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Remote Proctoring: The Effect of Proctoring on Grades

Advances in Accounting Education: Teaching and Curriculum Innovations

ISBN: 978-1-78560-767-7, eISBN: 978-1-78560-766-0

Publication date: 11 January 2016

Abstract

Purpose

As more students take online courses as part of their college curricula, the integrity of testing in an online environment becomes increasingly important. The potential for cheating on exams is generally considered to be higher in an online environment. One approach to compensate for the absence of a physical proctor is to use a remote proctoring service that electronically monitors the student during the examination period.

Methodology/approach

We examined the exam grades for 261 students taking two different upper division accounting courses to determine if a computer-based remote proctoring service reduced the likelihood of cheating, measured through lower exam scores, as compared to classroom proctoring and no proctoring. We examined both online and on-campus courses.

Findings

In qualitative and quantitative accounting courses, evidence shows that grades were significantly lower for students who were proctored using a remote proctoring service compared to students who were not proctored. In the quantitative course, remote proctoring resulted in significantly lower final exam scores than either classroom or no proctoring. However, in the qualitative course, both remote proctoring online and live proctoring in a classroom resulted in significantly lower final exam scores than no proctoring, and they are not statistically different from each other.

Originality/value

Academics and administrators should find these results helpful. The results suggest that the use of proctoring services in online courses has the potential to enhance the integrity of online courses by reducing the opportunities for academic dishonesty during exams.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgments

We appreciate the helpful comments of Timothy J. Rupert (editor) and two anonymous reviewers. We gratefully acknowledge the helpful feedback provided by participants at the 2015 American Accounting Association Southeast Region Meeting. We also appreciate the research assistance of Matthew Coats and Katy Boles Miller.

Citation

Davis, A.B., Rand, R. and Seay, R. (2016), "Remote Proctoring: The Effect of Proctoring on Grades", Advances in Accounting Education: Teaching and Curriculum Innovations (Advances in Accounting Education, Vol. 18), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 23-50. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1085-462220160000018002

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2016 Emerald Group Publishing Limited