As a hiring manager or a recruiter, you realize the benefit of online exams for hiring and skill evaluation purposes. With the help of an online assessment platform, you can easily evaluate a candidate's skill and make hiring decisions effortlessly based on the report provided by them.
But, what if after hiring, your new employee is not performing according to the skill knowledge they demonstrated pre-hiring during the online exam? What if you found that candidate involved in cheating during the interview or online test despite your rigorous proctoring? You got a bad hire with a waste of resources and time.
According to the CareerBuilder survey, the bad hire costs organizations nearly $17,000 on an average. That’s why using the right online proctoring software is significant. Every organization wants the best hire for the company with the right skill set. So it’s important to filter out your bad hires from good ones using the right set of online proctoring settings.
Let's look at several ways you could use to stop cheating in your upcoming online exam.
15 Ways To Prevent Cheating in Online Exams
Proctored tests, which use online proctoring software to keep an eye on applicants during the assessment, are a great approach to increasing the online exam's authenticity and integrity. This facilitates the process of separating the honest from the dishonest applicants and applying a fairer evaluation approach to deserving applicants.
AI Video Proctoring
AI video proctoring is used to track candidate throughout the assessment using their webcam, to look for unusual activities. This AI video proctor perceives test-takers as a collection of behavior-related scenarios, including body language, eye and head movements, and conversation. The warning signs include strange posture, hands beneath the work area, and watchful eyes.
When candidates are identified for unusual behavior during a video interview or assignment, the AI usually takes a picture of them so that hiring managers can look into the situation later.
Video proctoring is also used to confirm the identification of each applicant. At the start of the test, the applicant might be asked to snap a picture with the software so that recruiters don’t have to verify each test taker individually which ultimately saves time.
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Whole Screen Recording
It is standard procedure to record the entire screen for proctoring purposes throughout an online exam to maintain test integrity and deter cheating. To keep an eye on test takers during the examination, proctoring software frequently has tools for screen recording, webcam monitoring, and activity detection.
However, while utilizing screen recording for proctoring, it's crucial to take privacy considerations into account. Test takers should be made aware of the recording and its intended use before the start of the exam, and if required, their consent should be sought. To preserve privacy, sensitive data unrelated to the test should also be handled securely.
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Disabling External Copy/Paste
Disabling external copy/paste in the online tests is vital to restrict candidates from copying from external sources or copying the question and sharing it online to maintain the integrity of online exams.
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Logging Out of Tab Activities
It might seem unnecessary to enable this feature to prevent cheating in online exams if you have fullscreen mode enabled. Employers do occasionally let candidates switch tabs to access particular materials, though.
For instance, you could let candidates refer to theoretical materials during a test on problem-solving techniques. This is so because the exam is designed to screen for practical abilities, which cannot be obtained by reading a text.
As such, you may want to take into account using the online exam proctoring setting that records activity done outside of the tab. In this manner, you may keep an eye on candidates to make sure they aren't looking up the answers elsewhere. If any questionable behavior is found, it may also be helpful for study at a later time.
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Full-screen Mode Enabled
Using a new tab to refer to web sources is a typical method of cheating in online tests. Online skill-testing platforms can avoid this by using lockdown browsers to enable a full-screen mode and prohibiting candidates from accessing numerous tabs.
Additionally, they limit keyboard functions and end open tabs as the test starts.
However, this is not a foolproof method to prevent candidates from cheating as they can use external devices. So it is advisable to use another proctoring method like device detection or video proctoring with full-screen mode.
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Permissible Violation Settings
Candidates are often caught cheating during online tests by proctors. Recruiters or proctors who track candidates usually warn them during exams and finally terminate after giving a certain number of warnings.
However, the above procedure can be automated using online proctoring tools. You can set a condition in these tools that if a candidate is warned a certain number of times by AI video proctoring, they will have their test terminated.
It is crucial to maintain flexibility in violation settings as AI is incapable of distinguishing between suspicious conduct and malicious intent. Instead of canceling the test after the first violation, online proctoring solutions typically offer three chances before terminating the test.
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Multiple Screen Detection
Candidates often cheat during online exams using multiple screens. Necessarily, not a different monitor but two different desktops on the same monitor. The multi-screen detection method is used to track the number of screen candidates opened throughout the assessment.
A candidate will be asked to grant the assessment platform permission to control all of the windows on all of the displays they are using before they begin the test. The assessment platform will record how many monitors an applicant is using while they are logging in.
Changes in the number of displays will then be detected. In the assessment report, hiring managers can see changes in the number of windows candidates opened throughout the test.
The purpose of multiple-screen detection is to provide an extra measure of a candidate's behavior during a test. It shouldn't be the only metric used to report candidates who exhibit dishonest behavior. This tool can help in the process of screening candidates and flagging those who are acting dishonestly, together with proctoring exam settings like copy-paste tracking, tab proctoring, image proctoring, AI-powered plagiarism detection, and more.
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Audio proctoring
By keeping an ear out for and recording the test taker's audio surroundings, audio proctoring is a technique employed in online exams to stop cheating. Software for audio proctoring can identify noises and actions that could be signs of cheating, like conversing with other students, reading aloud from unapproved sources, or taking hints from outsiders.
