Unisa maintains that the Invigilator App is a critical tool being used by the university to prevent students from cheating.
This after a number of students who were found by the university to have violated the rules for the usage of the Invigilator App are expected to retake their exams.
According to the students, technical glitches while they were using the app prevented them from uploading their scripts within the allocated time.
Despite their claims that they adhered to exam guidelines, their marks are being withheld, and they now face the prospect of sitting for the May/June supplementary exams next year.
In a statement, Unisa said: “On 23 November 2023, Unisa sent a message to students reminding them of its implementation of one of the provisions pertaining to students who have been out of the Invigilator App for more than 10 minutes during their respective examination sittings, as set out in its online examination rules.
“The Invigilator App is a critical proctoring tool used by the university for the invigilation of online examinations.
“The usage of the app and the attendant rules are very important and necessary to uphold the credibility of our examinations and protect the integrity of our qualifications. It is one of the aspects of the assessment process that the university cannot compromise on.
“Prior to the commencement of the examinations, the rules about of the usage of the Invigilator App were clearly communicated to all students as part of our online examination rules and guidelines through various communication channels, including email, myUnisa announcements, SMS, and social media.
“In particular, students were clearly advised that any student who spends a cumulative total of 10 minutes outside of the Invigilator App during the examination session will be considered to have breached the university’s examination rules.”
Unisa said they found a number of students had exited or minimised the Invigilator App for a period exceeding 10 minutes during their respective assessments, therefore the students have had their marks withheld.
“These students are eligible to rewrite during their next module examination sitting. They do not need to re-register for the affected modules.
“Students writing in their second examination opportunity who have been identified to have been out of the Invigilator App for more than 10 minutes have also had their marks withheld. However, these students will have to re-register for the module(s) concerned as the university does not provide third examination opportunities.”
In terms of technical glitches, the university said it was “further clarified that students who could not upload their scripts are not affected by the implementation of the ‘Out of App’ rule”.
“Students have been informed via the communique issued on 23 November 2023 about the appeal process that has been put in place for students to raise objections or make their case. They are once again urged to use this process to have their cases heard. Each case will be dealt with on its own merits.”
Meanwhile, Unisa said the marking and releasing of the rest of the modules was continuing according to plan.
“The examination results are being audited and released on a staggered basis as and when they are finalised, with the final release date for all examination results set for 14 December 2023.”
Cape Times