Detecting Cheaters using a Learning Management System
Donald Sheridan, Stephen Witherden · 2004
Abstract: The background work for this paper was initiated by a professor who posed the seemingly innocuous question: How can I tell if students are cheating on my supervised, online quiz? At the outset, the answer seemed relatively straight forward, because learning management systems (LMS) can measure a response latency factor as well as any “browsing” behaviors carried out by students. Nonetheless a review of the literature indicates there is no simple solution, but some compelling ideas are put forward for consideration. Are My Students Cheating While I Supervise Them During an On-line Quiz? A professor of Management and Employee Relations (MER) within our business school sensed that several students were achievement marks that were out of step with their performance on other forms of assessment within his class. His teaching program involved using a computer laboratory to conduct exercises, view animations and video clips. He usually ended the teaching session with an on-line quiz. The professor has many years of teaching experience, excellent peer and student reviews of his work and is well known for his innovative teaching initiatives. His question was taken very seriously by the developers of the LMS and the problem did not seem hard to solve – at the outset!