Article

A Study of Grade Equivalency between Proctored and Unproctored Exams in Distance Education

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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to empirically examine the grade distributions of proctored and unproctored exams in an online learning environment. The authors statistically compared exam scores and time to complete exams for proctored and unproctored exams in two online courses. Student data were collected from an online section of introductory financial accounting and an online section of introductory managerial accounting. The findings suggest that proctored and unproctored exams are not equivalent. Accordingly, instructors should approach online testing thoughtfully if the intention is to maintain grade equivalency with traditional proctored examinations. These results have implications related to a range of topics including online pedagogy, online course design, grade inflation, and online grade equivalency.

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... Various precautions may be taken to prevent cheating behavior in online learning environments. The most commonly used techniques are proctoring software (Lee & Fanguy, 2022;Nigam et al., 2021), biometric controls (Noorbehbahani et al., 2022;Traoré et al., 2017;Vegendla & Sindre, 2019), shuffling questions and choices (Tripathi et al., 2022), random drawing (Goedl & Malla, 2020;Thelwall, 2000), and sequencing (Chirumamilla et al., 2020). ...
... On the other hand, there have been studies that contradict these findings. The flexible conditions of proctored exams, including having the learning materials at hand and collaborating with peers, have resulted in higher exam scores and longer exam completion times when compared with unproctored environments (Alessio et al., 2018;Daffin & Jones, 2018;Goedl & Malla, 2020). In addition to academic dishonesty issues, most of these online proctoring software programs have used biometric data, which brings with it some ethical problems. ...
... In studies that have reviewed and determined trends in the field, assessment is a key topic (Alin et al., 2022;Bolliger & Martin, 2021;Gurcan, et al., 2021). When comparing assessment in traditional and online learning environments, much higher scores have been obtained in online environments compared to exams conducted in face-to-face environments (Alessio et al., 2018;Daffin & Jones, 2018;Goedl & Malla, 2020). ...
Article
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One of the biggest challenges for online learning is upholding academic integrity in online assessments. In particular, institutions and faculties attach importance to exam security and academic dishonesty in the online learning process. The aim of this study was to compare the test-taking behaviors and academic achievements of students in proctored and unproctored online exam environments. The log records of students in proctored and unproctored online exam environments were compared using visualization and log analysis methods. The results showed that while a significant difference was found between time spent on the first question on the exam, total time spent on the exam, and the mean and median times spent on each question, there was no significant difference between the exam scores of students in proctored and unproctored groups. In other words, it has been observed that reliable exams can be conducted without the need for proctoring through an appropriate assessment design (e.g., using multiple low-stake formative exams instead of a single high-stake summative exam). The results will guide instructors in designing assessments for their online courses. It is also expected to help researchers in how exam logs can be analyzed and in extracting insights regarding students' exam-taking behaviors from the logs.
... When researchers compared the scores that students obtain from online unproctored exams against online proctored or in-person exams, the results were somewhat equivocal. Some studies have shown no difference (8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13), whereas others have shown that students score higher on unproctored online exams than either exams given in-person (14,15) or online with proctoring (16)(17)(18), and the unproctored online exam "advantage" varied from just a few percentages (14,15,(18)(19)(20) to nearly 20% (16,21,22). Moreover, students tend to spend longer to complete online exams when they are not proctored (17,20). ...
... These negative qualities of online proctoring might suppress students' test scores. Further, students spending longer on online exams when unproctored does not necessarily indicate cheating (e.g., finding answers in an illicit manner); rather, test takers might simply be more likely to take breaks or to allow household intrusions to occur during an unproctored exam (22,31,32). Aside from the controversies surrounding online proctoring and its associated, perhaps prohibitive, financial cost to colleges and universities (33)(34)(35)(36)(37), existing data have not provided decisive evidence that cheating is a problem that seriously compromises online exams as a form of assessment at a broad level (38,39). ...
