No, the online tests are always reliable and accurate. These tests offer the student a chance to perform them remotely under a controlled environment. There are several proctoring software that one employs to ensure that the tests are accurate and valid.
Before a student sits for an online test, the institution ensures that the test taker meets certain conditions to prevent academic dishonesty. For instance, the proctoring software will ensure no impersonation by verifying the student details such as photos and student IDs. If it senses a deviation, it will flag off the anomaly.
Online tests cannot be inaccurate because instructors scrutinize the questions and answers for correctness before publishing them for examination. Exam questions and answers are subjected to checks and validation to preserve academic integrity.
However, on rare occasions, some questions may be inaccurate due to unintentional human errors by the faculty, which are corrected on notice.
Therefore, there will be no fraud whereby a student knows what the examiner will ask in advance. Instead, the student only gets to know the questions in the paper when opening the page.
However, the environment may not be all that perfect for doing the exam. There could be some loopholes whereby a student can access answers through other avenues. For instance, if one uses some less powerful proctoring program, use a virtual machine to sneak the answers.
So, to ensure that these online tests are accurate, the instructor should ensure that the students work in a secure environment.
Besides, the instructor should employ the best proctoring software that will detect cheating. Thus, the use of technology is vital for assistive reasons in cheating prevention.
Another way to promote the accuracy of these online tests is by frequently communicating with your students.
Good communication creates a better course environment to make the students comfortable studying and confidently writing the exams.
In addition, when you cultivate better teacher-student relations, they will understand the importance of the accuracy of the online tests.
Do Online Tests Lack Validity and Reliability?
No, the online tests are reliable and all valid as long as you follow a specific guideline. Validity describes the appropriateness and uses of assessment results.
Besides, these tests could be reliable if they consistently measure the same thing.
For example, if the assessment has high reliability, you will easily conclude about the participant’s skills or knowledge.
Reliability matters because anything, on the contrary, does not apply to any trustable measure of competency.
Several techniques exist to enhance the reliability of your online tests. They are as indicated below.
Enough Questions
The instructor should use adequate questions to enhance the reliability of online tests. However, achieving a sensible balance would help prevent the test from being too long.
As a rule of thumb, every abject should meet at least two to three questions. Setting many practical questions is one of the ways to prevent cheating in online exams by the faculty.
Consistent Environment
All the participants should have a similar environment by ensuring that all test takers use equal time to do the same exam.
The reliability could be low if some are doing the test in a quiet environment while others are working b under a public and noisy environment. That calls for providing equitable opportunities for learning.
Familiarity with User Interface
It is great that the instruction ensures that the participants are familiar with the proctoring software under implementation. Such eliminates test anxiety and influences the reliability aspect positively.
Regular Analysis
The instructor should conduct regular analysis and identify poor-performing questions. You can weed out poor questions and focus on improvement.
How to Increase the Accuracy of Online Tests
Accuracy is an action of being precise or correct and ensuring the online test is error-free.
When these tests remain accurate, they become so useful and trustworthy to any accreditation body.
It puts confidence in any prospective employer who will be willing to get some potential employees from the organization.
The following are steps to sue for enhancing accuracy:
Select the Right Tools
You should select the right interface that will enhance your accuracy mission. Several proctoring software exists to give you the advantage of asking questions with a high level of surety.
For instance, you can randomize the questions and still maintain accuracy in that no student will be working on a similar question at the same time. Also, you will be accessing answers at the right time to prove the credibility of the test.
Align the Learning Outcomes with Tests
Alignment is a key aspect when one is addressing validity. It should capture a student’s connection and the learning outcomes. The instructor should ensure that the coursework meets the learning objective before subjecting the students to any tests to gauge their skills.
Let the test match what the students learned or covered during the entire course. You can use multiple questions to gauge the student’s understanding of a specific concept or topic.
Should Students be Monitored in Online Tests?
With the use of technology and exam proctor software, many schools, colleges, and universities feel that their online exams are safe and students cannot cheat. Therefore, they may feel like relaxing the rules and leave them to technology. Is this right? Should they supervise students?
Students should be monitored in online tests because there are some of them who try to cheat or get answers in unfair ways. By cheating, such students get an undue advantage and break academic integrity rules.
To create a level playing field for all students, there should be a sense of security to ensure the students who are taking online exams do not cheat.
That calls for the use of proctoring software to do such exams.
The students who are doing the exam can take it remotely and stay under monitoring until the test ends.
Monitoring of students while taking online tests comes with various benefits, as listed below.
1. Accessibility
The proctoring software ensures that education is accessible to many deserving students regardless of the distance. The student can still gain skills while operating on any side of the world.
Furthermore, the consumer enjoys the flexibility of choosing the time and the place. Different institutions are implementing eLearning programs for the students to access them globally.
2. Safe Learning Environment
When the student is under the invigilation of proctoring software, there will be a safe examination environment without encountering many discrepancies.
There will be a cheating-free environment. The software keeps track of student activities in these remote areas. Conclusively, this method is reliable in ensuring efficiency in the examinations.
3. Suitable for Many Exams
One can sit on all types of exams, whether essays or aptitude tests. The students are under effective monitoring to prevent any attempts of academic dishonesty.
By using proctoring software, it will monitor both the video and audio and flog of the suspicious activity to preserve the integrity.
4. Authenticity
Much proctoring software must establish the authenticity of the person who is doing the online tests. There is a virtual ID where the software will still very other items, such as the photo, for facial recognition.
The procedure is a requirement before the student sits on any online examination. It allows the examiner to verify the student’s identity before allowing him/her to do the examination.
5. Great Interaction between Examiner and Examinee
The proctoring software provides a suitable platform for the examiner and examinee to interact. That is so because the testing will be going on remotely. That allows easy invigilation at your safe location distance, notwithstanding.
6. Security of Information
Before taking any exam, the student will have key in specific information for authentication. The system will store this information, and one can retrieve it when needed.
The software comes with high technological encryptions to ensure all information is safe. They also keep the student’s privacy. This can be done through exam proctoring like Proctor, among others.
7. No sharing
The proctoring software has disabled sharing options that the malicious student would use to get the answers. These proctoring software will still disable browsers, websites, and other printing options.
There could be a restriction where a student will not browse the internet while doing it. Such also prevents cases of academic theft and preserves integrity. Typically, monitoring the students as they do the online test is a njo0ble thing that every institution should try to maintain.
Joseph is a freelance journalist and a part-time writer with a particular interest in the gig economy. He writes about schooling, college life, and changing trends in education. When not writing, Joseph is hiking or playing chess.