- Exam format – Multiple choice; Exam delivery – Web-based (single-browser), closed book, no outside assistance, timed; Exam access – Candidates can access the exam within the SAFe Community Platform upon completion of the Leading SAFe® course; Exam duration – Once the exam begins, candidates have 90 minutes (1.5 hours) to complete the exam.
- DOWNLOAD SAFE EXAM BROWSER-DOWNLOAD CODEX SOFTWARE-https://codex.online/software-downloads.
People generally assume that online exams encourage cheating. What can you do to prevent cheating and plagiarism on online tests? It seems impossible to completely prevent participants from cheating with all the advanced technology. But we have some tips and tricks that help prevent cheating. They might even make your online tests more cheat-free than paper tests!
How people cheat on online exams
Exam Browser is an application that is used to open a test page so that students cannot open other applications even just for internet surfing that may lead to cheating. In order to use the app.
Usually, participants cheat when taking online tests by searching for answers in other tabs while keeping the test open on the main tab. They can do this by copy-pasting the learning content into a search engine to find the answers [1].
Another way people cheat is with text messages. They can either share the test with other test takers or ask them for the answers. They can send parts of the text, screenshots, or even photos of the test taken with a smartphone camera.
Top 10 tips and tricks to prevent cheating in an online exam
1. Randomize questions
In online exams, the questions often appear in the same sequence. To prevent this, you can randomize your questions.
How does that work in practice? First, you need to add a lot of questions to your online exam. Then, set up your test to select only some of these questions for each test taker. In this way, your participants will get a different selection of questions.
2. Block copy-pasting
Choose an online exam tool that doesn't allow participants to copy-paste text from the page. That will make it harder for them to search for the answer in another tab.
3. Set a timer
You can set a timer for the whole test
Cheating (just like lying) can take some time. When participants are adequately prepared for their exams, they don't need to think for a long time about the right answer. Unprepared (cheating!) exam takers would need more time to finish their exams. A solution is to set a timer. You can set a timer for the whole test or set a timer per question. So hurry up, the clock is ticking! No time for cheating.
4. Problem-solving questions
Problem-solving questions do not rely only on memorizing basic information. They require an understanding of the processes and relationships between them. These answers cannot easily be found in a textbook or on the Internet. You can do this in your exam by using free text questions, for example.
5. Hide the results
Showing answers might be useful for participants, so they know what they did wrong, but it also has a downside. They could pass that information on to others. The best option to prevent this is to hide all the answers (do not show them on the result page of your test).
6. Identity check
Cheating can also happen when a participant asks someone to take the exam for him or her. One solution is to ask several questions to verify the participant's identity before taking the exam.
7. Disable auto-complete
You can disable the auto-complete function in a regular browser, so it does not show the answer someone has typed before (if the participants are using the same devices in different rounds). Here's how to do it in Google Chrome.
Big brother is watching you
8. Online proctoring
With online proctoring, participants are watched by a proctor or supervisor while they take an exam. When you don't have the option to proctor an exam physically, you could use any program with a screen sharing feature. It could be Zoom, Skype, GoToMeeting, or WebEx. This way, you can keep an eye on your participants while they take the test. Big Brother is watching you 😁.
9. Safe Exam Browser
We also recommend using a safe browser. Safe Exam Browser (SEB) [2] is a program that allows teachers, employers, or whoever creates online tests to sleep well at night 😴. It basically disables all other applications, so the participants cannot cheat their way to success. The process of setting it up and get it ready for your participants can be quite a bit challenging, though.
10. Plagiarism checkers
There are many plagiarism checkers [5] online that you can use to scan the text submitted by your participants (if you are using free text questions). This way, you can find out all about their real sources of inspiration😆.
Easy LMS checks off most of the tips
How can I prevent cheating on an online test with Easy LMS?
Out of the ten tips and tricks to prevent cheating, East LMS checks off ✅ most of them. Here's how you can prevent cheating with our online Learning Management System:
- Randomize questions from a question bank.
- Schedule the exam for a specific time frame.
- Set a timer per exam or question.
- Use different question types, including free text questions.
- Hide the answers and results at the end.
- Verify the identity of the participants.
- Block copy-pasting.
Read more about our Exams.
Combine Easy LMS with other tools:
- Safe Exam Browser: make your online exam only available for participants who have downloaded the Safe Exam Browser on their computer.
- Video conferencing tools: combine Easy LMS with any video conferencing tool to view your participants' screens and webcams while taking an online exam.
- Online proctoring tools: hire professional online proctoring services to oversee your exams, such as ProctorU [3] or ProctorExam [4].
- Plagiarism checkers: use a plagiarism checker to help you grade the answers to the free text questions, like Quetext.
Useful resources
Frequently Asked Questions
- How do people cheat when taking an online test?People cheat by searching for the answer to the questions on the Internet or asking others for the answers.
- What are some tips and tricks to prevent cheating on an online exam?Randomize questions, set up a timer, block copy-pasting, use problem-solving questions, hide the correct answers, use a cheat-free browser, and apply online proctoring.
- Can I prevent cheating with Easy LMS?Yes, Easy LMS has many features to prevent online cheating. It can be used in combination with other tools to make your exam even more cheat-proof.