Article
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COVID-19 has vastly expanded the online delivery of higher education. A key question is whether unproctored online exams can accurately assess student learning. To answer this question, we analyzed data from nearly 2,000 students across a wide variety of courses in the Spring 2020 semester, during which the same students had taken both invigilated in-person exams and unproctored online exams. We found that the scores that students obtained during the online exams were highly correlated with their in-person exams. This finding shows that online exams, even when unproctored, can provide a valid and reliable assessment of learning.
... The authors concluded that online higher-education courses could be enhanced by requiring proctored examinations and recommended that un-proctored examinations be used on a more limited basis and for low-stakes purposes. Similar conclusions were drawn from a recent study conducted by Goedl and Malla [18], who examined differences in the grades that students achieved in proctored and completely un-proctored examinations. The authors found a statistically significant difference of 13.7%, to the advantage of students in un-proctored testing environments. ...
... In a similar study, Carstairs and Myors [6] examined the performance of undergraduate students, comparing the results of a cognitive achievement test across proctored and un-proctored conditions. The results were similar to that of Prince et al. [32] and Goedl and Malla's [18] results, in that score inflation was present in un-proctored tests, while candidates taking the proctored test scored statistically significantly lower. The authors advised that based on this evidence, proctored and un-proctored cognitive tests should not be deemed as equivalent in high-stakes situations. ...
Article
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The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic brought with it the closure of many bricks-and-mortar testing centres and a concomitant move to the remote (online) proctoring of many credentialing exams that were scheduled to take place throughout 2020. In effect, this meant changing from a standardized to a non-standardized administration of tests given that candidates could take tests at home using personal desktop or laptop devices. This in turn begs the question: do outcomes across tests taken in testing centres and via live remote proctoring differ? Due to the relative novelty of remote proctoring, research addressing this question is currently thin on the ground, thus justifying the research described in this paper. The study uses data from eleven professional licensure examinations taken by 14,097 candidates across four US States to compare outcomes for tests proctored either in test centres or remotely in real-time using live remote proctoring (LRP) software. Candidate outcomes were compared using average percent correct and passing rates. Test psychometric properties were compared using KR-20 reliability, decision consistency (Subkoviak's c), item difficulty, item discrimination and time taken to complete tests. At the individual test level, while some statistically significant differences were observed in outcomes across the two proctoring modes, most effect sizes were small. Overall, with the exception of some observable differences in metrics pertaining to item discrimination and timing, no detectable pattern was observed in favour of either mode. The study is significant in that it provides early evidence supporting the use of LRP in high stakes contexts.
... The SoTL concept inventories, however, cannot in themselves account for all contextual factors that may impact concept inventory scores. For example, there are numerous ways to cheat (Hearne Moore et al., 2017), and the potential for cheating is noteworthy in the context of online presentations of major exams with limited proctoring (Alessio et al., 2017;Goedl & Malla, 2020;Vazquez et al., 2021). The rest of this article addresses the monitoring of academic integrity of students at a large, research university. ...
... In line with this, better outcomes (less time use and lower scores on par with inperson tests) were found when online proctoring was used in an undergraduate health science course (Alessio et al., 2017). Unproctored online exams may not automatically result in excessive cheating with well-designed assessments, though previous research has shown higher scores for unproctored online exams compared with typical tests (Alessio et al., 2017;Goedl & Malla, 2020;Vazquez et al., 2021). ...
Article
The COVID-19 pandemic shifted kinesiology courses into more hybrid and online delivery, creating new challenges and opportunities for evaluating learning and online testing. Research using the Biomechanics Concept Inventory indicates that both high-tech and low-tech active learning experiences implemented in hybrid and online formats in biomechanics courses improve student learning above levels for lecture alone. However, online pre- and posttesting using concept inventories or major exams are vulnerable to cheating. Experience and research on proctoring online testing indicate only partial success in detecting cheating absent substantial faculty commitment to investigate suspicious behavior. These difficulties with online testing provide an opportunity for kinesiology faculty to implement more authentic, holistic assessments that are less vulnerable to violations of academic integrity. The importance of well-designed, rigorous assessment methods that uphold academic integrity standards will continue to evolve as kinesiology departments expand online learning.
