DU OBE guidelines are vital as the varsity has successfully transitioned from physical examinations to OBE via digital mode. Hence, all the students must be well versed with the Dos and Don’ts. A minor mistake made by any student can lead to unwanted problems.
DU has successfully held 2 OBEs for the regular students and 1 for the SOL students in past. However, there are more Open Book Examinations (OBE) likely to be held in the future as the varsity is yet planning on college reopenings.
The varsity had to take this step due to the spread of Covid-19 and the subsequent nationwide lockdown. All DU Colleges are closed ever since March 2020. Hence, it became a necessity to conduct online examinations and classes as it wasn’t possible to make the students appear physically. Therefore, the concept of Open Book Examination (OBE) was adopted by the varsity which is being conducted digitally.
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DU August OBE:
Ideally, the final year students were supposed to give their final examination after the summer break and graduate subsequently. However, there occurred an unnecessary delay as DU was chalking out the exam procedure amidst the lockdown. Hence, they did conduct the August OBE for the final year students of DU. However, the first and second-year students were marked based on their assignments and simply promoted. The 1st ever DU OBE was held in August for regular, NCWEB, and SOL final year students. Help desks, guidelines, webinars, etc. were set up for students’ help. The university also organized mock tests to improve the clarity of the procedure.
However, a lot of complications occurred. Several students missed their exams due to ignorance or making mistakes in the procedure. For example, several students uploaded answer sheets on Google Drive supported by passwords, and some uploaded wrong answers. Hence, the administration couldn’t yield a lot of answer sheets as the students failed to follow the DU OBE Guidelines.
DU December OBE (the second phase):
The December OBE was held for all second and third-year regular students along with essential repeaters. The Examination Commission issued several DU OBE guidelines for the students to follow. Also, the shortcomings of the previous OBE were eliminated. Hence, by following the exact guidelines, it was easy for the students to pass the OBE exams. However, the students were given an option between the Digital OBE mode and the physical mode. They could choose their preferred mode.
DU OBE guidelines: How to fill the Examination form?
To appear for the OBE exams, the students are first required to fill their Exam forms. Here, they also have to select their preferred mode of writing and various other details. Hence, each appearing candidate must fill this form.
- Visit the Student’s Portal
- Select “Fill Exam Form” to proceed further.
- Candidates will be given details about the examinations. Hence, they can go through and proceed. They have to click the “Next” option.
- A login window will come up now.
- Certain mandatory details have to be filled in for logging in. It includes University Roll no., college’s name, candidate’s name, and candidate’s date of birth.
- A new window will open now. Candidates are now required to fill in details like paper type, semester, mode of examination, etc.
- They can now add their papers from the “Add papers” option.
- After all this, the final submission has to be done. However, candidates are suggested to save the pdf of their exam form.
Candidates must download E Admit Cards:
The Admit Cards for DU OBE is generally made available between 2 to 5 days before the exams. Hence, all the appearing candidates are guided to download their E Admit Cards as soon as possible. They need to check the details given on their Admit Cards. The Admit Cards for OBE is downloaded from the student’s portal.
The students have to feed simple details like college name, student’s name, and Exam Roll number. Hence, they can then click on the Generate Admit Card option and download it for future reference.
One-time Registration to the DU Portal
All the students appearing for the OBE Exams are guided to register to the DU OBE Portal. Hence, a few basic details are required to log in. The details include –
- Candidate’s name
- Enrollment number
- Program Name
- Date of Birth
- Examination roll number
- Registered Email ID
- Registered Mobile Number
The students are guided to fill in these details correctly. They can then generate a password for themselves. Hence, with the exam roll number and password, they can easily login or logout from the portal.
What is the DU OBE Portal?
The DU OBE portal is made only for the conductance of Open Book Examinations for all regular, NCWEB, and SOL students. Hence, students can get access to their Question papers here, and are guided to upload answer sheets here. Student’s Profile is also created on this portal which consists of various details. It includes all the papers opted by the student, the student’s detail, and more.
DU OBE Guidelines: Step by Step guidelines
The students have been constantly guided to follow the right procedure of examination. Any minor error can cause the problem of missing the paper. However, the varsity always holds a Mock Test before the exams so that the students understand the process better. Helpline numbers are also available on the DU Website if a student falls into any trouble. The college administration is also directed to be in touch with the students and constantly help them.
On the designated examination day, these steps need to be followed to get the question paper:
- Students are directed to log in to the portal at least 30 minutes before the examination time. Hence, they will witness a timer that shows the time left before the exam starts. Log in often takes a little time, in case the server is down or the student has a slow internet speed. Therefore, they should start trying a few minutes before.
- Candidates need to download the question paper as soon as the timer stops. Hence, the option of “Download Question Paper” will appear on their screen.
- The Portal will now initiate another timer which will show the time left for the examination to end. Hence, it will be a four-hour timer inclusive of the uploading time.
