One of the first questions I began to hear from instructors when we suddenly and involuntarily ‘went online’ concerned cheating. How do we monitor and deter cheating when we move online? How do we balance the need to ensure the academic integrity of our courses with our obligation to provide access to learning?
First, communicate your expectations for academic honesty with your students before they take your final exam or submit their term paper. Let them know that their mastery of your course material, their learning, matters to you and that you are looking forward to their success. Research shows that being reminded of academic honesty policies can discourage cheating among students. Fostering a "mastery orientation" instead of a "performance orientation" has also been shown to decrease cheating.
If you have assigned a term paper or other written assignment, Blackboard includes TurnItIn, a plagiarism detection feature that can be turned on in Assignments. Consider using this program and allowing students to see their "score" prior to submitting their final paper. Often, students do not realize that something will count as plagiarism, and once the software makes them aware of it they can revise the paper before submitting it.
As we enter finals week, many instructors will be using Proctorio to proctor their online exams. The following list of recommendations will help make the process as smooth as possible during this hectic time.
- Try to avoid a “Same Start Time.” Due to the current volume with COVID-19, a large number of test-takers start the exam at the same time causes strain on the Proctorio servers. This could potentially cause longer wait times and connection errors for test-takers when trying to get into their exam.
Best Practice: Expand your test availability time-frame and encourage your test-takers to use whatever time they feel most comfortable to start. Provide a range of days that the test is available to provide your test-takers flexibility in taking their exam.
- Test-takers during these days of quarantine are using their devices for just about everything. Quick reboots go a long way.
Best Practice: Ask students to make sure all programs are shut down completely, and then give their computer a quick restart or reboot, before they start an exam. This will make for more efficient device functionality.
- Because students are taking final exams at home during the pandemic, it might be a good idea to consider the re-entry options of an exam. Proctorio expects record-breaking numbers to be on the platform and interacting with Support Agents. This could mean that “Re-entry with agent” might not be the fastest way to re-enter if an unexpected disconnect from the exam happens.
Best Practice: Allow students to re-enter the exam without an agent. This will still mark different attempts in the Proctorio Gradebook but will be more efficient for the test-taker to carry on with their exam.
- Remember that right now students are living with family, friends, or in other situations that are not their norm. Students may not have a microphone and camera to ensure the customary level of facial recognition security. Be prepared for these unprecedented test-taking environments when evaluating roomscans.
Best Practice: Roomscans can create access problems for students. Consider not requiring roomscans to aid a more quick and seamless exam start. Audio and video recordings should help in capturing a test-taking environment without the additional steps. Even without a camera and microphone, the software offers service lockdown features that can aid in the prevention of academic dishonesty. Proctorio can record the test taker’s screens, prevent the user from opening a new browser tab, and/or lock access to other applications during the exam.
- If your test-takers have never used Proctorio, they will need to learn how to use the software prior to taking your exam.
Best Practice: Set up a small practice test that is available prior to the Final Exam. Make sure to have the practice test close the day before the Final Exam starts to ensure your test-takers have gone through our system diagnostic checks so they are ready to go for the Final Exam.
- Proctorio includes a built-in signature option for faculty who would like students to sign a declaration of Academic Honesty.
Best Practice: In the absence of audio and video equipment or “Re-entry with agent” to deter cheating, consider having students sign the Academic Honesty Policy. There is some research to suggest that honor codes reduce cheating, especially if you remind students of your expectations of academic integrity before they take your exam.
