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Possibility of students cheating on exam

  • May 7, 2020
  • 2 replies
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Hello :)
I'm a professor. Our university has instructed us to create digital exams using the qualtrics survey platform, since students are not allowed into the building because of COVID-19. I like the application. I am however worried about students cheating. I'd like to create a fair playing field for everyone. My question is: Is there any way students (maybe with some computer science knowledge) would be able to determine the correct answer to a question (multiple choice, or sometimes text field) from the browser? For example by inspecting the source code, looking for hints in the CSS classes, etc. How would they go about cheating this way? And is it preventable from "our side"?
This is an example survey created by the university: https://psyunibe.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_a8A8sZUfVIuf5d3
Thank you so much for helping out!

Best answer by rondev

Since the students are taking test from home they can communicate with each other over phone or other mediums.
Regarding copying by inspecting survey elements is not possible, because every validation, verification, scoring and other things are done at server end and on client side only UI related things are called.
Still you can disable F12 and right click using JS.

      2 replies

      rondev
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      • rondev
      • Level 6 ●●●●●●
      • Answer
      • May 7, 2020

      Since the students are taking test from home they can communicate with each other over phone or other mediums.
      Regarding copying by inspecting survey elements is not possible, because every validation, verification, scoring and other things are done at server end and on client side only UI related things are called.
      Still you can disable F12 and right click using JS.

      Ron Dev (DM for any request. XM Technology Consultant, surveysolution.in)
        S
        • Sumeet
        • June 3, 2021

        Hello Professor,

        In addition to the above response, I will also suggest some tactics to strengthen the survey and create hurdles for cheaters.
        1.      Disable the copy-paste option by using JS code. It will be helpful for subjective questions.
        2.      Disable the selection of questions by inserting CSS code in the “Style” option under the “Look and feel” option of the survey.
        3.      Avoid scoring (or mark the correct option) the question. This is because scores/right options can be retrieved from the page source by pressing Ctrl+U (for Window users), after disabling the right-click. An author can score the question after the completion of the survey, Qualtrics automatically update the score for all participants.

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