Observations of Cheating Behaviours in Online Examinations and Tools for Mitigation

The Covid-19 pandemic necessitated a rapid transition to online education, forcing most academic institutions to adopt online assessments as a substitute for traditional, in-person examinations. Many of these online assessments were conducted in an unsupervised setting, with an underlying model that largely relied on the trust that students would maintain academic integrity and adhere to the principles of honest scholarship. Unfortunately, this trust-based approach showed its vulnerabilities, as we observed a significant uptick in incidents of cheating and academic dishonesty across many educational institutions including our own. In an attempt to address these issues, this paper provides an in-depth analysis of the specific cheating behaviours we have identified. We detail how the lack of supervision in online settings has led to creative and highly collaborative cheating schemes that we call local and remote “exam parties,” in addition to the use of online platforms like Chegg.com to contract-cheat. The rise in cheating has been so dramatic that it has led to noticeable grade inflation, skewing academic performance metrics and potentially diminishing the value of educational qualifications. To combat this worrisome trend, we introduce an analysis tool specifically designed to detect signs of potential dishonesty in online assessments. The tool consumes student activity logs from popular Learning Management Systems such as Canvas, and digital assessment platforms such as CodeRunner and Inspera, and analyses these logs to flag suspicious behaviours. Combined with rapid-fire answer submissions and other suspicious timing patterns, the reports generated via the tool help us identify collusion and potential contract-cheating. In addition to the tool, the paper discusses preventive measures that institutions can take to minimize the risk of cheating. These include designing assessments to minimize the ability to cheat, enforcing remote proctoring services, and employing individualized assessments. By combining comprehensive analysis, technological solutions, and preventive recommendations, this paper aims to provide educators and institutions with the tools and knowledge they need to uphold academic integrity in this new era of online education.