How To Prevent Candidates From Cheating In Online Exam
Online exam cheating can be an issue for organizations that conduct remote recruitment tests. Candidates taking online exams tend to look up answers online or consult other test-takers during tests for help – both options which increase their chance of exam cheating.
Hide notes, search the internet for answers or copy from other candidates are all common forms of exam cheating in tech roles, but there are effective solutions available to prevent exam fraud.
1. Use Proctoring Software
Not all online learners recognize the significance of academic integrity; however, that does not prevent them from trying to cheat during exams. With appropriate deterrents in place – like remote proctoring software which enables an invigilator to monitor students during an online examination in order to prevent cheating – instances of cheating in online exams can be avoided altogether.
Talview provides remote proctoring solutions that use face recognition and voice recognition technology to validate that any student taking an exam is the person intended. In addition, its secure browser prevents unauthorised access to external websites or applications as well as keyboard shortcuts or print screen commands; all these features help safeguard exam integrity by guaranteeing only questions are displayed without accessing outside information during an online examination session.
Proctoring solutions offer additional features that help further decrease the risk of cheating in an online exam, like Honorlock’s proctoring software which scans for leaked test questions on the internet and provides instructors with easy steps for taking control if any are found.
One method of cheating during an online exam is sharing answers via messaging apps or social media platforms – making a video of your academic integrity policy and explaining its consequences can deter students from attempting to bypass your policies by sharing answers.
Some students resort to more sophisticated methods of cheating in an online exam by employing screen-sharing software or virtual machines to hide their cheating activities. Although such types of cheating can be hard to detect, addressing it might involve mandating candidates pass a facial recognition check prior to beginning an exam or employing anti-cheating monitoring that detects abnormal behaviors and terminates exams as quickly as possible.
2. Create Multiple Versions of the Exam
Conducting online exams can be challenging to oversee without resorting to cheating by students, yet remote proctoring software provides numerous methods of mitigating student misconduct. One approach involves creating multiple versions of the exam; another utilizes different kinds of questions – open-ended and analysis-based ones are ideal ways of discouraging this form of cheating which could affect students’ final grades negatively.
Students often engage in cheating during online exams by impersonating other candidates – either hiring someone to take it on their behalf, or asking a friend. Most advanced proctoring services feature authentication tests such as facial and voice recognition to prevent such activity; additionally, including a video that addresses an institution’s academic integrity policy as well as any consequences of cheating before an exam can also help.
Students often employ screen sharing apps like Team Viewer during online exams as another strategy to share their screens with others and take part in group exams online. Unfortunately, teachers may be hard pressed to detect this activity due to not being able to see all aspects of a student’s screen.
To address this, instructors should only display one question at a time on the screen at any one time, which will prevent students from scanning multiple questions at the same time and opening numerous tabs to search for answers. Furthermore, teachers should use less searchable questions on the internet by opting for analytical or research-oriented questions rather than those that can easily be found through Google searches.
To efficiently organize multiple Exam or Homework versions together, choose “Organize Exam Version Set” on the assignments page’s left sidebar and add any exam versions you would like matched up together. This will allow for easier grade download/publishing/regrade requests management as well as synching back with LMS for all versions included in your group.
3. Randomize the Exam Questions
Online proctoring software can be an invaluable asset in protecting academic integrity and preventing cheating during exams. While students can still devise unique ways of cheating during online exams, faculty can still take steps to make tests more difficult for candidates while decreasing fraud risks.
Pre-authentication is an important step to ensure a candidate’s authenticity before taking an exam, which includes verifying identity and other details as well as checking facial recognition. Once pre-authentication has been passed successfully, they can proceed with their exam. A secure browser feature can further assist this step by blocking other websites or disabling shortcuts; monitoring behaviour or alerting authorities if suspicious activity is identified during testing.
Question pools in an online quiz can help deter cheating by randomly assigning questions and shuffling answers – this ensures each candidate receives their own set of questions without copying answers from other candidates.
An effective way to keep candidates from cheating during an online quiz is to forbid backtracking. This forces candidates to focus on answering each question completely before moving onto the next, and prevents them from using their free time researching solutions online or with friends.
Teachers should delay making student scores visible until after an online exam has ended, to prevent students from looking at their scores and giving feedback to other students who haven’t finished yet. Furthermore, instructors should encourage students to take each quiz seriously and stick it out even when it gets tough, helping to create an environment of academic integrity while discouraging cheating. Finally, instructors must outline in the syllabus the importance of academic integrity as well as penalties associated with cheating, in order to have an effectful psychological effect on students that deters cheating behaviour.
4. Restrict Going Backward or Skipping Forward
Online exams provide an effective means of assessing student learning; however, cheating remains a risk. Traditional exams feature proctors to oversee and monitor students taking an honest test; unfortunately, this cannot happen with online exams as there’s no one present to supervise it; nevertheless it is still possible to prevent cheating by employing some effective strategies.
Screen mirroring/sharing is one of the most frequently employed tactics used by candidates attempting to cheat in online exams. This technique involves using an external projector to mirror a candidate’s computer screen onto another monitor, which then allows their friend to access questions on this monitor and provide their answers back to them directly.
Instructors can counter this method by creating exams with only one question at a time and restricting backwards or forward movement during an exam, making it more difficult for students to share or receive help from each other, as well as opening new windows while taking it. This will make copy and pasting into other windows difficult due to time restrictions during an exam session.
Instructors can create exams that require students to answer orally rather than via typing, in order to discourage cheating. Furthermore, instructors may choose to set an exam that automatically closes when students open new windows; students will be alerted of its closing and must restart it as a result.
Students attempting to cheat during online exams often resort to various techniques for doing so, including unscheduled restroom breaks, pretending there is an internet connectivity issue and disabling webcams to cover up additional hardware devices. Students have become more creative in their attempts to manipulate tests and exams conducted online.
As online education continues to increase, educators must implement measures to prevent cheating during online tests and exams. Proctoring software that monitors suspicious activity and provides an airtight system against cheating should also be put into place; additionally, questions that require analysis, synthesis and evaluation will make it harder for students to ask a friend or Google the answer directly.