PHASE 1 STEP 2 - IDENTIFY PROBLEM AND ANALYSE PROBLEM
TOPIC: Cheating in Online Examinations Among University Students
Gathering Information (Source of Information)
Photo 1: Formal letter of the final exam misconduct by the undergraduates University Teknologi PETRONAS(UTP)
Photo 2: University Malaysia Pahang (UMP) Online Cheating Issue Discussion
Photo3: Evidence of UMP undergraduates being caught of cheating misconduct during online examination by lecturers
Information of Narrative
The COVID-19 pandemic changed the lives of all people globally
with most activities being forced to move online, including teaching. In
Malaysia, most schools and universities moved from face-to-face to online
delivery in March 2020. It is because Malaysia's government declared Movement Contro Order (MCO) on 16 March 2020 which was later extended to a few phases of Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) from 4 May until 9 June 2020. From this period, the government had prohibited all educational institutions from operating. On 7 June 2020, the Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO) was declared to be in effect from 10 June until 31 August 2020. Therefore, the 163rd Senate Meeting No.6/2020 (Special) has agreed that the Semester II Final Examination of Academic Session 2019/2020 can be conducted via online according to courses' suitability.
That is why, among other difficulties related to online teaching, measuring student performance became
one of the chief concerns of instructors. Many universities, such as University
Malaysia Pahang (UMP), University Technologi PETRONAS (UTP) etc. reported widespread
cheating in online examinations took place and the problem became so rampant
that even the media addressed it.
Nowadays, most universities are occupied with the switch to online
teaching. Consequently, will the cheating problem in the fall be significant
enough for schools and universities to take strict measures for the future?
Will it be possible to have a fair assessment system if schools and
universities decide to take no action? How can schools and universities
maintain academic integrity in online examinations? We must wait several months
to get clear answers. However, we can make predictions on the possible outcomes
by considering theory and past evidence on cheating. The problem of cheating in
online environments is not new. This cheating behaviour supports the mounting
evidence that the lack of “perfect honesty” exists in situations where the
returns to dishonesty are high.
In this new norm, online tests are done without face-to-face
proctoring, which implies that students can potentially use their notes,
internet search engines, and any other assistance to help them solve questions.
Furthermore, they can communicate via teleconference (or some other method) and
collaborate during their exams. This cheating behaviour on online examinations
imposes a negative externality on students who do not cheat, especially if the
instructor curves the exam scores. Therefore, we first consider two simple
models of face-to-face and online examinations. These models suggest that
unlike the face-to-face examination, cheating should be expected in the online
examination, with the reason being very intuitive: the lectures can observe
cheating evidence in the face-to-face examination. but there is only indirect
cheating evidence in the online examination. Therefore, cheating is a part of
the student equilibrium strategy in the online examination. We then present
evidence of cheating that took place in an online examination held as part of a
course taught at a large public university during COVID-19 lockdowns.
Currently, many universities are requiring undergraduates to
purchase and use a camera to record themselves while taking an exam in order to
crackdown on cheating, but these rules conflict with privacy rights from some
students’ perspectives. In order to address this issue based on our theoretical
models, we suggest that lecturers present their students with two options: (1)
If a student voluntarily agrees to use a camera to record themselves while
taking an exam, this record can be used as evidence of innocence if the student
is accused of cheating; (2) If the student refuses to use a camera due to
privacy concerns, the lecturer should be allowed to make the final decision on
whether or not the student is guilty of cheating, with evidence of cheating
remaining private to the lecturer.
Both options are designed to "implement" the outcome of
the virtual face-to-face examination when cheating is not expected in the equilibrium.
Of course, there are other ways to achieve the same outcome. If no action is
taken for online exams in the upcoming semester, there will be widespread
cheating. Students have much to gain while the probability of being caught with
definitive evidence is close to zero. Lecturers should stay away from curving
their grades in order to not punish honest students. We believe that cheating
can never be fully detected online and therefore we have to find out more solutions
in order to prevent this situation from happening again.
Analysis of Identification of Root Cause
1. Peer influences. Nowadays,
each student has more incentives to cheat because if they believe that the rest
of the group is cheating, then they must demonstrate better than at least
average class performance in order to pass the class. Thus, a student's chance
to pass the class without cheating would be very slim. Of course, in this case,
the cost of cheating goes down because the alternative is not cheating is
failing the class.
2. Peer
pressure. It is because a student basically can pressure the other student to
commit acts of academic dishonesty in many ways, such as pressuring others to
work together. So, he/she can score the subjects with flying colors and get excel
among all the coursemates..
3. Academic
pressure. It is because sometimes a student must maintain a certain GPA in
order to receive merit-based financial aid or even to continue receiving financial
support from his/her family. Even high-achieving students may turn to academic dishonesty
as a way to achieve their target GPA. Academic pressures can be worsened in courses
that are graded on a curve: with the knowledge that only a fixed number of As
can be awarded, students may turn to dishonest methods of surpassing their
coursemate.
4. Anxiety
about academic performance can cause some students to cheat to avoid failing
the class.
5. Lacking understanding
about the consequences. Some students do not know what the consequences are if
they are involved in academic honesty during the online exams.
6. Easy access
to the internet search engine. Therefore, the students will feel the urge to
search for the answer when their faces with complex and tough questions.
Conclusion
based on the information
In a
nutshell, universities should take more action against cheating cases during
online exams. Before further analysis of literature reviews, in our points of
view, we suggest that universities should implement a uniform online exam policy
where a camera capturing each student’s computer screen and the room is a requirement.