... Similar results were found in Alessio et al. (2018) and Alessio and Messinger (2021), with lower exam performance and shorter exam time with proctoring, as well as increased compliance with academic integrity. Goedl and Malla (2020) found unequal grade distributions in proctored and un-proctored exams and advised caution in using them to maintain grade equivalency. Baso (2022) reported lower scores in the proctored online system and found no influence of class or gender on performance. ...
Article
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Purpose To improve the academic integrity of online examinations, digital proctoring systems have recently been implemented in higher education institutions (HEIs). The paper aims to understand how digital proctoring has been practised in higher education (HE) and proposes future research directions for studying digital proctoring in HE. Design/methodology/approach A systematic literature review was conducted. The PRISMA procedure was adapted for the literature search. The topics were identified by topic modelling techniques from 154 relevant publications in seven databases. Findings Seven widely discussed topics in literature were identified, including solutions for detecting cheating and student authentication, challenges/issues of uptakes and students' performance in different proctoring environments. Research limitations/implications This paper provides insights for academics, policymakers, practitioners and students to understand the implementation of digital proctoring in academia, its adoption by HEIs, impacts on students' and educators' performance and the rapid increase in its use for digital exams in HEIs, with particular emphasis on the impacts of the systems on digitalising examinations in HE. Originality/value This review paper has systematically and critically described the state-of-the-art literature on digital proctoring in HE and provides useful insights and implications for future research on digital proctoring, and how academic integrity in online examinations can be enhanced, along with digitalising HE.
... Thankfully, new content is continually emerging such as the Open Learning Initiative (OLI; Carnegie Mellon University, 2023), but we have yet to establish via direct comparison whether these scenario-based online exercises can also be used as a reliable source of final grade data in statistics courses (in the Psychology discipline in particular). In a recent study, Goedl and Malla (2020) call for researchers to pay attention to the design of digital non-proctored testing, such that grade equivalency can still be established with traditional invigilated exams. If successful, it would provide advantages for; 1) psychology statistics instructors, due to automated marking rather than time-consuming assessment of written responses; 2) psychology faculties, via reduced invigilation and administration costs, and; 3) psychology students, in reducing their anxiety toward being tested on mathematical-style course content in their otherwise heavily social sciences field. ...
... Student Performance Under Proctoring Several studies [8,9,11,25] have found that student performance was significantly better on unproctored remote exams than on remotely proctored ones. Seife and Stockton [25] further find that scores on remotely proctored exams are more closely correlated with predictive attributes of student performance, such as their ratings of human capital, which measures their general ability level. ...
Preprint
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The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic changed the landscape of education and led to increased usage of remote proctoring tools that are designed to monitor students when they take assessments outside the classroom. While prior work has explored students' privacy and security concerns regarding online proctoring tools, the perspective of educators is under explored. Notably, educators are the decision makers in the classrooms and choose which remote proctoring services and the level of observations they deem appropriate. To explore how educators balance the security and privacy of their students with the requirements of remote exams, we sent survey requests to over 3,400 instructors at a large private university that taught online classes during the 2020/21 academic year. We had n=125 responses: 21% of the educators surveyed used online exam proctoring services during the remote learning period, and of those, 35% plan to continue using the tools even when there is a full return to in-person learning. Educators who use exam proctoring services are often comfortable with their monitoring capabilities. However, educators are concerned about students sharing certain types of information with exam proctoring companies, particularly when proctoring services collect identifiable information to validate students' identities. Our results suggest that many educators developed alternative assessments that did not require online proctoring and that those who did use online proctoring services often considered the tradeoffs between the potential risks to student privacy and the utility or necessity of exam proctoring services.
