Deterring Cheating Online: A Framework for Proctoring Effectiveness

The increase in online instruction makes business schools vulnerable to a surge in cheating behavior and in need of a framework to assess the potential effectiveness of exam proctoring conditions. A social facilitation theory framework was developed to assess how four prototypical proctoring conditions (1. web recording, 2. video summarization, 3. live online, 4. in-person) should be associated with decreasing levels of cheating. The framework was investigated with three studies. Study 1 assessed students’ ( n = 395) perceptions of being watched and monitored and instructors’ ( n = 113) perceptions of being able to control and monitor the testing environment. Study 2 showed students ( n = 397) had weaker intentions to cheat for proctoring conditions posited as more actively watched and monitored. Consistent with social facilitation theory, evaluation apprehension and self-awareness were motivational deterrents to cheating. Study 3 replicated and extended prior findings of higher student scores for unproctored versus proctored exams with a field study ( n = 224) of actual exam results for the same four proctoring conditions. Results were mostly consistent with the framework, with interesting asymmetries in how students and instructors perceived live online versus in-person proctoring conditions. This framework can help researchers classify proctoring effectiveness and help instructors align proctoring approaches with their assessment goals.