Peru State College requires proctored exams beginning Fall '10

http://www.peru.edu/distanceeducation/faq.htm#ProctoredExams

I'm certainly not looking forward to that. By that time I should only have 4 or 5 classes left though.

That's good they're trying to assure academic integrity since they're growing so quickly, but certainly makes them a less attractive option for many.

 

Yeah, I wonder why they can't just do what Chadron State is using (ExamGuard)?

 

How does this "examguard" work?

 

ExamGuard is a browser add-on that basically locks your machine down while taking a test.

It makes it where you cannot print, copy and paste, go to another URL, minimize, use different menu options and control keys, right-click, start new apps, return to a previous page etc. It's obviously not full proof if you had another computer nearby, but it's supposed to add some control over your testing environment. I notice a few other colleges using it for their online courses as well.

 

That sounds great, of course you could still have a book there with you to look at, unless they wanted to use video feed with sound like some other schools are doing at present. Either that or the exams are so difficult they could be allowed as open-book (a legitimate concept, done in some brick-and-mortar school classes - in fact in some ways, open-book quizzes and tests are harder in my experience).

edit: actually in some ways I don't like this full-lock concept. What if I had an emergency and wanted to talk to someone, my computer would be useless.

 

I have never agreed with the proctored exam concept- totally goes against the flexibility of distance education. It's a shame that another college is going that route.

 

Honestly, that sounds pretty useless to me. I don't think something like this is going to prevent cheating. Like you said, what's to prevent someone from using a second computer to look things up? If a school is concerned about cheating, they should just require proctored exams.

 

It's good and bad.

I'm glad they're concerned about academic honesty and integrity. I wouldn't want to graduate now, but in 10 years have PSC be the laughing stock of online education. I like the fact I attend a B&M public school that just happens to offer online degrees too.

It's also nice because at least the person enrolled in school will be doing the final.

Already I've ran across a few "teams" of husband/wife that do the work together or in one case the person NOT in school did the whole class for them.

It's not that inconvenient, after all even with a full class load it's only 10 proctored exams a year.

 

I have nothing against proctored exams....I just think Exam Guard is a little cheesy.

 

Proctored face-to-face tests are an unnecessary hassle for students. Tests comprised of randomized questions delivered in a single shot, timed exam are totally doable online. The technology has been available in one form or another for about 15 years in GNU and freeware. You could also open a web conference with web cams to verify the identity of students, if you set a fixed time during an evening for everyone to take the exam. Ask anyone with a few years of programming experience to help you set it up. Solving the online testing question not a "manned mission to Mars" or anything of that magnitude...

 

Well, all the exams in learning are to measure how much you understand the materials. I think the best way is written assignments and researches. The exam does not help you to carry what you learn to the work environment. Especially adult education.... How many still remember what they learned from Calculus class during their Freshman year? I bet less than 20%....

 

I guess I'll take the opposite view on this.

I believe that all DL programs should require proctored exams at some point in their program.

Yes, DL provides convenience. But academic integrity is essential or DL degrees will be further devalued in the market.

Is asking students to have an exam (per course perhaps) administered by a proctor too much to ask? I don't think so. Come on - you don't have to go to class at a set time/place and you can study when and where you want. Can't you submit to a single proctored exam? As for finding proctors, there are lots of answers for students - for example public libraries.

Regardless what any of us think the US DOE ad regional accreditors may address this issue.

Regards - Andy

 

Almost all of the MBA courses at Bellevue University required a proctored final exam, some required a proctored midterm and final. The proctor had to be approved by the school well before an exam could be administered, two options were the local public library or community college. You couldn't simply provide a location, you had to provide an actual person and their contact information. The school did verify the proctor. Once the proctor was approved by Bellevue the test would be emailed to the proctor. All test materials including scrap paper was collected by the proctor and mailed back to the school.

The time allotment per exam was either 3 or 4 hours depending on the course. I felt that it added more legitmacy to Bellevue's online program and for me made the program more attractive. The tests were not easy either (at least for me), I always needed to use all of the allotted time.

 

If the purpose of proctored exams can be identified, that purpose can be addressed with DL-enabling technology. So what is the specific purpose of proctored exams?

 

I'll have to take the other side as well, but I've experienced both.

My experiences at WGU led me to take approximately 9-12 proctored exams. It's my belief that they are a necessary part of rigor, especially if the overall workload in a course isn't severe. At least with WGU, there were tons of testing sites, many were public libraries, a couple were other colleges in my home area. I didn't feel particularly put out and my employer appreciated the way they did things.

My experiences at UMass without proctored exams have led to being flooded with large amounts of written work and cohort work and have trivialized the testing process. Sure you can take exams and they can be timed, but when the book can be open by default, there needs to be some other way to gauge performance. If I was a poor writer, I'd be hosed.

Honestly, too much in either direction is a bad thing but if you're going to take a test, I've always felt it shouldn't be open book, regardless of the real world being that way.

I'm old.

 

The purpose is quite simple - to ensure that the the person who receives credit for the course is in fact the person who completed the academic work.

There has been a lot of buzz about DL Enablihing technology. I've not been convinced that technology can meet this purpose. Locked down browsers can ensure that one doesn't browse the web - but what technology can ensure that an individual completes an exam without assistance?

Regards - Andy

 

See Bloom's Taxonomy. Open book exams are not typically designed to test recollection of knowledge but application / reflection. (In other words, the book is typically not very helpful in open book exams, if the test is designed correctly.)

 

You mean the proctoring of the final exam, I think... Otherwise, are you arguing against asynchronous DL? I suppose not but an insistence on proctoring everything could be taken to the extreme.

 

Dave - yes, you are correct. Of course, the entire course can't be proctored or the advantages of DL would be eliminated. But as Peru is insisting, students should complete a proctored exam that demonstrates the enrolled student has mastered the material.

Regards - Andy

You mean the proctoring of the final exam, I think... Otherwise, are you arguing against asynchronous DL? I suppose not but an insistence on proctoring everything could be taken to the extreme.