... 24,25 Far more common are observational studies of two groups and administering comparable or identical exams and testing for differences in the overall exam performance. Although some investigations report psychometric properties of the exams, 26,27 use more advanced statistical methods, 28−30 or report aspects of test-taking behavior, such as time to complete the test, 19,20,31 most studies simply compare the overall score on the exam or the grade in the class. ...
... Some research has shown little difference between non-proctored and proctored online exam scores (Hylton et al., 2016), proctored in person and proctored remote exam scores (Lewis, 2020;Stack, 2015), and in person proctored and online non-proctored exam scores (Hollister & Berenson, 2009). Recent research focusing exclusively on online environments has demonstrated a decrease in test scores when online exams are not proctored compared to those that are remotely proctored, which might suggest to some that cheating is occurring in non-proctored testing environments (Goedl & Malla, 2020;Reisenwitz, 2020). It is also important to note that this research relies almost exclusively on the comparison of scores between tests that were in education completed through online remote proctoring and those that relied upon another mode. ...
Article
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As COVID-19 spread in early 2020, a lockdown was implemented across Canadian provinces andterritories, resulting in the shuttering of physical post-secondary campuses. Universities quicklypivoted to remote learning, and faculty members adjusted their instructional and assessmentapproaches to align with virtual environments. Presumably to aid with this process, a number ofinstitutions acquired licenses to remote online proctoring services. This paper examines theresearch around online remote proctoring, examining the justification offered for the adoption ofonline remote proctoring, and contemporary research on assessment practices in higher education.Throughout the paper, I demonstrate a lack of research that speaks to the efficacy of this mode ofassessment while also acknowledging shifts in the testing environment, and an increase in studentanxiety. I argue that online remote proctoring is not only embedded within neoliberalism and auditculture, but supports a continued reliance on testing culture. It concludes with a discussion ofassessment culture, offering some alternative assessment approaches that might disrupt the veryneed for online remote proctoring. Keywords: Online remote proctoring, assessment, testing
... We aim to fill that gap. Although moral assessments can be informed by empirical data about online and in-person proctoringsuch as data about test-taker behavior (Rios & Liu, 2017) and grade comparisons (Goedl & Malla, 2020)-moral assessments depend crucially on philosophical analysis. In the following ethical analysis, we identify and critically explore the key notions of academic integrity, fairness, non-maleficence, transparency, privacy, autonomy, liberty, and trust as they apply to OP technologies. ...
Article
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Online exam supervision technologies have recently generated significant controversy and concern. Their use is now booming due to growing demand for online courses and for off-campus assessment options amid COVID-19 lockdowns. Online proctoring technologies purport to effectively oversee students sitting online exams by using artificial intelligence (AI) systems supplemented by human invigilators. Such technologies have alarmed some students who see them as a “Big Brother-like” threat to liberty and privacy, and as potentially unfair and discriminatory. However, some universities and educators defend their judicious use. Critical ethical appraisal of online proctoring technologies is overdue. This essay provides one of the first sustained moral philosophical analyses of these technologies, focusing on ethical notions of academic integrity, fairness, non-maleficence, transparency, privacy, autonomy, liberty, and trust. Most of these concepts are prominent in the new field of AI ethics, and all are relevant to education. The essay discusses these ethical issues. It also offers suggestions for educational institutions and educators interested in the technologies about the kinds of inquiries they need to make and the governance and review processes they might need to adopt to justify and remain accountable for using online proctoring technologies. The rapid and contentious rise of proctoring software provides a fruitful ethical case study of how AI is infiltrating all areas of life. The social impacts and moral consequences of this digital technology warrant ongoing scrutiny and study.
... They conclude by emphasizing the importance of using proctoring to combat academic dishonesty (Alessio et al., 2017). According to Goedl & Malla (2020), the average grades of students on unsupervised online exams are statistically higher than on proctored online exams, so the two types of exam are not equivalent. ...
