How To Prevent Cheating Online Exams
Cheating in online exams can taint results and provide a flawed assessment of students. Therefore, educators need to be cognizant of all of the creative ways students find to cheat during examinations.
One common method of cheating is impersonation, which can be achieved using software designed specifically to simulate identity matching services.
1. Limit the number of questions
Online exams provide instructors with a convenient means of assessing student learning and providing feedback, but cheating is more prevalent than many may realize. Cheating can be hard to detect, with students using smartphones to look up information while taking an exam. While cheating cannot always be prevented entirely, faculty can take measures to limit it during online assessments.
Limiting the number of questions on an online exam can help deter students from cheating by making it more challenging to copy from another student’s screen or compare notes with another. Furthermore, using different question types – rather than only multiple choice or true/false questions – will encourage more honest answers from your students as opposed to repetitive responses to multiple choice or true/false ones. Open-ended questions require them to write more thoughtful responses specific to their understanding of material rather than giving verbatim responses from everyone in class.
Limiting access to past questions on an exam can also help decrease cheating; setting your quiz so it only displays one question at a time can prevent backtracking and aid cheaters in accessing them.
Voice detection software that listens for keywords like “Hey Siri” or “OK Google” and alerts a remote proctor in real-time can provide an additional layer of protection during online assessments. When combined with browser locks to restrict access to other websites as well as disable keyboard shortcuts and mouse functions that might enable students to cheat during assessments, it provides even greater effectiveness. Finally, ask students to sign an academic integrity contract outlining your institution’s policy on cheating as well as its repercussions.
2. Limit the time allotted for each question
Cheating on online exams has long been a source of contention in educational institutions, undermining its credibility and impacting learners’ academic performance and career advancement. Cheating is considered a grave breach of academic integrity and must be discouraged at all costs – increasing online exam security using various digital measures is therefore necessary.
Due to the absence of physical interaction with students, invigilating an online exam can be an arduous task. Students could use several methods for cheating during such exams – from browsing the internet during it to writing answers on blockchain or sharing their screen with someone – as means of cheating against themselves and their peers. To prevent cheating from taking place during tests at colleges and universities can implement several digital safeguards which ensure test validity.
One such method is limiting the time allowed per question; however, this approach may not prove successful due to examinees responding at different rates depending on factors like language experience, personality traits and accommodations. A better way is conducting data forensics analyses on examinees’ responses that will identify suspicious patterns of behavior which might indicate cheating.
An effective way to prevent cheating during online exams is randomizing question selection, making it more difficult for students to copy each other’s answers as there won’t be the same sequence of questions. Furthermore, backtracking features can be disabled so as to keep students from revisiting previous questions.
Educational institutions can require their students to sign an Academic Integrity Contract prior to any exam. This will serve as an incentive to study hard and not resort to cheating; additionally, this contract will remind students of the consequences associated with cheating such as loss of credibility and reputation.
3. Require students to sign an academic integrity contract before the exam
If you want to prevent online cheating and ensure the validity of test scores for your institution, the first step should be making students aware that academic dishonesty will not be tolerated. One effective method of doing this may include including an “Academic Integrity Reminder” video as part of course orientation or including a university-wide academic integrity policy in your syllabus.
These policies must also cover how the university detects and punishes violations, to help avoid gray areas that arise during exams, such as when students claim there was a technical glitch and that their score in LMS platform is inaccurate.
Students familiar with online learning often understand the methods that can be used to cheat during exams, including browsing the internet or using resources during an exam session, opening new tabs or sharing screens with classmates. It is crucial that these actions be discouraged by requiring students to sign an academic integrity contract prior to taking the exam.
Students should also be encouraged to report any instances of academic dishonesty they witness during exams to an ombuds office, which should be available and accessible to them in their school or college. This will ensure all student concerns are handled in a timely and professional manner. It’s also essential that all cheating-related services be highlighted as illegal as this violates both academic integrity and copyright; teaching students about this could reduce instances of illegal cheating services being sought out by students.
4. Randomize the selection of questions
While cheating in online exams cannot be completely prevented, instructors can still make efforts to reduce it as much as possible. One obvious step would be using a proctoring service offering remote invigilation and video monitoring – this ensures only test takers take part in exams without anyone else impersonating them or taking the exam under false pretense.
Instructors can also make exams more difficult for cheating by randomizing question selection and ordering, which will prevent students from finding answers online via search engines such as Google. Furthermore, instructors should disable browser back buttons, prohibit opening new tabs during exams, limit second monitor use and restrict screen sharing to make cheating harder for students.
Finally, it is imperative that students are no longer allowed to backtrack on questions. This feature harkens back to paper testing, making cheating easier as students can revisit answers they have seen previously. You can do this by activating the question subset randomization option under Configure Exam Settings menu.
As part of these measures, instructors should utilize a proctoring tool that verifies the identity of test takers. This can be accomplished by scanning an ID document from each candidate and matching it against their profile; this ensures only authentic test takers attempt to cheat during an online exam – a vital step toward creating a cheat-proof exam environment and maintaining the integrity of online education.
5. Remove the backtracking feature
Cheating is a widespread problem in online education, making detecting cheaters especially challenging during online exams where students use their own devices and the exam isn’t being proctored in person. Unfortunately, many cheaters go undetected; however, with proper tools and strategies it is possible to reduce incidents of cheating during exams online.
Once upon a time, students could cheat by passing notes during an exam or using study guides; today however, technology allows students to cheat in many new ways: Google Docs, text messaging or screen capture can all enable cheating while online sources offer answers they pass off as their own work. Therefore, teachers must remain up-to-date with cheating trends and implement techniques which will deter cheaters.
One key strategy for combatting cheating online exams is ensuring students do not backtrack during an examination session. With the timer set for certain lengths of time, this feature can reduce cheating as students cannot go backward. Furthermore, instructors can use webcam monitoring to make sure students do not look at phones or other devices during an online examination.
Finally, it’s crucial that an online exam limit the number of questions available to students. When students can only answer a limited amount of questions at once, their chances of cheating become greater as cheating becomes harder to do. Furthermore, restricting questions will reduce confusion for any who might need more explanation on a particular one or need clarification of some kind.