Frequently Asked Questions

Before contacting us, please check the following answers to frequently asked questions.

Lectures/Tutorials

Getting Started

I am a new student and want to take one of VSR'S modules in this semester. How do I get started?

1. Find the corresponding module homepage here: Current Educational Modules.
2. Carefully read the information on that homepage.
3. Register for the module in the corresponding OPAL course. The link to the course can be found on the module homepage or here: VSR's Courses in OPAL
4. Carefully read all information provided in the OPAL course.
5. Subscribe to the "Announcements" section in OPAL to receive notifications from the course via Email.
6. Frequently check the Module Homepage and OPAL course for any relevant updates.
7. Regularly check your emails for any course notifications.
8. Routinely check our news for any relevant posts: VSR News
9. Consider the Digital Student Mentoring services offered to all of our students
10. For lectures and tutorials, please follow our VSR Calendar.

Lecture/Tutorial Materials

Where do I find materials for the lectures/tutorials?

Materials for lectures and tutorials can be found on the websites of the corresponding modules listed here: Current Educational Modules. Materials for tutorials are available for registered students in the corresponding OPAL courses: VSR's Courses in OPAL.

Digital Student Mentoring

The Digital Student Mentoring Service

As an additional service for our students, VSR provides a Digital Student Mentoring. Any of our students seeking assistance in their studies with regard to organizational aspects and online education can contact our Student mentor to get help on a student-to-student level by an experienced student studying in a higher semester. For further information, please check the Digital Student Mentoring Homepage.

Consultation Sessions

To discuss about study-related matters directly with our Student Mentor, we invite you to the Digital Student Mentoring consultation sessions offered every week on Friday between 3:00pm and 4:00pm via BBB.

Exams

Online Exams

What will I need for taking an online exam?

You will need the following:

• Be registered for the exam at the examination office
• Student id card
• The Safe Exam Browser
• Power Supply
• Stable internet connection (you can test the speed to Chemnitz University of Technology via the Speedtest)
• An undisturbed environment without other persons in the same room
• Webcam, for proctoring (you can also use your phone's camera) with sufficient video quality to be able to read your student id for identity verification. Your work area must be completely visible, as well as your face.
• any allowed materials

I do not have a reliable and stable internet connection with sufficient speed. How can I participate in the exam?

You are allowed to take exams in the university library. The necessary equipment for the exam must be brought along and you need to register for that service in advance.

I do not have the required hardware (a PC or laptop and a camera). How can I particpate in the exam?

The IT department of the university can lend you a laptop to use for the exam. This is subject to the rules for lending exam equipment (website only available in German currently).

I am unsure about how tasks in an online exam would look like. Where can I get myself acquainted to the exam system?

The university provides a demo exam showcasing different task types.

But I do not know how the Safe Exam Browser works. Where can I make a test run?

The professorship provides a demo exam course where you can test the Safe Exam Browser and give feedback via the exam.

What do I have to do?

Prepare your workplace:

• The room, in which you are going to take your exam, must be a closed room and only you alone may be in this room.
• Ensure a quiet and undisturbed working environment. Sounds such as music or television are not permitted.
• Your workplace should be empty or clean (only the permitted aids may be on the workplace).
• The lighting in the room must be bright enough to be considered "daylight" quality.
• No other person is allowed to enter the room while you are taking the exam.
• Communication with any other person by any means is forbidden!
• You must dress as though you were in a public setting.
• You must not use headphones, ear buds, or any other type of listening equipment.
• The use of a telephone other than for proctoring is strictly prohibited.

The computer used to take the exam:

• You must install Safe Exam Browser on your device.
• You must close all other programs or windows on your testing computer before you begin the exam.
• In particular, you must not use the following tools:
  1. Programs such as a PDF reader, Excel, Word, or PowerPoint
  2. Communication programs such as Skype, Whatsapp, Telegram, etc.
  3. Any website other than the Big Blue Button session and the exam window.