Conference Paper
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The Covid-19 pandemic forced universities to convert their traditional face-to-face exams to online exams with doubts as to whether student cheating or technical difficulties would affect their final grades. After taking three of these exams online, we considered comparing their grades with those of previous years on traditional exams. The average mark of the traditional exams before the pandemic was 6.95 over 10, while the average mark of the three exams carried out in the Covid-19 era is 6.64. The student's t test indicated that there are no significant differences between the two types of exams in the mean (p = 0.408), the median (p = 0.378), the range (p = 0.307), the minimum (p = 0.410) and the maximum (p = 0.072). Taking online exams did not modify the exam grades compared to previous years. There is a lot of variability in similar studies in the literature due to cheating that can be performed in online exams. A proctoring system, good question design, and limited exam time can minimize these differences.
... Goedl and Malla also found that student performance was significantly greater without online proctoring. However, like Hylton et al., they found students consistently took less time to complete their exams when proctored [8]. In these studies, it is unclear whether the differences in completion time and performance were due to (1) the online proctoring acting as a deterrent to curb cheating that would otherwise result in higher test scores or (2) a psychological effect of the presence of the remote monitoring. ...
Preprint
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In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, educational institutions quickly transitioned to remote learning. The problem of how to perform student assessment in an online environment has become increasingly relevant, leading many institutions and educators to turn to online proctoring services to administer remote exams. These services employ various student monitoring methods to curb cheating, including restricted ("lockdown") browser modes, video/screen monitoring, local network traffic analysis, and eye tracking. In this paper, we explore the security and privacy perceptions of the student test-takers being proctored. We analyze user reviews of proctoring services' browser extensions and subsequently perform an online survey (n=102). Our findings indicate that participants are concerned about both the amount and the personal nature of the information shared with the exam proctoring companies. However, many participants also recognize a trade-off between pandemic safety concerns and the arguably invasive means by which proctoring services ensure exam integrity. Our findings also suggest that institutional power dynamics and students' trust in their institutions may dissuade students' opposition to remote proctoring.
... Swauger [2020]). Although moral assessments can be informed by empirical data about online and in-person proctoring -such as data about test-taker behavior [Rios and Liu, 2017] and grade comparisons [Goedl and Malla, 2020] -moral assessments depend crucially on philosophical analysis. In the following ethical analysis, we identify and critically explore the key moral values of academic integrity, fairness, non-maleficence, transparency, privacy, autonomy, liberty, and trust as they apply to OP technologies. ...
Preprint
Full-text available
This article philosophically analyzes online exam supervision technologies, which have been thrust into the public spotlight due to campus lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic and the growing demand for online courses. Online exam proctoring technologies purport to provide effective oversight of students sitting online exams, using artificial intelligence (AI) systems and human invigilators to supplement and review those systems. Such technologies have alarmed some students who see them as `Big Brother-like', yet some universities defend their judicious use. Critical ethical appraisal of online proctoring technologies is overdue. This article philosophically analyzes these technologies, focusing on the ethical concepts of academic integrity, fairness, non-maleficence, transparency, privacy, respect for autonomy, liberty, and trust. Most of these concepts are prominent in the new field of AI ethics and all are relevant to the education context. The essay provides ethical considerations that educational institutions will need to carefully review before electing to deploy and govern specific online proctoring technologies.
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The COVID-19 pandemic has forced extreme changes in educational practices around the world. Many universities and schools have offered their educational curricula and activities completely via online learning. That is why universities and educational institutions have practiced conducting tests remotely to preserve the safety of their students. Meanwhile, these universities and educational institutions faced the challenge of evaluating the integrity of the remote tests. These institutions have sought, through a number of practices, to verify the identity of students and the reliability of their test performance by using a number of means to ensure that the exams are conducted without fraud. One of those means is the use of the artificial intelligence technology applied by the Saudi Electronic University, represented by AI proctor to monitor tests remotely. This study aims to investigate the advantages of using this technology as well as the challenges that faced its implication from the viewpoint of the examination supervisors at the Saudi Electronic University. The study revealed a number of advantages and challenges. The study made a number of recommendations. Keywords: Distance education, e-learning, COVID-19; E-exam; Distance exams.
