The EXAM system refers to an electronic examination service that enables the execution and evaluation of electronic exams. EXAM is used in almost all Finnish higher education institutions. The maintenance and development of the EXAM system are managed by the national EXAM consortium, which includes 28 Finnish higher education institutions. The system is provided by CSC – Tieteen tietotekniikan keskus. The joint EXAM system of Tampere University and TAMK is called TUNI EXAM.
The consortium’s operations are overseen by the consortium’s executive team, which, among other things, approves the consortium’s action plan and budget and guides the development of the EXAM system. The development needs of the EXAM system are identified, defined, and prioritized by the developer team. The developer team monitors and evaluates the use and functionality of EXAM and takes care of system testing. Each higher education institution has its own representative in both the consortium’s executive team and the developer team.
Development of the EXAM System
As a student or teacher of the Tampere higher education community, you can provide feedback on electronic examinations or the EXAM system via email at exam@tuni.fi. Development suggestions related to the EXAM system are first handled in the monthly meeting of the Tampere higher education community’s EXAM team, where the development suggestion is initially evaluated. If the suggestion is feasible from the perspective of both Tampere University and TAMK and requires system development for the EXAM system, the EXAM team will schedule a meeting for a more detailed definition of the system development or report the development suggestion directly to the EXAM consortium’s developer team.
In the developer team, the development suggestions from higher education institutions are evaluated, and if necessary, the system development to be implemented is more precisely defined in collaboration with the system provider. Most often, the developer team needs to discuss the technical feasibility of the development suggestion, its impact on the overall system usage, as well as the system’s accessibility and usability. The consortium aims to implement development suggestions that benefit as many students and teachers as possible from different higher education institutions. The final decision on the implementation of system development is typically made by the developer team, but if the system development in question would significantly change the use of the EXAM system, the decision is transferred to the executive team. The product owner group, appointed from the representatives of the developer team by the executive team, prepares the development roadmap for approval by the executive team. Approved development suggestions are typically in production no earlier than two years later.