Assuring Academic Integrity of Online Testing in Fundamentals of Accounting Courses
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24059/olj.v28i1.3706Keywords:
Academic Integrity, Online Learning,Abstract
Demand for online courses continues to grow. To remain competitive, higher education institutions must accede to this demand while ensuring that academic rigor and integrity are maintained. The authors teach introductory Fundamentals of Financial and Managerial Accounting courses online. Previously, there was no proctoring of the exams. Prior experience teaching these courses led the professors to suspect a high likelihood that academic integrity on these tests was low and that cheating was high. To address academic integrity concerns, the professors utilized a remote proctoring service employing a lockdown browser with screen and webcam monitoring. The program monitors the students remotely, recording sound, video and the information appearing on the students’ screens. The videos are reviewed for detectable instances of breach of academic integrity prior to releasing the grades. Data was collected and analyzed for the average exam scores prior to and after the implementation of the remote proctoring software. The data analysis reveals a significant difference in the two sets of scores, with the average exam scores after the implementation of the remote proctoring being significantly lower than the ones before implementation. These results indicate that concern about academic integrity in online test taking in the accounting curriculum is valid.
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