Documentation

Complete guide to mastering VoiceExam for oral assessments.

Getting Started

Welcome to VoiceExam

VoiceExam is a comprehensive platform for conducting oral examinations at scale. This guide will help you set up your account, create your first exam, and leverage AI-powered grading to save time while maintaining assessment quality.

Setting Up Your Faculty Account
  1. Register at VoiceExam using your institutional email address
  2. Select "Instructor" when prompted for your role during registration
  3. Verify your email address by clicking the link sent to your inbox
  4. Complete your profile with your name, department, and institution
  5. Access your Faculty Dashboard to begin creating classes and exams
Dashboard Overview

Your Faculty Dashboard provides quick access to all essential features:

Dashboard

Overview of recent activity, pending tasks, and quick statistics

Classes

Manage your courses and student enrollments

Exams

Create, edit, and manage oral examinations

Rubrics

Design and manage grading rubrics

Grading

Review submissions and finalize grades

Analytics

View performance insights and trends

Class Management

Creating a Class

Classes organize your students and exams by course or section.

  1. Navigate to Classes from your dashboard
  2. Click Create Class
  3. Enter the class name (e.g., "Biology 101 - Fall 2024")
  4. Add an optional description for student reference
  5. Set the class as Active or Draft
  6. Save to generate an enrollment code
Enrollment Methods
Method Description Best For
Enrollment Code Students enter a unique code to join Self-enrollment, large classes
Direct Link Shareable URL that auto-enrolls students LMS announcements, email
Manual Add Add students by email address Small groups, specific students
CSV Import Bulk upload student roster Large rosters from registrar
LTI/LMS Automatic sync from your LMS Canvas, Blackboard, Moodle users
Managing Students
  • View Roster: See all enrolled students with their enrollment date and status
  • Remove Students: Unenroll students who dropped or were added in error
  • Student Progress: View each student's exam attempts and grades
  • Bulk Actions: Export roster, send announcements, or manage multiple students

Creating Exams

Exam Creation Workflow

Follow these steps to create an effective oral examination:

1 Basic Information
  • Exam title and description
  • Associated class
  • Instructions for students
2 Add Questions
  • Create new questions
  • Import from question bank
  • Set point values
3 Configure Timing
  • Thinking time per question
  • Response time limits
  • Overall exam duration
4 Assign Rubric
  • Select existing rubric
  • Create custom rubric
  • Configure AI grading
5 Set Availability
  • Start and end dates
  • Time windows
  • Attempt limits
6 Publish
  • Review all settings
  • Preview as student
  • Make available to class
Exam Settings
Setting Options Recommendation
Thinking Time 0-300 seconds per question 30-60 seconds for most questions
Response Time 30-600 seconds per question 90-180 seconds for comprehensive answers
Attempts Allowed 1 to unlimited 1 for summative, 2-3 for formative
Question Order Sequential or Randomized Randomize for academic integrity
Navigation Linear or Free navigation Linear prevents answer changes

Question Types

Supported Question Formats

VoiceExam supports various question formats to assess different skills:

Open Response

Students provide verbal answers to open-ended questions. Ideal for demonstrating understanding, analysis, and synthesis.

Most Common
Language Assessment

Assess pronunciation, fluency, grammar, and vocabulary in foreign language courses.

Language Courses
Stimulus-Based

Present images, diagrams, or documents for students to analyze and discuss verbally.

Visual Analysis
Scenario-Based

Present real-world scenarios requiring problem-solving and critical thinking responses.

Applied Learning
Follow-up Questions

Pre-configured follow-up prompts that appear based on initial responses.

Adaptive
Verification Questions

Quick identity or comprehension checks to ensure exam integrity.

Security
Writing Effective Questions
Do
  • Use clear, unambiguous language
  • Specify the expected response format
  • Align questions with learning objectives
  • Include context when necessary
  • Test higher-order thinking skills
Avoid
  • Double-barreled questions
  • Leading or biased phrasing
  • Overly complex sentence structures
  • Questions with trivial answers
  • Culturally insensitive content

Rubrics & Grading

Creating Effective Rubrics

Rubrics are essential for consistent grading and meaningful feedback. VoiceExam rubrics work seamlessly with our AI grading system.