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p class="3">Traditional and online university courses share expectations for quality content and rigor. Student and faculty concerns about compromised academic integrity and actual instances of academic dishonesty in assessments, especially with online testing, are increasingly troublesome. Recent research suggests that in the absence of proctoring, the time taken to complete an exam increases significantly and online test results are inflated. This study uses a randomized design in seven sections of an online course to examine test scores from 97 students and time taken to complete online tests with and without proctoring software, controlling for exam difficulty, course design, instructor effects, and student majors. Results from fixed effects estimated from a fitted statistical model showed a significant advantage in quiz performance (7-9 points on a 100 point quiz) when students were not proctored, with all other variables statistically accounted for. Larger grade disparities and longer testing times were observed on the most difficult quizzes, and with factors that reflected the perception of high stakes of the quiz grades. Overall, use of proctoring software resulted in lower quiz scores, shorter quiz taking times, and less variation in quiz performance across exams, implying greater compliance with academic integrity compared with when quizzes were taken without proctoring software.</p
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The authors studied the testing pattern grades in four e-campus courses at Troy University with 76 graduate students. In their research, the authors found significant differences in average test grade scores between tests taken electronically without a proctor as compared to those administered using a live or a remote proctor overall. To control for differences among courses, a statistical test was solely conducted on the courses which had the same instructor, same text, and similar tests with comparable results; students scored significantly lower on proctored exams versus non-proctored exams. To enhance the quality of courses in the online environment, the researchers recommend several “best practices” pedagogical strategies based on their findings and an extensive literature review.
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Purpose We sought to provide empirical insight and develop theory for a new organizational phenomenon: remote proctoring for Internet-based tests. We examined whether this technology is effective at decreasing cheating and whether it has unintended effects on test-taker reactions, performance, or selection procedures. Design/methodology/approach Participants (582) were randomly assigned to a webcam proctored or honor code condition and completed two (one searchable, one non-searchable) cognitive ability tests online. Complete data were collected from 295 participants. We indirectly determined levels of cheating by examining the pattern of test-score differences across the two conditions. We directly measured dropout rates, test performance, and participants’ perceived tension and invasion of privacy. Findings The use of remote proctoring was associated with more negative test-taker reactions and decreased cheating. Remote proctoring did not directly affect test performance or interact with individual differences to predict test performance or test-taker reactions. Implications Technological advances in selection should be accompanied by empirical evidence. Although remote proctoring may be effective at decreasing cheating, it may also have unintended effects on test-taker reactions. By outlining an initial classification of remote proctoring technology, we contribute to the theoretical understanding of technology-enhanced assessment, while providing timely insight into the practice of Internet-based testing. Originality/value We provide timely insight into the development and evaluation of remotely proctored tests. The current study utilizes a unique randomized experimental design in order to indirectly determine levels of cheating across two conditions. Following the results of the current study, we outline an integrative model for future research on remotely proctored tests.
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A meta-analysis of the comparative distance education (DE) literature between 1985 and 2002 was conducted. In total, 232 studies containing 599 independent achievement, attitude, and retention outcomes were analyzed. Overall results indicated effect sizes of essentially zero on all three measures and wide variability. This suggests that many applications of DE outperform their classroom counterparts and many applications perform more poorly. Dividing achievement outcomes into synchronous and asynchronous forms of DE produced a somewhat different impression. In general, mean achievement effect sizes for synchronous applications favored classroom instruction while for asynchronous applications they favored DE. However, significant heterogeneity remained in each subset. Three clusters of study features—research methodology, pedagogy, and media—entered into weighted multiple regression, revealed, in general, that methodology accounted for the most variation followed by pedagogy and media, suggesting that Clark's (1983, 1994) claims of the importance of pedagogy over media are essentially correct. We go on to suggest that researchers move beyond simple comparisons between DE and classroom instruction to more pressing and productive lines of inquiry that may contribute more to our knowledge of what works best in DE.
