In-Person Exam Security
Victoria Cross
Description
Thanks to GenAI's ability to supply answers on remotely delivered exams, the standard for high-stakes multiple-choice testing has swung back to in-person, pencil-and-paper exams, complete with time booked with Barbara Mills to run the Scantrons. For a moment, it felt like we'd returned to an earlier era, one where the biggest threat to exam security was a student sneaking in a cheat sheet or stealing a glance at a neighbor's answers. But GenAI has once again exposed how fragile these assessments really are. With nothing more than a smartphone camera, a student can generate an answer key in two clicks. Given that multiple-choice exams remain, realistically, the only scalable option for large-enrollment classrooms, I propose adding a watermark that would make this shortcut far harder to pull off, letting us keep the imperfect but necessary Scantron format intact.
Link to the video [video.ucdavis.edu]
- Test Scoring and Scanning for Gradescope | Center for Educational Effectiveness
Submit a question for Dr. Cross to answer during the live discussion panels at SITT.
About the Presenter
Victoria Cross, Ph.D., is a Professor of Teaching in the Department of Psychology. She primarily teaches courses on research methods, scientific reasoning, and critical thinking. Her early career focused on effective uses of educational technology in higher education. Her current research interests in the scholarship of teaching and learning are around investigating the challenges faced in leveling the playing field when teaching critical thinking skills to a diverse student body and the cognitive mechanisms at play in student learning.
