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Maintaining academic integrity in high-stakes exams

on Wednesday, 15 January 2025. Posted in Paper based exams

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Discover why pen-and-paper testing is less prone to academic misconduct and how it helps universities to maintain academic integrity in high-stakes exams.

During the pandemic, assessment methods shifted from paper to online delivery as academic institutions moved away from face-to-face, invigilated examinations.

However, universities are increasingly citing academic integrity as a factor in their decision to move back to paper assessments for high-stakes exams.

In this blog, we discuss online assessment, highlight why pen-and-paper is less prone to academic misconduct, and argue paper should be the norm for high-stakes testing.

What is an online exam?

An online exam is an assessment where students record their answers on a computer device with the answers marked online. Online tests are time-restricted or open-book and invigilated with proctoring software or invigilators will use audio/video to observe the exam remotely.

Online exams have several advantages over pen-and-paper assessments. Grading scripts and releasing results is faster while the administrative burden is greatly reduced with cost savings in transportation and logistics. However, the risk of academic misconduct is higher compared to pen-and-paper exams. For example, students could fabricate their answers or plagiarise their work. This can have grave consequences for students with colleges and universities having strict procedures on academic integrity.

Academic integrity in online exams

Universities expect students to follow documented policies on academic misconduct and impose strict penalties on any student caught cheating at university. These academic integrity values include honesty, trust, fairness, respect, responsibility, and courage.

What are the risks of online exams?

Some of the risks associated with online exams and types of academic misconduct include:

Access to unauthorised materials

In non-proctored exams, there is a risk students may use unauthorised resources such as the internet and textbooks. They may also talk to others during the exam or undertake prohibited activities e.g., copy/paste text.

Impersonation

Impersonation is getting another person to sit an examination on your behalf.

Other types of falsification include attending an interview or lecture/seminar and producing assignments for someone else.

Contract cheating is when a student or a third party is paid to complete work on behalf of someone else. For example, when an essay mill is commissioned to write an essay on a topic.

Plagiarism

Academic plagiarism in an online exam is using content from published work in your answer without citing the source. Plagiarism also includes copying text from AI tools.

Collusion

Collusion is collaborating with another student on work that should be submitted individually. This is difficult to detect as students will discuss coursework with their peers while some in further and higher education will use time limits in online exams to reduce the prospect of collusion.

Mitigating the risks

Universities have several tools to maintain academic integrity and safeguard against misconduct in online exams. These include:

Online proctoring

Online proctoring software is used by invigilators to track and monitor students as they sit an exam. The main types of online proctoring are:

  • Recorded proctoring records the exam with a video sent to an invigilator after the exam to review if any academic misconduct is suspected.
  • Automated proctoring monitors students’ behaviour during an exam. It will check ID and record a student’s screen and microphone to detect suspicious activity. If academic malpractice is detected, the footage/evidence is reviewed by a human invigilator either in real-time or at the end of the test.
  • Live proctoring is when an invigilator monitors students in real-time as they sit the test. However, proctored exams can be intrusive with concerns raised about privacy. These tools have generated false positives and flagged innocent behaviour as cheating, leading to concerns about accuracy while creating stress and anxiety for students.

And even with the best proctoring, without being in the room with the candidate, it is impossible to know what is going on outside of the field of view of the camera.

Randomisation

Many academic institutions use technology to present exams questions to students in random order. This reduces the risk of student misconduct and academic cheating as each student answers a different question set. This can cause additional challenges though, when it comes to the standardisation of test results.

Original writing

Universities expect students to produce original work and use software to detect plagiarism, check for AI-generated text, and compare assignments against content provided by essay mills.

However, these tools are not infallible and often produce false positives and flag original content. For instance, in the PLOS One Journal, it was reported that 94% of secret AI-written submissions went undetected at a reputable UK university.

Assessment design

By designing exam questions and assessments based on current course content, universities can reduce impersonation and academic misconduct.

These are some of the tools and techniques available to counteract the risks associated with online examinations, but each has its limitations. For example, students can cheat by blocking exam proctoring/secure browser software. Once blocked, students can communicate with others to obtain answers or use materials without permission.

Consequently, the concerns over academic integrity have led many universities to move back to paper exams, especially for multiple choice questions (MCQ) and short-answer exams as cheating in these exams is harder to detect online.

Maintain academic integrity with paper exams

Universities want to support students and preserve academic integrity.

Paper exams, held within a controlled examination room, minimise the risk of academic cheating and are less prone to academic misconduct as students sit the exams in tightly controlled environments with in-person invigilation and seating arrangements.

Benefits of paper exams vs online assessments

In addition to maintaining academic integrity, automating paper exams with distributed scanning provides a quick turnaround of results, significant savings in logistics and scanning costs, and enhanced security.

For instance, one of the commonly cited benefits of online exams over paper is that results are issued quicker as scripts are not transported for marking.

With distributed scanning, universities can accelerate the marking cycle and publish results faster with MCQs and short-written responses automatically marked and exported to awarding systems or standard file formats. At the same, you can export response areas for essay-style questions to OSM systems for electronic marking.

Crucially, this approach is perfect for awarding bodies that do not currently have the necessary infrastructure to support computer-based assessment for large cohorts, allowing them to set their own timeline for moving exams on-screen.

Conclusion

Online exams present unique challenges to academic integrity. The lack of human invigilation, uncontrolled environments, and the availability of technology provide students with an opportunity to cheat and engage in academic dishonesty.

In our view, paper will remain the norm for high-stakes exams for the foreseeable future with automated marking and distributed scanning solutions negating the benefits of online assessments by promoting academic integrity, accelerating the marking cycle, and delivering fairer assessments for all.

Are you currently considering moving back to paper exams? Call us on 03300 100 000 or complete this form to discuss your requirements.