Experiences of a Group of Faculty Members in University of Sistan and Baluchestan on Decreased Fraud Solutions for e-tests

Abou Faour, M., & Ayoubi, Z. (2017). The effect of using virtual laboratory on grade 10 students’ conceptual understanding and their attitudes towards physics. journal of education in Science environment and health, 4(1), 54-68.

The purpose of the present paper was to provide the empirical results of a group of faculty members’ experiences in University of Sistan and Baluchestan with e-evaluation and to decrease the risk of fraud in these assessments. Some solutions reported here were obtained via e-learning experiences of these educators (colleagues) over a one-year period that effectively decreased fraud in online tests. This is a qualitative interpretative phenomenology study.

The proposed solutions included nurturing commitment and practical honesty in learners, informing students of the test rules and regulations, designing various different test items, distributing test scores in multiple tests over the semester, analytical and open-book questions, and notifying students about the possibility of obtaining guidance from educator during the test, changing student evaluation criterion, using e-LMS facilities, and considering psychological variables such as test anxiety.

Reviewing related literature reveals that the experiences provided in this paper cover a wide range of solutions and some shortcomings. For instance, [11] reviewed 20 articles to investigate fraud causes and prevention. It divided fraud causes into two classes: a. intrinsic motivations such as lack of self-confidence, poor academic performance, pride after cheating, and b. extrinsic motivation like the pressure imposed by parents and educators. This paper, focusing on the controlled extrinsic motivations and learners monitoring, introduced the use of various methods, divergent test items, oral assessments, and learners’ progression as fraud prevention strategies for e-learning.

According to the literature, it is recommended to identify fraud motivations and technology (10). Reviewing experiences in the present research demonstrated that faculty members mainly proposed solutions relying on decreased fraud motivation. However, the most efficient strategy to overcome fraud is demotivation (10); to defeat fraud, the simultaneous use of fraud detection and prevention methods is required. Unfortunately, as fraud detection and prevention strategies are evolved, various new fraud technologies also appear. As a result, no comprehensive version may limit fraud levels in online tests, and fraud prevention strategies must be daily updated.

Hence, further studies are needed to propose fraud detection strategies. Most critical evaluations within the pandemic were made using e-learning systems via virtual written tests, virtual interviews, oral questions and answers over teaching, and multiple evaluations (24). Knowing the system features correctly can strengthen fraud prevention.

In addition to developing proposed strategies and solutions by updating fraud detection methods, further practical studies are needed to attain more accurate and reliable evidence of the effective proposed solutions.

Kasaian S.F, Ebrahimi R, Heidari Laghab E, Investigating Reasons of cheating in virtual education and schemes for reducing It based on new methods of electronic evaluation methods: a review study,The 9th National Conference on Sustainable Development in Educational Sciences and Psychology, Social and Cultural Studies, 2021, https://civilica.com/doc/1239748/

(In Persian) Farasat Maryam, Mahram Behrooz, Aminkhandaghi Masoud. A Study of the Students’ Attitude Towards Cheating and the Rate of Cheating Among Them and the Predictability of Their Attitude Based on the Implemented Curriculum. journal of educational measurement and evaluation studies. 2017; 7(17 ):133-155

(In Persian) Bakhtiyari Khoei Nafiseh, Soleymani Esmaeil. Structural Equation Modeling of the Relationship Between Goal Orientation and Attitudes Toward Cheating: Academic Motivation as a Mediating Variable. journal of instruction and evaluation. 2019;12(46 ):47-63.

(In Persian) Qasemzadeh Rabeeh Sadat, Khamesan Ahmad, Rastgoumoghadam Mitra. The Perceived Role of a University Teacher Regarding Academic Morality and Preventing Cheating from Students’ Points of View. ETHICS IN SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY. 2020;14(4 ):14-22.

(In Persian) Shamsi shahrabadi, Mahmoud (2021), A report on coronaviruses and a review of new information in the definition and characteristics of Quid-19 causative virus, Journal of Culture and Health Promotion. Academy of Medical Sciences. forth year. Page(s) 26 To 30.

