Skip to Main Content

University of Tennessee

About ITC

Newsletter: Spring 2004

Honesty in Testing

by: Mark Spurlock

Technological advances that change the traditional classroom environment create both opportunities and challenges in testing and evaluation. Although additional contacts, augmented communication channels, and automation all present an instructor with more tools and chances to assess student progress, the setting under which the instructor takes these measurements is more fluid and less susceptible to control. Instead of measuring learning in the classroom laboratory, the teacher will often be "field testing."

Sometimes, that's irrelevant. In the case of practice or self-tests, automatic grading and increased availability of testing materials are advantages that outweigh the minimal disadvantages of the instructor's loss of control. When such measures count for credit and grades, however, the situation becomes more problematic. Outside a controlled testing environment authentic evaluation of student performance carries an additional burden to ensure integrity of the testing process.

The first question the instructor should ask in the enhanced academic setting is no different than that asked in the traditional classroom: What am I trying to measure and why? A bad test will generate even worse results in a non-traditional environment than in the brick-and-mortar classroom because 1) students will have greater opportunity to exploit testing flaws; 2) confusing or poorly worded tests will take place under conditions that allow few student-instructor interactions.

If the instructor has used open-book tests in the past, that will be to his or her advantage in adapting to the online environment. Additionally, the teacher needs to communicate with the students the expectations of them that come with moving outside traditional classroom strictures. One much touted advantage of educational technology is increased collaboration, so the instructor must delineate carefully where collaboration ends and cheating begins. For which assignments is collaboration okay and for which will it be forbidden? Even within the physical classroom, instructors have to consider the collaborative opportunities present whenever students are able to go wireless.

Plagiarism is an especially pernicious problem, not so much because of technologically enhanced teaching--a term paper written on paper with ink is almost as easy to copy as one generated by laser printer--but because of student access via search engine to virtually the full scope of human knowledge...including term-paper mills. Combating plagiarism requires the instructor not only be aware of the problem and how easy the Internet makes it, but also strive for original measurements to begin with. Don't plagiarize your evaluative measures and it will be harder for students to plagiarize their responses!

Here are some additional online sources for practical tips on using technologically enhanced evaluations:

Aldridge, A., Elmore, G., Gora, B., Helms, A., Holton, R., Keough, D., et al. (2000). Online testing: Best practices from the field. Creating a Virtual Learning Community 2(1). Retrieved November 12, 2003, from North Carolina Conference of English Instructors Web site: http://www.nccei.org/blackboard/testingadvice.html

Esteban, J. (n.d.). Security for on-line testing. Retrieved November 12, 2003, from San Diego State University, College of Education Web site: http://coe.sdsu.edu/eet/Articles/security/start.htm

Pink Flamingo’s Resources Lists. (2003, November 12). The virtual professor: Dealing with plagiarism, cheating, and student honesty in online classes. Retrieved November 12, 2003, from http://www.ibritt.com/resources/vp_plagiarism.htm

Strategies to minimize cheating online. (2003). Retrieved November 12, 2003, from The Illinois Online Network Web site: http://www.ion.illinois.edu/IONresources/assessment/cheating.asp