Although they are considered “quite complex to organize”, online exams are among the solutions considered by universities and schools to assess students. Events that raise the question of the digital divide. And that of cheating!
If the return to class is compulsory from June 22 for primary and middle school students, high school students and students are not affected by this measure. They were even the big absentees from the announcements of the deconfinement of June 14. The rule therefore appears to be the same as that announced on April 13 for higher education students, when Emmanuel Macron said that “classes will not physically resume until the summer“, as reported The Student in an article published at the end of April.
“The government will specify for each the good organization that will be necessary, in particular for exams and competitions”, had promised the head of state. Questioned by our colleagues, Gilles Roussel, the president of the Conference of University Presidents (CPU), then estimated that the majority of universities would refer to continuous monitoring or a replacement duty. “Online exams are quite complex to organize”underlined The Student.
“Reduce the use of face-to-face tests as much as possible”
Contacted by The HuffPost at the beginning of April, the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, had indicated that it was not giving instructions on a national scale. On the other hand, on April 22, it published a series of recommendations aiming to organize the exams “while respecting the autonomy of the establishments”. It is particularly recommended “to reduce as much as possible the use of face-to-face tests by simplifying the procedures for examinations and competitions”.
Thus, the organization of oral tests is contraindicated, but continuous monitoring and homework are encouraged, “while scrupulously taking care to find solutions to the difficulties that some students may encounter, particularly isolated, in a difficult social situation or without computer resources”. Because online exams pose a problem: with the digital divide, not all students have the same computer resources or the same access to the Internet. Another black spot: the stress linked to the uncertainty of the dates and methods of the exams, or even to the vagaries of the organization.
“The practical test was replaced by a quiz, to which everyone got 3”
Anna, a first-year engineering school student at La Défense, was confronted with it. Very shortly after the start of confinement, she knew that her end-of-year exams were going to take place remotely. “As the online classes were going well, the teachers informed us that our exams will take place as originally planned, from May 18 to 20, but that we will do them online”, says the young woman of 19 years. Nevertheless, it was necessary to wait until the day before the tests for the establishment to communicate the terms and conditions to the students. “I think there were some problems at the organizational level”says Anna.
Contrary to what one might think, no MCQ on the computer: the students had to write their subject on a sheet, as if they were at school. Only one subject, electronic and computer systems, had to be organized differently. “Normally, we have to do a practical test in front of the teacherpresents Anna. It was replaced by a quiz, to which everyone got 3 because the material really does not lend itself to this format. In the end, the school had to raise the grades”.
A Discord conversation group to cheat during the tests
Whatever the subjects, students had extra time to scan their exam and send it to a platform provided for this purpose. “It gave rise to a lot of cheating”, says the young woman. All first-year students were thus penalized, even those who were not concerned. “Basically, we should have had the same scales as in the first semester, but the school readjusted them because of cheating”Anna sighs.
Students had organized to send each other the answers to the exams during the tests on a Discord conversation group, the existence of which was reported to the management by one of the participants. For the young woman, the consequences were heavy. “Before confinement, we had a small exam in vector spaces which was to count for 25% of the final marksays Anna. I was sick, so I didn’t pass it at all, but I planned to catch up on the next test, which was also 25% of the average, and then on the end-of-year exam, which accounted for the bottom 50%”.
“It ruined the semester for me”
Finally, the second test was canceled due to confinement, and the scale for the first was raised to 60% of the final average to compensate for the good marks obtained during the last exam. “Cheating changed everyone’s grades and it ruined my semester: it’s partly because of that that I had to participate in remedial”, regrets the young woman. In the end, 180 of the 400 freshmen ended up in the same boat as Anna.
A situation that could have been avoided by the school: as reminded public-lifeinstitutions can use remote monitoring during distance tests to ensure that students do not cheat. “These means can be very diverse: continuous video, taking random photographs, fraud detection algorithms, remote control of the student’s computer…”, lists the site. One condition, however: to comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
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