The instructional outline is typically communicated to students in the study guide and it is on the basis of those objectives that distance learning students expect to be examined, unless you have specifically communicated different expectations. Many faculty manuals include extensive banks of test items organized by week and sometimes keyed directly into the specific objectives and content to which they relate. While these test questions are very helpful, you will need to evaluate each one to make sure that it fits the course as you have adapted it. In cases where the faculty manual includes objective questions only, you may want to add short or long essay questions, problems, analytical exercises, and other types of assessment items. The study guide is a good source of test questions.
Many guides have self-tests or questions for review to help guide student learning.
You may also want to develop other types of assessment activities such as research papers and projects. Regardless of the type or the number of exams you give, or whether you construct them yourself or use those provided, there are a number of administrative factors to consider. Scheduling Distance learning students require flexibility in exam scheduling. On some campuses, examinations are administered at a special testing center, the library, a counseling office, or the course coordinator's office. Many programs permit students to come in at their own convenience within a set week.