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Are Online Exams an Invitation to Cheat?

Author

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  • Oskar R. Harmon
  • James Lambrinos

Abstract

In this study, the authors use data from two online courses in principles of economics to estimate a model that predicts exam scores from independent variables of student characteristics. In one course, the final exam was proctored, and in the other course, the final exam was not proctored. In both courses, the first three exams were unproctored. If no cheating took place, the authors expected the prediction model to have the same explanatory power for all exams, and, conversely, if cheating occurred in the unproctored exam, the explanatory power would be lower. Their findings are that both across and within class, variations in the R -squared statistic suggest that cheating was taking place when the exams were not proctored.

Suggested Citation

  • Oskar R. Harmon & James Lambrinos, 2008. "Are Online Exams an Invitation to Cheat?," The Journal of Economic Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(2), pages 116-125, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:jeduce:v:39:y:2008:i:2:p:116-125
    DOI: 10.3200/JECE.39.2.116-125
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Coates, Dennis & Humphreys, Brad R. & Kane, John & Vachris, Michelle A., 2004. ""No significant distance" between face-to-face and online instruction: evidence from principles of economics," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(5), pages 533-546, October.
    2. Oaxaca, Ronald, 1973. "Male-Female Wage Differentials in Urban Labor Markets," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 14(3), pages 693-709, October.
    3. Michelle Albert Vachris, 1999. "Teaching Principles of Economics without “Chalk and Talk”: The Experience of CNU Online," The Journal of Economic Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(3), pages 292-303, January.
    4. Byron W. Brown & Carl E. Liedholm, 2002. "Can Web Courses Replace the Classroom in Principles of Microeconomics?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(2), pages 444-448, May.
    5. Peter Navarro, 2000. "Economics in the Cyberclassroom," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 14(2), pages 119-132, Spring.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Young, Jeffrey S., 2020. "No Honor Among Cheaters: A “Prisoner’s Dilemma” Approach to Reduce Cheating in Online Classes," Applied Economics Teaching Resources (AETR), Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 2(5), December.
    2. Cheryl J. Wachenheim, 2009. "Final Exam Scores in Introductory Economics Courses: Effect of Course Delivery Method and Proctoring," Review of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 31(3), pages 640-652.
    3. Mary Mathewes Kassis, 2011. "Distance Education: Course Development and Strategies for Success," Chapters, in: Gail M. Hoyt & KimMarie McGoldrick (ed.), International Handbook on Teaching and Learning Economics, chapter 14, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    4. Dench, Daniel & Joyce, Theodore, 2022. "Information and credible sanctions in curbing online cheating among undergraduates: A field experiment," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 195(C), pages 408-427.
    5. Fisher, Elizabeth & McLeod, Alexander J. & Savage, Arline & Simkin, Mark G., 2016. "Ghostwriters in the cloud," Journal of Accounting Education, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 59-71.
    6. Wuthisatian, Rattaphon, 2020. "Student exam performance in different proctored environments: Evidence from an online economics course," International Review of Economics Education, Elsevier, vol. 35(C).
    7. Vazquez, Jose J. & Chiang, Eric P. & Sarmiento-Barbieri, Ignacio, 2021. "Can we stay one step ahead of cheaters? A field experiment in proctoring online open book exams," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    8. Catherine Cleophas & Christoph Hönnige & Frank Meisel & Philipp Meyer, 2023. "Who’s Cheating? Mining Patterns of Collusion from Text and Events in Online Exams," INFORMS Transactions on Education, INFORMS, vol. 23(2), pages 84-94, January.
    9. Hoque, Nazmul & Basher, Syed Abul & A.K. Enamul, Haque, 2022. "Do Students Perform Better in Online Delivery of Education? Evidence from Bangladesh," MPRA Paper 112981, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Oskar R. Harmon & James Lambrinos, 2006. "Online Format vs. Live Mode of Instruction: Do Human Capital Differences or Differences in Returns to Human Capital Explain the Differences in Outcomes?," Working papers 2006-07, University of Connecticut, Department of Economics.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • A2 - General Economics and Teaching - - Economic Education and Teaching of Economics
    • A22 - General Economics and Teaching - - Economic Education and Teaching of Economics - - - Undergraduate

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