Anderson, RM, Heesterbeek H, Klinkenberg D, Hollingsworth TD (2020). How will country-based mitigation measures influence the course of the COVID-19 epidemic? The Lancet. 2020; 10228:931-4

Fontaine, S. (2020). La tricherie aux examens : un aperçu de la recherche. Formation et profession, 28(1), 139–141. http://dx.doi.org/10.18162/fp.2020.a195.

Khamesan, Ahmad and Mohammad Asghar Amiri (2012). Investigating academic fraud among male and female students. Quarterly Journal of Ethics in Science and Technology. The sixth year. The first number. Page(s) 53 To 61.

McCabe, D. L. & L. K. Trevino. (1997). Individual and Contextual Influence on Academic Dishonesty: A Multicampus Investigation. Research in Higher Education. 38. 379-396. In: Alikhah Fardin, Bulaghi Mahdi, Yaquti Hoda. (2014). Cheating In Exams; A Look From Within; A Study Among Students Of Guilan University. STRATEGY FOR CULTURE fall 2014 , Volume 7 , Number 27 ; Page(s) 161 To 188.

McCabe, D. L.; L.K. Trevino. & K. D. Butterfield. (2001). Cheating in Academic Institutions: A Decade of Research. Ethnics & Behavior. 11 (3). 219-232. In: Alikhah Fardin, Bulaghi Mahdi, Yaquti Hoda. (2014). Cheating In Exams; A Look From Within; A Study Among Students Of Guilan University. STRATEGY FOR CULTURE fall 2014 , Volume 7, Number 27 ; Page(s) 161 To 188. 

Farnese, M. L.; C. Tramontano; R. Fida & M. Paciello. (2011). Cheating Behaviors in Academic Context: Does Academic Moral Disengagement Matter? International Conference on Education and Educational Psychology (ICEEPSY 2011). Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences. 29. 356-365. Retrieved from: http://www.scienceDirect.com. In: Alikhah Fardin, Bulaghi Mahdi, Yaquti Hoda. (2014). Cheating In Exams; A Look From Within; A Study Among Students Of Guilan University. STRATEGY FOR CULTURE fall 2014 , Volume 7 , Number 27 ; Page(s) 161 To 188.

Amini M, Parizad M, Rivaz S, Sagheb MM, Rivaz M. The Comparison of Medical Students Attitudes and Performance Regarding Different Types of Academic Cheating During Clinical Courses. Strides in Development of Medical Education. 2016 Feb 1;12(5):709-17. Available from: https://www.sid.ir/en/journal/ViewPaper.aspx?id=502550 .

(In Persian) Haghighi Fahimeh Alsadat, Faraji Mehran. E-Cheating and Plagiarism as the Challenging Hidden Face of the Evaluation System of Open and Distance Education Universities and Ways to Prevent Them: THE CASE OF PNU. (JOURNAL OF INSTRUCTION AND EVALUATION) JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL SCIENCES. 2015;7(28):39-49.

(In Persian) Moradi V, Saidi Jam M . (2001). A Study of Identifying The Cheating Trend In Exams of Medical Students of Hamedan University of Medical Sciences. Quarterly Teb Va Tazkieh, Number 40, pp 19-23, https://www.sid.ir/fa/journal/ViewPaper.aspx?id=13149.

Frenette, E., Fontaine, S., Hébert, M.-H. & Éthier, M. (2019). Étude sur la propension à tricher aux examens à l’université : élaboration et processus de validation du Questionnaire sur la tricherie aux examens à l’université (QTEU). Mesure et évaluation en éducation, 42(2), 1–33. https://doi.org/10.7202/1071514ar.

Noorbehbahani F, Mohammadi A, Aminazadeh M. A systematic review of research on cheating in online exams from 2010 to 2021. Education and Information Technologies. 2022 Mar 7:1-48.

