Legal Matters
Definition E-Exams (expandable)
The electronic examination (E-examination) or electronic test (E-tests) is a legally defined term in examination law. In higher education examination law, a distinction is made between written examinations on one hand and electronic examinations (E-examinations) or electronic tests (E-tests) on the other hand, in addition to the fundamentally oral examinations. E-examination and E-test are to be understood synonymously. The E-examination is usually defined in the relevant legal provisions in direct connection with the use of so-called multiple-choice questions. This narrow legal definition of the E-examination is not satisfactory from the perspective of examination didactics and is largely outdated in legal usage (Morgenroth, 2021). According to the currently prevailing legal opinion, the term E-examination has expanded to include a broader range of electronic examination forms. Their common characteristic is that the distribution, execution, and processing of the examination must occur within the same information technology system. Only this last part distinguishes them from the more general definition of a digital examination. Only when the inputs of the students in an examination do not leave the E-examination system is classification as an E-examination legally possible at all (Niehues, Fischer & Jeremias, 2018). Practically, this means that only examinations conducted in a dedicated E-examination system are considered E-examinations in a legal sense.