A camera will also help to check a student’s ID and eliminate the possibility
of another person taking the test. For lecturers, in addition to not curving
any grades, we also suggest giving students less time but easier questions to
increase the value of time, making it more costly to cheat. Candidates are
required to use a camera to live stream and record themselves during the online
examination. Candidates live stream from a side-angle camera showing their
screen and surroundings with their microphone enabled. Even though this method
cannot eliminate all cheating, we believe it is a great balance between having
no proctoring and using online proctoring services.
Information of Narrative
The COVID-19 pandemic changed the lives of all people globally with most activities being forced to move online, including teaching. In Malaysia, most schools and universities moved from face-to-face to online delivery in March 2020. It is because Malaysia's government declared Movement Contro Order (MCO) on 16 March 2020 which was later extended to a few phases of Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) from 4 May until 9 June 2020. From this period, the government had prohibited all educational institutions from operating. On 7 June 2020, the Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO) was declared to be in effect from 10 June until 31 August 2020. Therefore, the 163rd Senate Meeting No.6/2020 (Special) has agreed that the Semester II Final Examination of Academic Session 2019/2020 can be conducted via online according to courses' suitability.
That is why, among other difficulties related to online teaching, measuring student performance became
one of the chief concerns of instructors. Many universities, such as University
Malaysia Pahang (UMP), University Technologi PETRONAS (UTP) etc. reported widespread
cheating in online examinations took place and the problem became so rampant
that even the media addressed it.
Nowadays, most universities are occupied with the switch to online
teaching. Consequently, will the cheating problem in the fall be significant
enough for schools and universities to take strict measures for the future?
Will it be possible to have a fair assessment system if schools and
universities decide to take no action? How can schools and universities
maintain academic integrity in online examinations? We must wait several months
to get clear answers. However, we can make predictions on the possible outcomes
by considering theory and past evidence on cheating. The problem of cheating in
online environments is not new. This cheating behaviour supports the mounting
evidence that the lack of “perfect honesty” exists in situations where the
returns to dishonesty are high.
In this new norm, online tests are done without face-to-face
proctoring, which implies that students can potentially use their notes,
internet search engines, and any other assistance to help them solve questions.
Furthermore, they can communicate via teleconference (or some other method) and
collaborate during their exams. This cheating behaviour on online examinations
imposes a negative externality on students who do not cheat, especially if the
instructor curves the exam scores. Therefore, we first consider two simple
models of face-to-face and online examinations. These models suggest that
unlike the face-to-face examination, cheating should be expected in the online
examination, with the reason being very intuitive: the lectures can observe
cheating evidence in the face-to-face examination. but there is only indirect
cheating evidence in the online examination. Therefore, cheating is a part of
the student equilibrium strategy in the online examination. We then present
evidence of cheating that took place in an online examination held as part of a
course taught at a large public university during COVID-19 lockdowns.
Currently, many universities are requiring undergraduates to
purchase and use a camera to record themselves while taking an exam in order to
crackdown on cheating, but these rules conflict with privacy rights from some
students’ perspectives. In order to address this issue based on our theoretical
models, we suggest that lecturers present their students with two options: (1)
If a student voluntarily agrees to use a camera to record themselves while
taking an exam, this record can be used as evidence of innocence if the student
is accused of cheating; (2) If the student refuses to use a camera due to
privacy concerns, the lecturer should be allowed to make the final decision on
whether or not the student is guilty of cheating, with evidence of cheating
remaining private to the lecturer.
Both options are designed to "implement" the outcome of the virtual face-to-face examination when cheating is not expected in the equilibrium. Of course, there are other ways to achieve the same outcome. If no action is taken for online exams in the upcoming semester, there will be widespread cheating. Students have much to gain while the probability of being caught with definitive evidence is close to zero. Lecturers should stay away from curving their grades in order to not punish honest students. We believe that cheating can never be fully detected online and therefore we have to find out more solutions in order to prevent this situation from happening again.
Analysis of Identification of Root Cause
1. Peer influences. Nowadays, each student has more incentives to cheat because if they believe that the rest of the group is cheating, then they must demonstrate better than at least average class performance in order to pass the class. Thus, a student's chance to pass the class without cheating would be very slim. Of course, in this case, the cost of cheating goes down because the alternative is not cheating is failing the class.
2. Peer pressure. It is because a student basically can pressure the other student to commit acts of academic dishonesty in many ways, such as pressuring others to work together. So, he/she can score the subjects with flying colors and get excel among all the coursemates..
3. Academic pressure. It is because sometimes a student must maintain a certain GPA in order to receive merit-based financial aid or even to continue receiving financial support from his/her family. Even high-achieving students may turn to academic dishonesty as a way to achieve their target GPA. Academic pressures can be worsened in courses that are graded on a curve: with the knowledge that only a fixed number of As can be awarded, students may turn to dishonest methods of surpassing their coursemate.
4. Anxiety about academic performance can cause some students to cheat to avoid failing the class.
5. Lacking understanding about the consequences. Some students do not know what the consequences are if they are involved in academic honesty during the online exams.
6. Easy access
to the internet search engine. Therefore, the students will feel the urge to
search for the answer when their faces with complex and tough questions.
Conclusion
based on the information
In a
nutshell, universities should take more action against cheating cases during
online exams. Before further analysis of literature reviews, in our points of
view, we suggest that universities should implement a uniform online exam policy
where a camera capturing each student’s computer screen and the room is a requirement.
A camera will also help to check a student’s ID and eliminate the possibility
of another person taking the test. For lecturers, in addition to not curving
any grades, we also suggest giving students less time but easier questions to
increase the value of time, making it more costly to cheat. Candidates are
required to use a camera to live stream and record themselves during the online
examination. Candidates live stream from a side-angle camera showing their
screen and surroundings with their microphone enabled. Even though this method
cannot eliminate all cheating, we believe it is a great balance between having
no proctoring and using online proctoring services.
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