Kasaian S.F, Ebrahimi R, Heidari Laghab E, Investigating Reasons of cheating in virtual education and schemes for reducing It based on new methods of electronic evaluation methods: a review study,The 9th National Conference on Sustainable Development in Educational Sciences and Psychology, Social and Cultural Studies, 2021, https://civilica.com/doc/1239748/

(In Persian) Farasat Maryam, Mahram Behrooz, Aminkhandaghi Masoud. A Study of the Students’ Attitude Towards Cheating and the Rate of Cheating Among Them and the Predictability of Their Attitude Based on the Implemented Curriculum. journal of educational measurement and evaluation studies. 2017; 7(17 ):133-155

(In Persian) Bakhtiyari Khoei Nafiseh, Soleymani Esmaeil. Structural Equation Modeling of the Relationship Between Goal Orientation and Attitudes Toward Cheating: Academic Motivation as a Mediating Variable. (journal of instruction and evaluation). 2019;12(46 ):47-63.

(In Persian) Sadeghi Abbas, Ofoghi Nader, Banapour Hamidi Mohammad Hasan, Emami Fatemeh. The Survey of Factors Related to Cheating Among Students of Higher Educational Institutions City of Rasht. STRATEGIC RESEARCH ON SOCIAL PROBLEMS IN IRAN. 2018;6(4 (19)):35-52

(In Persian) Qasemzadeh Rabeeh Sadat, Khamesan Ahmad, Rastgoumoghadam Mitra. The Perceived Role of a University Teacher Regarding Academic Morality and Preventing Cheating from Students’ Points of View. ETHICS IN SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY. 2020;14(4 ):14-22.

(In Persian) Shamsi shahrabadi, Mahmoud (2021), A report on coronaviruses and a review of new information in the definition and characteristics of Quid-19 causative virus, Journal of Culture and Health Promotion. Academy of Medical Sciences. forth year. Page(s) 26 To 30.

Anderson, RM, Heesterbeek H, Klinkenberg D, Hollingsworth TD (2020). How will country-based mitigation measures influence the course of the COVID-19 epidemic? The Lancet. 2020; 10228:931-4.

Nguyen, Joseph G., Keuseman Kristopher J. and Humston Jonathan J. (2020). Minimize Online Cheating for Online Assessments During COVID-19 Pandemic Cte by J. Chem. Educ. 2020, 97, 9, 3429–3435, Publication Date:August 3, 2020, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.0c00790.

Nizam, N.I.; Gao, S.; Li, M.; Mohamed, H.; Wang, G. (2020). Scheme for Cheating Prevention in Online Exams during Social Distancing. Preprints 2020, 2020040327 (doi: 10.20944/preprints202004.0327.v1).

Lancaster, T., Cotarlan, C. (2021). Contract cheating by STEM students through a file sharing website: a Covid-19 pandemic perspective. Int J. Educ. Integr 17, 3, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40979-021-00070-0.

Bordas, W. (2020), Examens en ligne à l’université: quand la triche devient la norme, Le Figaro, https://etudiant.lefigaro.fr/article/examens-en-ligne-a-l-universite-quand-la-triche-devient-la-norme_36576b08-95ff-11ea-9d8c-ecf550c3bd6e/ .

Mandin, L (2021), Frauder aux examens en ligne, simple comme une annonce sur Leboncoin, https://www.journaldunet.com/management/formation/1498211-frauder-aux-examens-simple-comme-une-annonce-sur-leboncoin/ .

Marketing, P. (2020), Comment empêcher la triche dans un examen en ligne?, https://www.onlineexambuilder.com/fr/base-connaissances/base-de-connaissances-examens/empecher-triche-examen-en-ligne/item10616

(In Persian) Rezaei Alimohammad, Student learning evaluation during the Corona: Challenges and Strategies. Quarterly of Educational Psychology, 2020; 16(55): 179-214. doi: 10.22054/jep.2020.52660.3012.