Exam Procedure:

• The following steps using the Safe Exam Browser are also explained in the SEB Introduction Recording.
• Register in advance for participation in the exam. To test the Safe Exam Browser, you can use this demo exam course.
  
• Be punctual (30 minutes before the exam starts).
• Have your student card ready.
• Download the Safe Exam Browser configuration file. It will appear on your exam group page in the navigation menu on the left after enrollment.
  
  
• Open the configuration file (.seb) on your device with a double click and enter the start password/configuration password vsrexam. When you start the Safe Exam Browser, a start page opens. There, first open the exam page in TUCexam, which will open in an extra tab/window. Be sure to keep the exact order in mind!
  
  
• After registration using your TUC account there is a textbox for entering the exam code. Your proctor will tell you the exam code at the start of the exam for all students. (For the test exam, please use 149754436 )
  
• Then switch back to the tab/window with the start page to click the second link, which takes you to the BBB room. Be sure to keep the exact order in mind!
  
  
• Be patient when you are in the BBB room waiting room, it may take a few minutes for the proctor to be ready for you.
  
• When you enter the room, select to join listen-only.
• Enable your webcam.
• The exam proctor will write to you via private chat so you do not have to state your name audible for everyone, and authenticate you using your student ID and webcam. Please be patient as this must be done for all participants in the room.
• After all participants in your exam room have been authenticated, the exam proctor will outline the exam procedure and tell you the exam code at the joint start of the exam for all participants.
• Then switch back to the TUC exam tab/window and enter the exam code. Each exam has its own exam code, which is not identical to other passwords! The test will not start until the proctor will starts it for all students.
  
• Only use the Safe Exam Browser during the exam on the TUCexam exam platform. Opening it in another device, a browser or another browser tab leads to the cancellation of your exam!
• Keep the browser window for video identification open all the time! Otherwise the test will be cancelled.
• Ask questions about the exam in a private chat with the exam proctor.
• If the test is interrupted due to technical problems, please try to contact us first via BBB chat to the proctor, and if that does not work via phone (+49 371 531 29885) or e-mail (vsr-support@tu-chemnitz.de).
• To close the Safe Exam Browser, you must enter the following password to confirm: quit
  

What are the rules?

• Read and confirm the Online Exam Instructions (shown on the TUCexam page)
• You are responsible for making sure that you are familiar with the TUCexam platform and Safe Exam Browser before you take the exam.
• You have to ensure that your webcam is active in BBB during the whole exam and sit so that the door and your workplace is visible. Follow the university's instructions for establishing the correct camera angle. If you do not comply with this camera setting, the proctor will ask you to make a turnaround with the camera in the room several times during the exam.
• During the exam, you may only leave your workplace with a valid reason (e.g. to go to the toilet). You must inform the proctor of this. You may only leave your workplace after the proctor has confirmed this).
• Only the proctor can see the camera feed.
• Only the exam proctor is visible in the list of participants for you.

Where do I find the links to the exam, the BBB room and other information specific to my exam?

This information will be announced in the OPAL courses of each module and as registered course participant you should be notified via email automatically.

When should I be online and join the BBB room via the Safe Exam Browser?

30 minutes before the time stated in the exam schedule.

Which materials are allowed during the exam?

Permitted aids:

• Pen and paper
• all printed material e.g. lecture notes, books, material from the exercises, handwritten notes, dictionaries
• normal watch

Forbidden aids:

The following items must not be on your desk or used during your exam:

• mobile phone
• smart watch
• calculators
• digital materials or digital notes of any kind (PDF, Word, etc.)

Anything not listed under "Permitted aids" is forbidden! This includes any communication with other people.

How can I contact you during the exam?

Standard communication: via BBB (private chat) to the proctor, e.g. checking student ID, asking for a break to go to a restroom etc.

Emergency communication: only for technical problems

• Phone: +49 371 531 29885
• Email: vsr-support@tu-chemnitz.de

How can I ask a question during the exam?

Send your question in a private chat to the exam proctor in BBB.

What should I do if my internet connection drops during the exam?

