Comparing Student Performance on Proctored and Non-Proctored Exams in Online Psychology Courses

Abstract

As online education becomes a more popular and permanent option for obtaining an education after high school, it also raises questions as to the academic rigor of such classes and the academic integrity of the students taking the classes. The purpose of the current study is to explore the integrity issue and to investigate student performance on online examinations. Utilizing a sample of about 1,700 students who took online psychology classes of varying difficulty at Washington State University from spring 2015 to spring 2016, we found that students performed 10-20% better and took about twice as long on non-proctored versus proctored exams. The effect held when we compared our in-house proctoring service used during this time against ProctorU, used for one semester in fall 2012. To ensure the most robust design possible, we also rotated the proctored exam in each class at least once and then compared performance on an exam when it was proctored versus when the same exam was non-proctored. Results showed better performance when the exam was non-proctored than when it was proctored. Finally, since instructors changed over the four semesters our study ran, we wanted to ensure that the results were not due to differences in teaching style. This potential confounding variable was eliminated. We discuss possible reasons for the difference in performance, to include student academic misconduct, and offer suggestions for ensuring we have both academic rigor and integrity in online courses.Online/distance learning has become an increasingly popular method of receiving a higher education, often serving an off-campus population who cannot attend class on campus. The platform allows for flexibility for the student (Stack, 2015), and as Hannay and Newvine (2006) found in a 22-question survey of 217 students taking undergraduate criminal justice courses, 88% of students said they take online classes because classroom course schedules do not always fit into their busy lives, while 20% said the choices of traditional classes are at times

Improving Student Success by Incorporating Instant-Feedback Questions and Increased Proctoring in Online Science and Mathematics Courses

“…This appears to have improved students' learning gains between exams. We suggest that the increased use of proctored assessments, which prevent students from using online resources and other assistance that circumvents authentic problem solving (Alessio et al, 2017;Daffin & Jones, 2018), will promote more self-regulated learning. The fact that students' lower level learning outcomes appear to have been affected less than higher level learning outcomes suggests the greater use of deep or strategic learning strategies as opposed to surface learning strategies (Yonker, 2011).…”

“…As a result, in online courses most instructors have used unproctored assessments. It has been shown in multiple studies that unproctored exams suffer from significant inflation of scores due to students using books or internet-based resources (Alessio et al, 2017;Carstairs & Myors, 2009;Daffin & Jones, 2018;Harmon & Lambrinos, 2008), including studentcollected banks of questions from pre-exam tests (Wachenheim, 2009).…”

A Synopsis of Online Testing Integrity in a General Education Math Course: A Correlational Study

“…Many past studies have used unreliable student self-reporting in qualitative studies to examine the problem (Brown, 2018). A few studies have used quantitative approaches, with some using online test proctoring software (Alessio, Malay, Maurer, Bailer, & Rubin, 2017;Daffin & Jones, 2018).…”

“…The research on the subject was also somewhat contradictory and inconclusive. Some claimed that students cheat less online than in a face-to-face class (Ladyshewsky, 2015), while others indicate there is significantly more cheating in unproctored classes (Alessio, Malay, Maurer, Bailer, & Rubin, 2017;Daffin & Jones, 2018).…”

Organization of taking exams of university students in online format: problems and opportunities

“…The comprehensive online exam was used in the National Dental Exam Board to test knowledge at home with 200 multiple-choice questions and the ability to take the test multiple times to develop formative knowledge [18].…”