Rubric Structure

Each rubric consists of:

  • Criteria: The specific aspects being evaluated (e.g., "Content Accuracy," "Communication Clarity")
  • Performance Levels: Descriptions of achievement at each level (e.g., Excellent, Good, Satisfactory, Needs Improvement)
  • Point Values: Numeric scores associated with each performance level
  • Descriptors: Detailed explanations of what each level looks like
Sample Rubric: Oral Communication
Criteria Excellent (4) Good (3) Fair (2) Poor (1)
Content Knowledge Demonstrates comprehensive understanding with accurate details Shows solid understanding with minor gaps Basic understanding with some inaccuracies Limited or incorrect understanding
Organization Logical flow with clear introduction, body, conclusion Generally well-organized with minor issues Some organization but lacks coherence Disorganized and difficult to follow
Communication Clear, confident delivery with appropriate pace Mostly clear with occasional hesitation Understandable but frequent pauses Unclear or difficult to understand
Rubric Best Practices
Be Specific

Use concrete, observable descriptors rather than vague terms like "good" or "adequate"

Maintain Parallelism

Keep descriptions at each level grammatically parallel and comparable

Share with Students

Publish rubrics before the exam so students know expectations

Iterate and Improve

Refine rubrics based on grading experience and student feedback

AI-Assisted Grading

How AI Grading Works

VoiceExam uses advanced AI to transcribe student responses and provide initial grading suggestions based on your rubric. This dramatically reduces grading time while maintaining quality.

1. Recording

Student submits verbal response

2. Transcription

AI converts speech to accurate text

3. AI Analysis

Response evaluated against rubric

4. Review

You verify and finalize grades

AI Grading Features
  • Rubric-Aligned Scoring: AI grades each criterion according to your rubric definitions
  • Detailed Rationale: AI explains why each score was assigned, citing specific parts of the response
  • Confidence Indicators: See how confident the AI is in each grade to prioritize your review
  • Batch Processing: Grade entire classes automatically while you focus on edge cases
  • Learning Keywords: Define key terms and concepts the AI should look for
Optimizing AI Grading Accuracy
  1. Write detailed rubric descriptors - The more specific your criteria, the better the AI performs
  2. Include model answers - Providing example responses helps calibrate AI expectations
  3. Define key terminology - List important terms and concepts students should mention
  4. Specify common errors - Note misconceptions that should result in lower scores
  5. Review and adjust - Correct AI errors to improve future accuracy

Question Banks

Building Your Question Library

Question banks allow you to create reusable question pools organized by topic, difficulty, or learning objective. Build once, use across multiple exams.

Creating a Question Bank
  1. Navigate to Question Banks from your dashboard
  2. Click Create Bank and name it descriptively (e.g., "Biology - Cell Structure")
  3. Add questions manually or import from existing exams
  4. Tag questions with topics, difficulty levels, and learning objectives
  5. Associate rubrics with questions for consistent grading
Using Question Banks in Exams
Manual Selection

Hand-pick specific questions from your banks for each exam

Random Selection

Automatically pull random questions matching your criteria

Balanced Selection

Specify difficulty distribution (e.g., 2 easy, 3 medium, 1 hard)

Topic-Based Selection

Pull questions from multiple topics for comprehensive coverage

Analytics & Insights

Understanding Your Data

VoiceExam provides comprehensive analytics to help you understand student performance, identify learning gaps, and improve your assessments.