1. Reconnect to BBB room
2. Reconnect to TUCExam
3. Contact our exam support hotline: +49 371 531 29885
4. Wait for the approval to continue your exam

Additional time or special allowances:

If you have a disability and need additional time or specific accommodations to take the exam, consult your disability resources (e.g., doctors certificate) the course proctors some days prior to the exam. The exam advisors must approve your request and make any adjustments before you start your exam.

Consequences of Rule Violations:

If you violate the online proctoring rules, you automatically receive a score of 5.0 (failed) for the exam with NO additional discussion.

Third Attempt Exams

I have failed an exam several times and this is my last attempt. How can I proceed?

You can request an oral exam through our secretary's office as detailed below.

Oral Exams

How can I request an oral exam?

If you are having one of our exams as final attempt, you can request to take the exam as oral exam. Please contact our secretary's office stating your name, the subject for which you request an oral exam and the semesters in which you have previously failed that exam: Dajana Herklotz

Previous Exams

Where can I get previous exams for exam preparation?

The computer science students' representatives (FSR IF) maintain a collection of exams, which is available under https://www.tu-chemnitz.de/fsrif/home/exams.html.

**Kindly Note: The above collection is not official/authorized by us, meaning that there is no guarantee for the correctness of the reported exam tasks and solutions. In particular, it has been observed that some of the provided materials include wrongly copied tasks and wrong solutions. For that reason, it is recommended to use the collection to get a general idea about how the exam can look like, but to not rely on these materials and in case of solutions try to solve the tasks on your own to see if the provided solution are right or not.

Exam Reviews

What is the purpose of the exam reviews?

With the exam reviews you can have a deep check as well as on your assessment as on your mistakes done in the exam. Therefore and due to data protection compliances, you can only review the exam you have written yourself. Please note that during the exam reviews we can not give out any sample solutions nor answer questions trying to circumvent this.

What is the process of the online exam reviews?

You need to register for the exam reviews via the provided survey link for the semester's exam reviews. Only then you are allowed to join in the planned sessions by the given session link.

When you click on the session link, you will be placed in a waiting room, which states “Wait until the moderator gives you permission”. This is a first come first serve procedure. If you receive a timeout notification, please refresh the page. Don't worry if there is no change in the waiting room status for some time! Once it is your turn, the moderator will let you in the BBB-room automatically.

Once you are in the BBB room, select participation with microphone and provide your webcam, and please prepare your student ID. After successful ID check, the moderator will place you in a breakout room where the review itself will take place. You will have maximum 10 minutes to review each exam.

What are the rules applying to the online exam reviews?

Only participate in the exam review if you agree with the following conditions. If you violate the online exam review rules, the exam review will end immediately.

1. Ensure a quiet and undisturbed environment. Sounds such as music or television are not permitted.
2. Communication with any other person by any means is forbidden!
3. Taking screenshots, notes or photos of the exam questions is strictly forbidden.
4. Programs such as Excel, Word, PowerPoint and Communication programs such as Skype, Whatsapp, Telegram, etc. are strictly forbidden.
5. You are only allowed to have the Big Blue Button session open.

Bachelor/Master Thesis and Practical Courses (Forschungspraktika, Teamorientierte Praktika)

Thesis Topics

I am looking for a topic for doing my Bachelor/Master thesis or Practical Course (Forschungspraktikum, Teamorientiertes Praktikum), where can I find available topics and whom should I contact?

You can find the list of available topics here: Proposed Topics. For more information about a topic, contact the adviser listed first with that topic.

Workplaces

I need a quiet and distraction-free place to work on my Bachelor/Master thesis. How can I get that?

You can book a workplace in the library using the workplace reservation form. This service is provided by the university library and subject to the regulations of the library. You will need to upload a confirmation of working on a graduation paper. For theses that are already registered, that is the confirmation that you received by the examination office (ZPA). If you have not yet registered your thesis, but are working on the vision document or task description, please contact your advisor to get a confirmation by the professorship.