Scaling Online Exams for Padjadjaran University across 17,000 Indonesian islands with integrity

PIP UNPAD prepares students and practitioners to leverage psychological knowledge and consulting skills in real-life situations. Following its established academic schedule, the Center was preparing to undertake the entrance examination process.

The University conducted its exams initially using the traditional ‘paper-and-pen’ method, and later through a computer-based system, to shortlist applicants. However, given the global disruption caused by COVID-19, the Government of Indonesia, like other governments globally, mandated ‘working from home.’ Psychological consultation services were relatively easier to move to the online mode, but conducting the graduate entrance examination posed a stiffer challenge. Students across the 17000 islands were expected to appear in these tests. There were practical challenges of connectivity, ease of use, and access, among others.

The Center received an overwhelmingly large number of applications, as much as 1000 for each semester, as it prepared to initiate the selection process based on its academic schedule. Hence, managing a sizable number of students was only possible on a robust, scalable, location-agnostic platform. The desired platform needed to offer the following features to mitigate its online examination challenges.

They included:

Let’ explore them in detail-

• A robust multilingual platform:

The faculty at PIP UNPAD had created the examination paper on the cognitive ability test in Bahasa- the official language of Indonesia. However, they lacked a credible, secure, swift, and scalable multilingual platform to assist them in uploading their papers without problems.
Some operators offered their services but provided generic solutions that were not tailor-made to PIP UNPAD’s needs. Therefore, the absence of a viable cross-lingual resource was a bottleneck in administering the examination with ease.

• Minimum internet bandwidth:

PIP UNPAD mandated a stable internet connection for all applicants, spread across 17,000 islands, but the internet coverage across islands was not consistent and seamless. Therefore, it sought a partner to enable applicants to pursue the online exam from their locations seamlessly, using a platform that required minimal bandwidth but offered maximum technical prowess.

• Live proctoring to maintain integrity and communication:

PIP UNPAD wanted to conduct reliable assessments remotely, by leveraging live proctoring as a solution. It wanted its examination supervisors to assuage applicants’ concerns in real-time, ensuring proper monitoring and enforcement. But lack of proctoring software that could enable the University proctors to supervise tests in real-time, in a secure environment, was a challenge.

PIP UNPAD invested significant time in scouting for an ideal partner to meet its virtual examination delivery and distribution requirements in a short timeline. It discovered a few service providers. Our experience and excellent reviews of delivering a great experience from prestigious universities and institutes across Indonesia, and a world-class 24/7 customer support, piqued PIP UNPAD’s interest in Mercer | Mettl’s favor.

Mercer | Mettl understood and appreciated the University’s stature in the higher education ecosystem. The team was apprised of the PIP UNPAD’s apprehensions about treading into a hitherto unchartered domain of online examinations in Indonesia.

Hence, the team suggested Mercer | Mettl’s one-stop-solution – ‘the Online examination Platform.’ The online platform, to date, has conducted more than 20 million online tests. Most recently, it accomplished a noteworthy feat of conducting over one lakh proctored assessments in a day, along with hosting multiple universities and students simultaneously. The platform served as an excellent solution for PIP UNPAD’s problems.

The Mercer | Mettl team conducted customized pilot demonstrations for educators and accreditors to help them understand the system’s intricacies and processes. This assured academician’s of the platform’s prowess.

Online platform:

Mercer | Mettl’s Examine: The Online Examination Software System was a proficient, end-to-end solution to meet PIP UNPAD’s online examination requirements. The comprehensive software enabled the University to host its high-stakes selection process for its new academic year in a secure, scalable, and credible manner.

Mercer | Mettl solved the following significant challenges

• Hosting the examination:

Multiple-language support on Mercer | Mettl’s platform enabled the faculty at PIP UNPAD to upload its content in Bahasa with ease.

• • A well-defined test setting helped the faculty to set up the exams with multiple question types instantaneously.
  • The university created slots and schedules and invited test-takers to take glitch-free exams.

• Minimal requirement of internet bandwidth:

To ensure an uninterrupted exam-taking experience for PIP UNPAD’s applicants, even from the remotest of corners:

• • Mercer | Mettl’s minimum upload speed of 512kbps abated the Center’s technical difficulties associated with the intermittence of the high-speed internet connectivity. It ensured last-mile access across Indonesia.
  • A user-friendly process did not demand students’ time for downloading software and tutorials. It ran seamlessly on applications’ systems, irrespective of their location.

• Live proctoring

PIP UNPAD wanted to use live proctoring to deliver a highly secure and well-invigilated examination experience. It also required continuous communication to enable exam-takers to understand the nuances of the exam and take them with ease.

Hence, Mercer | Mettl’s synchronous live proctoring feature was a prerequisite to taking the online exam and enabled the following:

• • The Center’s human invigilators could monitor exam-takers remotely, from start to finish, with one-to-one and one-to-many classroom view. This mitigated any possibility of indulging in any untoward activity that could hamper the examination’s integrity.
  • An added feature of pausing /stopping /resuming the test in real-time, with the option of live chat, enabled proctors to interact with students to assuage any concerns or queries about the exams.
  • The recorded session was available for viewing at a later time.

• 24X7 support from exam experts:

Mercer | Mettl’s customer support quickly responded to the queries of the faculty members who were facing inconvenience in acclimating to a ‘work-from-home’ ecosystem. The team continued to provide high-quality assistance at speed, despite operating from a different time zone.

• The Center was able to conduct its cognitive ability selection process for graduate and post-graduate entrance examinations, as scheduled, by simulating a traditional examination environment, using online proctored examinations.
• The Center was able to ensure examination continuity for its applicants despite the ongoing disruption and the ensuing lockdown.
• With live proctoring, the Center could reach a larger applicant pool across the Indonesian islands, without concerns about slow-speed internet connectivity.
• With Mercer | Mettl’s continuous assistance, the Center was able to maintain its pole-position as the premier institution. Several regional institutes could not conduct their examinations using traditional methods and the Center stood-out for its ingenuity.
• With Mercer | Mettl’s assistance, the University plans to use live proctoring to continue its selection process for other examinations.