Available Reports
Exam Performance

Score distributions, averages, and completion rates for each exam

Question Analysis

Per-question statistics to identify confusing or poorly-performing questions

Student Progress

Individual student performance trends across multiple assessments

Rubric Insights

See which rubric criteria students struggle with most

Time Analysis

Average response times and thinking time utilization

Export Options

Download data as CSV or PDF for external analysis or records

Using Analytics Effectively
  • Identify at-risk students early by monitoring performance trends
  • Refine your questions based on item analysis data
  • Adjust timing if students consistently run out of time
  • Compare sections to ensure consistent instruction across classes
  • Document outcomes for accreditation and assessment reports

Academic Integrity

Built-in Integrity Features

VoiceExam includes multiple features to promote academic honesty and help you identify potential issues.

Integrity Tools
Question Randomization

Each student receives questions in a different order, making answer sharing difficult

Video Recording

Optional video capture verifies student identity and environment

Timed Responses

Time limits prevent extensive external research during exams

Similarity Detection

Flag responses that are unusually similar across students

Anomaly Detection

Identify unusual patterns in response times or scores

Secure Delivery

Questions revealed one at a time with no back navigation option

Integrity Review Workflow
  1. Access Integrity Review from the Insights menu
  2. Review flagged submissions sorted by concern level
  3. Compare flagged responses side-by-side
  4. Watch video recordings when available
  5. Document findings and take appropriate action

LMS Integration

Connecting to Your LMS

VoiceExam integrates with popular Learning Management Systems via LTI (Learning Tools Interoperability) for seamless roster sync and grade passback.

Supported Platforms

Canvas

Blackboard

Moodle

Brightspace

Integration Benefits
  • Single Sign-On: Students access VoiceExam directly from your LMS without separate login
  • Roster Sync: Automatic enrollment from your LMS course roster
  • Grade Passback: Grades automatically sync to your LMS gradebook
  • Assignment Links: Embed VoiceExam assignments directly in your course
  • Deep Linking: Link to specific exams from anywhere in your LMS
Setup Process

LMS integration requires coordination with your institution's IT department. Contact our support team at support@efit.software to begin the integration process. We'll provide:

  • LTI configuration credentials
  • Step-by-step setup instructions for your specific LMS
  • Technical support during implementation
  • Testing and verification assistance

Best Practices

Maximizing Student Success

These best practices will help you create fair, effective oral assessments that accurately measure student learning.

Communicate Expectations
  • Share rubrics before the exam
  • Explain the format and technology
  • Provide practice opportunities
  • Set clear timing expectations
Prepare Students Technically
  • Require a device/browser check beforehand
  • Recommend quiet testing environments
  • Suggest using headphones
  • Provide technical support contacts
Set Appropriate Timing
  • Pilot test your own questions
  • Allow adequate thinking time
  • Consider anxiety and nerves
  • Review time analytics after exams
Ensure Accessibility
  • Provide accommodations when needed
  • Use clear, simple language
  • Offer extended time options
  • Consider diverse learners
Provide Meaningful Feedback
  • Customize AI-generated feedback
  • Be specific about improvements
  • Balance critique with encouragement
  • Connect feedback to learning goals
Iterate and Improve
  • Review analytics after each exam
  • Gather student feedback
  • Refine questions that performed poorly
  • Update rubrics based on experience

Troubleshooting

Common Issues & Solutions

Quick solutions to frequently encountered problems.

  • Verify the student is enrolled in the correct class
  • Check that the exam is published and within the availability window
  • Confirm the student hasn't exceeded attempt limits
  • Ensure the student's browser is up to date

  • Recommend students use headphones with a built-in microphone
  • Advise testing in a quiet environment
  • Check browser microphone permissions
  • Suggest using Chrome for best compatibility

  • Listen to the original recording while reviewing
  • Edit transcripts manually in the grading interface
  • Poor audio quality affects transcription accuracy
  • Technical terms may require manual correction

  • Progress is automatically saved
  • Student can refresh and resume from where they left off
  • If needed, you can reset the student's attempt
  • Grant additional attempts in exam settings if appropriate

  • Verify LTI integration is properly configured
  • Check that the assignment was created via LTI launch
  • Ensure grades are finalized, not just AI-suggested
  • Contact support if issue persists
Still need help?

Our support team is ready to assist with any issues not covered here.

Contact Support