5 Ways you can Optimize Integrity during Online Testing

Most college campuses will be gearing up for Final Exams over the next coming weeks so I thought it would be timely to have a discussion about online test integrity.

Online test integrity can be tricky. It's difficult to ensure test integrity when students are testing in an online environment but there are a few things you can do to optimize integrity during online testing.

1. Use of a proctoring service: The first and most obvious solution is to use a proctoring service such as Proctor U and Respondus. These services allow students to be monitored in real-time during the exam. Additionally, many proctoring services also offer services to confirm a student's identity, prevent them from accessing or scrolling away from their browser screen, and storing a recording of each student during the exam.
2. Short answer questions: If possible, create short answer questions for your exam rather than multiple choice questions. Short answer questions limit the possibility of cheating so they are preferable to multiple choice questions. However, they take much longer to grade. Even if you can't have many short answer questions on your exam, try to include at least a few if possible.
3. Use a question pool: Many people, like myself, teach in disciplines where the use of multiple choice questions is required and there may not be an opportunity to use many short answer questions. In that case, the use of a pool of questions would be best. A question pool is a large number of questions that are pooled together and then questions are randomly assigned to different students. For instance, if I intend to have 50 questions on my exam, I might want to have a pool of 100 or even 200 questions. This random assignment of questions helps to minimize the chance that students will receive the same exam.
4. Change the test presentation options: An additional option that most Learning Management Systems are capable of is changing the way test questions are presented to students. Some options you may want to include are to:
   • Randomize questions: This way students receive different questions at different times
   • One at a time questions: Showing only one question at a time minimizes the ability of a student to take a single screen shot of the exam questions or share questions and answers with colleagues.
   • Prevent backtracking: Backtracking is the ability of a student to go back to a previous question and change their answer. Preventing a student from backtracking adds additional security and minimizes the chances of cheating
5. Share an integrity statement: Let's not underestimate the power of a good old fashion promise. Making student agree to adhere to an integrity statement can go a long way. This can be done in a variety of ways. You can include this statement in the instructions of the exam, state it in your course syllabus at the beginning of the semester, or actually draft a formal document that students have to sign. Having students make a promise or agreement to maintain the integrity of a test is a valid option that can be implemented with very little effort.

Are you currently using any of these practices? Are you thinking about trying any this semester? Share your thoughts, experiences and ideas in The Online Educator Facebook Group by clicking the link HERE. Also, as a treat don’t forget to GRAB YOUR FREE GUIDE to the 3 Secrets to Teaching Online Successfully.