Proctoring exams is the most effective way to prevent cheating on exams, whether the exams are part of a face to face or an online program. This is the conclusion according to the summary of a meta-study on cheating featured in an article, Proctor or Gamble, in today’s issue of Inside Higher Education.
Not surprisingly, the issue can be a more significant issue in online courses that rely solely or primarily on the results of multiple choice exams to determine the grade earned by a student. This study confirms what many who teach online already knew: multiple choice/true-false exams should not be a significant portion of the overall grade for an online course. Those items should be used for self-study and self-tests, but not to determine the course grade. Teaching online requires re-assessing how to assess. Business as usual is not as effective.
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