to answer student questions regarding the exam or course itself.
Pay starts at $20/hour with no single shift longer than 2 consecutive hours. You should be diligent, detail-oriented, and reliable, and be able to provide the contact info for at least 1 professional reference who will so attest. The responsibility of an exam proctor is significant: the student’s exam experience is heavily determined by it. Applicants should therefore be attentive to detail, timely, reliable, empathetic, and affect a professional and kind demeanor. Proctors will go through 1-2 hours of (paid) onboarding/training to understand the exam administration software and proctor responsibilities before their first shift. Fill out this brief application (berkeley.edu email/login required) if interested.

Students: Want to learn how to design great computer-based assessments?

If you’ve been an academic student employee (TA, tutor, etc.) and want to learn about assessment design and evaluation, consider the special-topics EECS STAR Assessments course led by Profs. Armando Fox, Dan Garcia, and Narges Norouzi. You’ll learn how to design and implement novel interactive assessments for your courses and how to evaluate them using the research methods of the learning sciences and human-computer interaction.