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In this study, the authors use data from two online courses in principles of economics to estimate a model that predicts exam scores from independent variables of student characteristics. In one course, the final exam was proctored, and in the other course, the final exam was not proctored. In both courses, the first three exams were unproctored. If no cheating took place, the authors expected the prediction model to have the same explanatory power for all exams, and, conversely, if cheating occurred in the unproctored exam, the explanatory power would be lower. Their findings are that both across and within class, variations in the R-squared statistic suggest that cheating was taking place when the exams were not proctored.
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As online education becomes a more popular and permanent option for obtaining an education after high school, it also raises questions as to the academic rigor of such classes and the academic integrity of the students taking the classes. The purpose of the current study is to explore the integrity issue and to investigate student performance on online examinations. Utilizing a sample of about 1,700 students who took online psychology classes of varying difficulty at Washington State University from spring 2015 to spring 2016, we found that students performed 10–20% better and took about twice as long on non-proctored versus proctored exams. The effect held when we compared our in-house proctoring service used during this time against ProctorU, used for one semester in fall 2012. To ensure the most robust design possible, we also rotated the proctored exam in each class at least once and then compared performance on an exam when it was proctored versus when the same exam was non-proctored. Results showed better performance when the exam was non-proctored than when it was proctored. Finally, since instructors changed over the four semesters our study ran, we wanted to ensure that the results were not due to differences in teaching style. This potential confounding variable was eliminated. We discuss possible reasons for the difference in performance, to include student academic misconduct, and offer suggestions for ensuring we have both academic rigor and integrity in online courses.
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Deception and dishonesty in online exams are believed to link to their unmonitored nature where users appear to have the opportunity to collaborate or utilize unauthorized resources during these assessments. The primary goal of this study was to investigate the deterrent effect of Webcam-based proctoring on misconduct during online exams. This study involved an experimental design in comparing an experimental group and a control group. Both groups attended the same course, used the same e-learning system, with the same instructor, and took the same set of online exams. One group was monitored by a Web-based proctor while the other was not monitored. The results indicated no statistically significant difference between the scores of the two groups, although the non-proctored group had slightly higher scores. There was a statistically significant difference found on the time taken to complete the online exams where the proctored group used significantly less time to complete their exams. The results of a post-experiment survey indicated that those who were not proctored perceived to have experienced greater levels of opportunity to engage in misconduct than those who were monitored by a Web-based proctor.
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Online course offerings are one of the most effective and efficient delivery methods for contents and skills globally. However, the level of trust in online courses is very low, particularly in respect to the credibility of online assessments. Simply, if the trust in online assessment can be equated to the level of the classroom assessment environment, trust in online courses will increase accordingly. To investigate and strengthen the trust of online assessment, the researchers have incorporated a simple and obvious solution: proctoring the tests portion of the online courses and comparing with non-proctored exams. In this study, 11 proctored exams against 22 identical non-proctored exams. In 19 out of 22 cases, the class average on the non-proctored exam was higher than the class average on the corresponding proctored exam; the difference was statistically significant at the 95 percent trust level in 15 cases. Findings indicate that proctoring seems to be an effective common sense approach and in turn potentially strengthening the trust in online courses and distance education.
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With the assistance of the Internet and related technologies, students today have many more ways to be academically dishonest than students a generation ago. With more and more Internet based course offerings, the concern is whether cheating will increase as students work and take tests away from the eyes of instructors. While the research on academic dishonesty in general is quite extensive, there is very limited research on student cheating in online courses. This study of 635 undergraduate and graduate students at a medium sized university focused on student cheating behaviors in both types of classes (on-line and face to face), by examining cheating behavior and perceptions of whether on-line or traditional face-to-face classes experienced greater cheating behaviors. (Contains 6 tables.)