10 ways to minimize cheating in online exam- You shall need to notice lately

How inventive students can be when trying to ace an exam can be interesting.

In online exams, cheating behavior seems alluring, whether it takes the form of adopting antiquated techniques like jotting little notes on paper, their palms, or even their legs, or using different apps on their phones to collaborate with their friends.

The apparent risk of cheating that is associated with online exams owing to the lack of human invigilation is one of the main worries of schools and colleges while conducting them. One of the terrible realities of education and exams today is that students devise inventive ways to cheat on tests, whether they are online or offline.

One benefit of administering examinations online is that there are numerous checks and balances in place to prevent cheating. Online tests may be safer and more effective at catching fraud thanks to these checks and balances. Online examinations won't have the same issues with human error that offline exams do.

Ways to prevent cheating during an Online Exam

To avoid cheating, we should know about the ways to prevent cheating in the online exam. Have a look at some of them:

1. Secure Browser

An essential component of the exam is security. The online examination process has a feature that prohibits the browser from opening a new window or tab. Users are not allowed to open any other windows when taking an online exam thanks to secure browser technology. The only window the user can access is the examination window.

There is no way to use the keyboard shortcuts for copy, paste, or screen capture. A flashing alert prompts the candidate to return to the exam window when they attempt to open a new window. The exam is over after three such alerts. This method can also be customized so that the exam ends right away if the candidate tries to start a new window. This method will help to prevent cheating in the online exam.

2. Ask questions that demand more complex reasoning

One of the best ways to prevent cheating in online exams is to create questions that are on the analysis, synthesis, and evaluation levels rather than asking students to react to issues that can be resolved with a quick web search or even by consulting their textbooks. When the questions demand that students explain, analyze, deduce, invent, compose, assess, and honestly demonstrate their mastery of the course material, it will be more difficult to ask a buddy or "Google" the solution.

3. Creatively remind students of the rules for academic integrity

Make a video that explains the requirements for the online test, and review the institution's policy on academic integrity and the sanctions specified in the course syllabus. Students may experience certain psychological effects after seeing and hearing their instructor mention academic integrity just before the start of an exam, which may discourage those who were considering cheating.

4. Avoid going backward

Students must be instructed to concentrate entirely on one question at a time, provide a conclusive response to it, and then move on to the next. By forbidding backtracking, teachers can stop students from wasting time at the conclusion of the exam trying to find the right response, forcing them to respond to the question as accurately as possible based on what they have already learned.

5. Delay score availability

The students' scores and feedback should be made available at a later time after the testing window has ended; do not make the score visible right away. This prevents one student from finishing the test early and giving feedback to other students who haven't finished yet by preventing them from seeing their scores.

6. Use different question types

In order to prevent cheating in the online exam, avoid using only multiple choice or true/false questions on an exam and instead add open-ended questions. For open-ended questions, it is more challenging for students to respond exactly as their classmates did, and they would be obliged to justify their answers with specific details and anecdotes that are particular to their own comprehension of the course materials.

7. Reorder the test questions

The order of the test questions and the order of the answer options for each question should alter for each exam in the test settings. In an effort to take the exam concurrently with their peers and discuss answers, tech-savvy students may try to use screen-sharing tools.

8. Do not copy publisher exam banks verbatim

Although it is useful to have access to the extra test banks that are provided with the course textbooks, students may be able to access those textbooks online, including the solution manuals. Consider modifying the questions with just enough variation that the pupils would not be able to tell that they were asking the same question in a different way. Additionally, you can alter the wording of the answer options.

9. Protect test answers

If students ask to review their exam, just show them the questions they got wrong. This will prevent students from copying and downloading all of the test questions for the following group of students taking your course.

10. One question at a time should be displayed on the screen

Select a test set that only enables one question to appear on the screen at a time to prevent students from scanning through all of the exam questions rapidly, opening numerous tabs to research solutions, or even assigning family members and friends to a particular group of questions.

Teachers may have to approach creating online exams differently than they would in a conventional brick-and-mortar classroom in order to prevent cheating in an online exam, but even so, they can utilize some of the suggestions above to better secure their tests, uphold academic integrity, and assess their students' overall course learning.