Reducing Cheating in Online Exams Through the Proctor Test Model

The World Health Organization (WHO) officially declared coronavirus (COVID-19) a pandemic on March 11, 2020. Educational institutions must change most face-to-face learning activities in class to online. This situation forces academic institutions to change the format of assessing student learning outcomes. Online exam surveillance applications utilizing cameras and other blocking browsers (proctors) are becoming popular. However, the appearance of the proctor model supervised exam system also raises controversy. The main discussion regarding this proctor system is the integrity of assessment and the capacity of students to adapt to this new method of supervision. The main question is whether students feel comfortable using the proctor system in exams and whether this system affects students' scores. To answer this question, we have analyzed the scores obtained from a trial of 152 scores of students learning Arabic at Hasanuddin University Makassar, Indonesia. The experiment involved three exam models: online format from home using the Sikola Learning Management System (Modality 1), online directly using the Proctor System in the Sikola Learning Management System (Modality 2), and a paper exam format in person under the supervision of a lecturer (Modality 3). The results show that students prefer Modality 1 (online at home with the Sikola LMS system). There is a statistical difference between the scores obtained by students from the three modalities analyzed. Student scores with modality 1 are higher than the other two modalities. On the other hand, there was no difference in scores between modalities 2 and 3. The online exam system (modality 2) can be applied to online exams in higher education institutions because it can reduce or even keep students from cheating.