5 Ways To Prevent Cheating In Exam

Teachers should always be on the lookout that none of the students cheat in an exam. “Cheating on exams can affect student grades negatively and also jeopardize future job opportunities.”

Unfortunately, online exams have given rise to many new ways of cheating, meaning students are facing multiple charges for academic malpractice on the internet. This article will show you how to prevent students from cheating when taking an online exam. By following these simple tips, you will ensure your exams remain fair and honest.

• Ask Questions that Require High-Level Thinking

Instead of asking students to respond to a question whose answer can be easily found in books or the internet, you can ask your students to analyze the problem itself and then come up with a solution that solves the problem. This approach is known as “problem-based learning.” Students will need to figure out what the problem is, why it exists, what might cause it to occur, and how to solve it. This also encourages them to think about the end goal of solving the problem. If students understand the problem and its context, they can begin thinking about possible solutions.

These solutions may involve brainstorming, working collaboratively, analyzing the problem individually, or drawing diagrams. You can change questions into your language, which would demand higher-level thinking from students and would make it hard for them to cheat each other. Problem-based learning challenges students to think critically and creatively and encourages them to collaborate with others.

Such types of questions prevent students from using exam cheating gadgets like magic calculators and live stream glasses.

• Have a Variety of Different Test Sets

Today every student is technology-savvy. To cheat, they might try to use screen-sharing technologies to complete an exam simultaneously with a classmate to cheat and share answers.

Create different question sets for individual students. This will ensure that even if the students are in the same physical space as each other, they will not be on the same question at the same time. This will prevent them from copying their answers with each other. Students sometimes get anxious because of the nervousness they get from the pressure of scoring well on an exam. Teachers should offer practice tests to them so they can prepare for the final tests and get comfortable with the online exams. 

• Use Varied Question Types

Include as many types of questions in the exam as you can. Now, this has a variety of benefits. This ensures students won’t get bored, and along with that, you get to enhance their creative side. Avoid adding MCQs as much as possible. Multiple choice questions and true/false type questions make it easy for students to copy and cheat on their classmates. The exam paper should include questions that are supposed to be answered both in long and short forms. This will encourage the students to think and elaborate on their answers and will eventually prevent cheating. Ask them to explain why they think that is the answer to a particular question.

• Have a Fixed Time Frame

There should be a fixed, predetermined time frame during which all students start taking an online test. Each student gets the same number of attempts, but the actual time frame depends on when your students started. This way, students who get sick during the week before the test won’t miss out because someone else took it earlier.

Having a restricted time limit to open the test window will limit the time individual students take to give the exam. The concept is very similar to the on-campus examination system. Online exams are by default “Open book” as there is no one to watch or invigilate the students. Having a restricted time limit for your test will ensure that only the students who know the answers can answer the questions correctly.

• One Question at a Time

Choose an exam format that shows one question at a time, not allowing students to see all of the questions before taking the test. This will prevent them from researching answers to questions or sharing information about the questions with others.

If you’re using an online platform like Google Forms, then you should consider creating a quiz instead of a test. Quizzes allow you to create a series of questions that will appear one at a time. Students can answer each question individually, and when they submit their responses, the results will be displayed immediately.

Requiring students to focus solely on each question at a time forces them to think about each question carefully before answering it. If they get stuck on a question, they will not waste time trying to find an answer elsewhere. Instead, they will spend their time thinking about what they should write down to answer the question correctly.

The Final Word

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