- The question paper and exam time will be the same as mentioned in the date sheet.
- In case, a student fails to download the question paper, they can request their college administration for the same. Hence, the appointed Nodal Officer will send the question paper to the candidate on the registered email id or the mobile what’s app.
- After downloading the question paper, the student needs no internet connection in the writing time. Hence, they will continue writing on paper.
Steps needed to be followed for writing the answers and uploading them:
- Students are guided to use A4 size sheets, either plain or ruled. Hence, they can only write their answers on the designated paper type in their handwriting.
- They are also supposed to use only Blue and Black pens.
- Students should use separate sheets for each answer. Hence, no two answers shall lie on the same sheet as they have to be uploaded question wise.
Details required to be filled in the 1st page of each answer:
The first sheet of each answer should consist of details including:
- Name,
- Program Name,
- Semester,
- Examination Roll Number,
- Unique Paper Code,
- College Name,
- Paper title, and
- Date and Time of Examination.
Hence, it is a must for all answers.
- No answer should exceed the page limit of 14 pages. Hence, each answer should roughly lie between 7 to 14 pages. Unnecessary long answers should be avoided. Hence, they have to be to the point and short.
- Students will scan each page and prepare separate pdfs for each answer. Hence, if an answer is 8 pages long, a single pdf will be made including all the 8 pages well scanned.
- No answer pdf should exceed the size limit of 7MB. However, larger pdfs can be compressed to reduce the size for upload.
- To upload answers, an “Upload Answer” option will be available on the portal. Hence, the students can upload answer files for the questions they have opted for. However, they must ensure that they upload the right document under the designated question number.
- Students will be given an option to modify before the final submission. Hence, they can cross-check.
- They have to agree to the declaration and click on “Submit”.
Hence, they can successfully upload their answer sheets if they follow all the steps properly. After a successful submission within the designated time, the varsity will send a confirmation email. This email will be sent on the registered email id of each student after submission.
DU OBE Guidelines: Time duration and Management
All regular, SOL, and NCWEB students appearing for the examination are given a time limit of 4 hours. Hence, the first three hours are for writing and the additional hour is for IT-related activities like scanning and uploading answers. However, for the PWD/Divyaang students, the time limit is 6 hours. Therefore, they have a writing time of 4 hours and 2 hours for the IT-related activities i.e. uploading.
Extra 60 minutes will be given to students with poor internet connectivity or to those who witness issues on the portal. In such a case, the answer scripts have to be mailed to the Nodal officer with the documentary proves. These proofs include screenshots from the OBE portal showing the notification of failed upload. This procedure of sending answer scripts via email has to be done within 60 minutes, I.e. in the 5th hour However, this option should be used only in case of an extreme situation. The students submitting the scripts through alternate mediums i.e. other than OBE Portal may face delay in the declaration of their results due to the verification and validation process of submission. However, in the past OBE Exams, around 95 percent of students use the OBE Portal and very few adopt the email method.
Prescribed format for the email-based answers:
In the mail body, students must include:
- Student Name
- Examination Roll no.
- Name of Program (i.e. course name)
- Unique Paper Code
- Title of the paper (attempted) [i.e. Paper Name]
- Name of College
- Semester
- Date & Time of Examination :- dd/mm/yy; Hrs:min
Hence, these details are necessary along with the answer sheets and documentary proofs. Also, all this has to be completed within 60 minutes.
DU OBE Guidelines for students opting the Physical Mode:
The students who have opted for the physical mode will visit the college for giving exams. Hence, they are required to carry their own A4 sheets, pens, and other required equipment. They will be allowed to use the IT-based facilities provided by the colleges. However, they can switch to the remote mode i.e. home-based, if they desire. Other guidelines remain the same for them.
Handy applications all appearing students must download:
- Adobe Scan and Google Drive scan for scanning the pages.
- Adobe Scan to make pdfs.
- Cloud Converter to convert other forms of documents into pdf form.
- PDF Compressor to minimize the size of large pdfs.
- Google Drive
Hence, these are some applications that will be useful for students appearing for OBE.
Don’ts of DU OBE all students should avoid:
- Don’t exceed the writing time beyond three hours. The 4th hour is for uploading and takes extra time on some days. Hence, the students might miss the exam if they keep writing and fail to upload.
- Write short and to the point answers. Don’t exaggerate as no points will be awarded for it. However, long answers may increase the pdf size beyond the given limit of 7 MB.
- Don’t use bad quality pens as it can reduce visibility in the scanned sheets.
- Don’t forget to mention all the required details before each answer.
- Avoid submitting via Email.
DU SOL upcoming OBE :
DU SOL students were supposed to have their OBE in December. However, it has been postponed and will be held in March 2021. Over 3 lakh students will appear for DU exams in March 2021. Hence, these DU OBE Guidelines will be a great help to them.
