Content Collection

The most effective way to avoid cheating or unethical conduct online is to be proactive. A good baseline is to have every student accept the institutional or course-specific policies.

Including several assignments and continuous assessment will make unethical online behavior unattractive for the student, and analyzing it will make deviations to stand out.

The best preventive countermeasures make cheating impractical and uneconomical. Example of this is an open-book exam.
Cheating prevention recommendations (McAllister and Watkins, 2012)

1. Use extensive calendaring
2. Decrease exam weight
3. Randomize exam questions
4. Discuss academic integrity
5. Allow asynchronous learning
6. Track student submissions
7. Provide prompt feedback

Recommendations (Rogers 2006)

• Password protected exams
• Limit number of attempts to one
• Use different versions of exams
• Deliver questions one at a time
• Limit test time
• Don’t release score until all exams are completed
• Don’t release answers until all exams are completed

Use of technological monitoring solutions can be a good aid but it shouldn’t be the main driver. Technology examples :

• https://www.spyrix.com/
• https://www.examity.com
• https://honorlock.com
• https://proctorio.com/

In case of a suspect the educator can contact the student with the question: Help me in understanding why I have a feeling that you did not do the assignment yourself? Usually asking this twice or three times (when student present) gives you the answer.

In some cases, organizing exams or tests on-campus may also be possible.