Do Human Proctors Reduce Cheating in Open Book Online Exams: A Field Experiment?
Abstract
As online course offerings become increasingly more common in institutions of higher learning, instructors are rapidly shifting from paper and pencil assessments to online assessments. Online assessments offer several key advantages, including reduced administrative costs, ability to use a wider variety of multimedia resources, and faster analysis of results.However, online assessments create a challenge due to the potential for academic dishonesty, which may discourage instructors from implementing them. Although anecdotal evidence supports the notion that cheating is pervasive in online exams, the existing literature on cheating has focused mostly on exams conducted in a classroom than in an online setting.
This paper analyzes potential cheating behavior in online exams using experimental data. We conducted randomized controlled trials to estimate these effects in large enrollment Microeconomic Principles courses at a U.S. public university. Students took multiple open-book online exams during the course; however, only one (determined randomly) was proctored.
Our analysis investigates the effect of proctoring in online exams by the type of class (face-to-face vs. fully online course), by level of achievement, and by gender. We explore explanations for the differentials in performance and how the use of technological innovations in proctoring can mitigate academic dishonesty.