Real-time audio monitoring of the test taker's surroundings is done via audio proctoring software. This implies that any questionable sounds or actions can be reported right away so that the proctor can investigate.
Apart from the real-time monitoring, audio proctoring software usually captures the audio for the full exam. This enables proctors to listen back to the audio recordings at a later time in case they notice or report any questionable activity.
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No Backtracking The Question
Normally during online tests, candidates can view all the questions at once which helps to strategize their paper at the start of the test. But this can be also misused for cheating during online exams.
Candidates attempt questions that they can solve at first and then after this if time permits, they start revisiting the questions they couldn’t solve at first and try to find their answers online or send these questions to a third party so that they can save time.
If backtracking of questions gets restricted, then candidates would not try to find answers online because of fear of wasting time that they could have used in attempting questions they know. This also includes the fear of running out of time.
It also helps candidates to focus on one question at a time and not be distracted and overwhelmed by other questions which ultimately increases their efficiency in attempting questions they can solve.
Question-Answer Randomization
One of the most popular ways to cheat is to ask another candidate a question using the question number and get the answers you want using answer numbers. This is a really quick and simple way to cheat in MCQ-based paper.
A useful anti-cheating method to prevent this from happening is to randomly assign the sequence of the questions so that each candidate's questions appear in a different order than the others. This makes sure that every candidate gets questions in a different order and eliminates the chance of candidates sharing answers depending on the question number.
In addition, rearranging the possible answers in multiple-choice questions introduces another level of intricacy. This variance strengthens the exam's integrity by making it difficult for test-takers to communicate precise answers to their peers because the right answer is probably going to be at a different place for every person.
Email Watermarking
Using emails as a watermark in assessments is a technique known as email watermarking, which helps stop online cheating. These identifiers can be used to track, confirm, and identify the content's source as well as identify any unapproved distribution.
This email watermarking feature also stops question sharing online as watermarked questions cannot be copied/pasted.
Therefore, email watermarking serves as a deterrent for dishonest and immoral activity. Emails identified with unique identifiers deter people from participating in dishonest activities, such as exchanging exam answers or copying information.
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Fixed Exam Availability Time Frame
Let's say, a set of students has been provided an online test link with flexibility in time to attempt. This could become a chance for them to cheat because if one of them is taking the test before others then others could get their hands on questions even before the test which would give them extra time to find answers beforehand.
Candidates will have less opportunity to work together on the examination if the exam's availability time is restricted. It is more challenging for students to discuss answers or get help from others who may have already taken the exam because everyone takes it at the same time window.
Additionally, in online settings, students from various time zones may attempt to take advantage of variations in exam availability time to obtain an unfair edge. Regardless of their time zone, all students will have an equal chance to take the exam within the allotted timeframe if a defined exam availability time frame is established.
Enabling IP-Based Security
It is often the case during online exams where a candidate sends their test link to another person to let them attempt the exam on their behalf. This is also a very common way of cheating during remote online exams. This could be restricted by enabling IP-based security.
Enabling IP-based security can stop unauthorized people from getting access to the test platform and trying to take the exam on someone else's behalf by restricting access to particular IP addresses. As a result, there is less chance of impersonation and illegal access to the testing area.
Exam administrators can create a transparent connection between candidates and their exam sessions by restricting exam access to particular IP addresses. This improves accountability and facilitates the investigation and, if required, disciplinary actions by making it simpler to link any questionable conduct to the responsible individuals.
Detecting Cell Phones/External Devices
Nowadays, everyone has cell phones or some kind of electronic device like a smartwatch with them all the time. Cheating from cell phones or smart watches is a very common way of cheating during online examinations. According to The Bennenson Strategy group, 35% of teens admit to cheating with cell phones.
In-person proctoring to detect cell phones or any external device is not very effective as one or two proctors cannot track every student at the same time.
So a combination of AI video proctoring and audio proctoring is then used by the assessment platforms to detect cell phones/external devices nearby candidates.
Get students to Sign an Academic Integrity Contract
Make a reminder agreement for the integrity of the online exam and distribute it to the applicants. Obtain signatures from each candidate before the test. This would lead to a sense of integrity among candidates which could discourage them from participating in malpractices during examination.
Recruiters can ask students to sign, scan, and upload the contract as an assignment before the test. As an alternative, they can complete the contract using a free LMS application, such as one with a polling or survey component. Binding the exam's integrity with a contract is one of the greatest strategies to prevent test cheating.
Conclusion
Maintaining the integrity of online assessments is crucial for any type of evaluation, including hiring and academic exams, as it ensures fair and unbiased selection processes.
Employers evaluate candidates' skills, knowledge, and suitability for jobs using these tests, thus it's imperative to avoid cheating and maintain the validity of the results.
Employing a variety of preventive strategies, such as identity verification, remote proctoring, and secure test platforms, WeCP can help businesses lower the risk of dishonest behavior while preserving the integrity of their hiring practices.
Want to know more on how WeCP can help you out? Try WeCP for free or Schedule a Call with WeCP Team.
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