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Cheating… wandering eyes, notes tucked in a sleeve, floating versions of the exam, the covert conversations that start with 'What do I need to know for the test?' At any grade level, cheating is the academic version of good vs bad and, for some, the temptation can be as strong as the red apple in the Garden of Eden.
While teachers over the years have learned to combat these classic forms of cheating, the list above barely scratches the surface of the ways modern students use technology to cheat. Between using smartphones and smartwatches, cameras embedded into smart glasses and other Bond-esque spy gadgets, keeping the playing field honest requires more than a teacher's astute eye. To get a glimpse of the sophistication of modern cheating, check out the story of the Thailand medical students who were caught by their professor.
Luckily, those of us with the good-guy hats also have technology on our side. And while we may not be able to keep up with the latest spy-style cheating gadgets, we can rely on features built into the technology that can help dissolve those wayward temptations.
While you're using Edulastic, incorporate these features to help prevent cheating.
➡️ Timed Assessments
Timed assessments put a limit on how long a student can take to answer an assessment. Limiting how long a student is lingering on an assessment will encourage them to move diligently through the assessment. It can also give students an idea of how long an assignment should take. You also have the option to allow students to save and exit so they can return to the assessment and use the remaining allotted time later. OR you can require that students complete the assignment in one sitting without exiting.
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➡️ Static Password
Put a password in front of your assignment so that you can ensure students who get the password are the only ones who can get in. This is great for when you are working with a room of students in-person and you don't want students who aren't there to begin the assessment, or if you are limiting entry to specific students at a time.
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➡️ Dynamic Password
Prevent unauthorized access to an assessment and protect password security with a dynamic password. When a teacher goes to open an assessment, the password will appear on the teacher's dashboard so it can be shared with the students. Students must have and enter the password within the pre-allotted time in order to access that assessment.
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➡️ Pause
The Pause feature in Edulastic allows a teacher to pause an assessment and block access to the class for a specified amount of time. Pause essentially locks down an assignment until the teacher un-pauses the assessment allowing access once again. This is most often used when an assessment will be taken over a day or more and the teacher doesn't want students to have the unfair advantage of accessing the assignment outside of class time.
Free for Everyone
➡️ Shuffle Questions and/or Answers
Safe Exam Browser Cheat Tool
This feature shuffles the questions on an exam so students will see the same questions on their exam, but not in the same order. The automated form of 'versioning' prevents the 'Hey what did you get for #4?' question and the issue of wandering eyes.
Safe Exam Browser App
Similarly, shuffle answers mixes up the answers for questions such as multiple choice and multiple select. This helps mix up what students are seeing so if someone tells a friend that the answer to MC question #5 is B, that simply might not be the case!
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➡️ Depth of Knowledge
Edulastic allows teachers to ask harder questions. Teachers can create assessments that don't have straightforward recall questions that can easily be googled. Using the Depth of Knowledge (DOK) filter when searching the item bank, a teacher can select question types that require critical thinking and more analytical skills.
Free for Everyone
➡️ Scratchpad
This handy tool is available on every question type. It allows a pop up box for students to show their work, such as in a math a problem, or makes it possible to create an outline for a essay question. Teachers use Scratchpad in a variety of ways to validate the answers given by students.
Free for Everyone. Copied – copy and paste everywhere 1 1 1. Scratchpad is automatically on every assessment question unless you have a premium account and have turned it off.
➡️ The Live Class Board
Using the real time data feature in Edulastic, a teacher can track a student's work during and after an exam. The teacher can see how long each student to took to answer each question and compare it to other members of the class.
Safe Exam Browser Cheat App
Here is a scenario: a teacher administered a test. There were two students who took 9 minutes to answer the assessment, the rest of the class took around 25 minutes. Both students missed the exact same questions and happen to sit next to each other. Using the data on Live Tracking section of the Edulastic dashboard, the teacher has the information to validate suspicions about these two students.
Free for Everyone
➡️ Data and Scores Sharing
A teacher or administrator to choose how much information their students will see once submitting an assignment. When ready to assign, a teacher or admin will set the levels of data. The levels available to a student include:
- no information about scores
- overview of scores only
- scores, the questions, the student's answers
- scores, the questions, the student's answers, and the correct answers
A teacher concerned about cheating, or sharing the assessments from year to year would select a lower level of information such as scores only or no data.
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Safe Exam Browser 3.1
➡️ Kiosk Mode and Safe Exam Browser
Kiosk mode is an app or extension you add to student Chromebooks. It works on most browsers. When activated, it runs a single app on the full screen and restricts access to the browser, toolbar or menus. Kiosk mode ensures the Edulastic student can't exit the assessment on their computer to find answers elsewhere. Schools using Edulastic work with their IT administrators to activate Kiosk Mode.
For Edulastic Premium or Enterprise users on Macs or Windows devices, you also have the ability to set up Safe Exam Browser(SEB) for any given assessment. You'll find this setting in on the Assign Assessment page in the Advanced Options. With SEB activated, students are locked into the screen and can not switch to other windows on their device. Please note, the SEB must be installed in the student's device in order for this setting to work.
Kiosk Mode is Free for Everyone SEB is Premium
Try it out!
So there you have it! Keep in mind, that while these tools will help make cheating more unlikely, we can't guarantee that students can't find a way around them somehow, especially if working or taking assignments or exams from home. Regardless, use any one of these features or a combination of a few to keep away any lingering hopes for cheaters.Sign into your Edulastic account to get moving.