Can I say that I hate reviewing flagged footage of my students taking electronically monitored tests?

[G5052]

I work for a college that is doing monitored exams that supposedly use artificial intelligence. So with fear and trembling, I looked at my first report. I'm supposed to watch the recorded video that the system flagged if it was scored above a certain number (being vague here). 

This is HORRIBLE. It flags normal human behavior, especially when they are taking a hard midterm. From what I saw, none of the flagged students cheated.

Anyway, I can't provide details, but there it is. The joys of monitored testing. 

[historically accurate]

7 minutes ago, G5052 said:

I work for a college that is doing monitored exams that supposedly use artificial intelligence. So with fear and trembling, I looked at my first report. I'm supposed to watch the recorded video that the system flagged if it was scored above a certain number (being vague here). 

This is HORRIBLE. It flags normal human behavior, especially when they are taking a hard midterm. From what I saw, none of the flagged students cheated.

Anyway, I can't provide details, but there it is. The joys of monitored testing. 

((G5052))

My college freshman called me in tears following her Calc test. Why? Because her ankle itched in the middle of it and she reached down to scratch it. She was terrified she'd be accused of having a cheat sheet. Nothing came of it though, but man, her anxiety was high about it. 

[Bootsie]

That does sound horrible.  Thanks for sharing your experience.  I haven't used the technology myself, but I was wondering if you get a lot of behavior flagged and if it were overly sensitive.  Because I give exam that require calculations, students need to use scratch paper, pencil and calculator.  There is no way they could keep their eyes on the screen.  

And, I can't imagine trying to bring an academic misconduct issue forward right now; offices are closed, procedures are turned upside down, and I would not be able to say that I observed the behavior personally.  

Edited October 11, 2020 by Bootsie

[G5052]

1 hour ago, Bootsie said:

That does sound horrible.  Thanks for sharing your experience.  I haven't used the technology myself, but I was wondering if you get a lot of behavior flagged and if it were overly sensitive.  Because I give exam that require calculations, students need to use scratch paper, pencil and calculator.  There is no way they could keep their eyes on the screen.  

And, I can't imagine trying to bring an academic misconduct issue forward right now; offices are closed, procedures are turned upside down, and I would not be able to say that I observed the behavior personally.  

Yes, I went to an online seminar about it in August and asked what we should do if we saw something of concern. The manager giving the seminar said it wasn't his job to figure that out, just to train us. We were told to contact our deans. My field has a college-wide dean, and she freely admitted in our discipline meeting in August that she didn't know either. Nothing since. 

One student contacted me via message and said that she had been crying because her orientation video had been rejected. I helped her figure out who to contact, and she got it fixed.

My kids are home from a different college and have had some monitored tests and say it's fine, but both are in the later part of their studies where long take-home exams are more common. 

[lewelma]

My son refused to take any courses that required this type of monitoring. Just too insulting.

[Bootsie]

58 minutes ago, lewelma said:

My son refused to take any courses that required this type of monitoring. Just too insulting.

How did he know ahead of time if this type of monitoring would be used or not?  

[lmrich]

My dd's school requires a picture of the student before any test or quiz. She has to take her mask off to get the picture which means she cannot work in any public space on campus for a test or a quiz. She has been kicked out of the library for taking her mask off to get the picture. (totally appreciate their vigilance) But, man, these are confusing times. 

[G5052]

14 hours ago, lewelma said:

My son refused to take any courses that required this type of monitoring. Just too insulting.

My school allows professors to give live professor-monitored tests in Zoom if they have regular Zoom meetings. So they test during the regular Zoom class time but have to have a video camera placed. They told the professors to record it. It's only slightly less creepy in my book. When I watch the recordings for my classes, it is just of the one student at their computer. So at least that's more than one student at once; only slightly less creepy. 

There are only a handful of hybrid classes on campus other than labs and classes requiring hands on with special equipment or facilities. I've heard they really fill up quickly.

Yesterday I heard that they are weighing just keeping us largely online through all of 2021. They already announced that we will be that way in January 2021.

 

[Tree Frog]

14 hours ago, lewelma said:

My son refused to take any courses that required this type of monitoring. Just too insulting.

Once they're further into their major, many students don't have a choice if they want to graduate on time, especially if all classes are online. One of my kid's universities insists they use a specific company to proctor their tests. That company's app, when downloaded, allows company to look at ALL the files on the computer. The students at the university have protested it (and are looking for ways around it), but if they need the courses, they have to tolerate the intrusion on their computers.

15 hours ago, Bootsie said:

There is no way they could keep their eyes on the screen.

My ds and dd both look into the distance when they're thinking about something. They've both expressed concern that they will need to stare at the computer instead of into the distance when thinking and how it will affect their ability to take a test.

[lewelma]

14 hours ago, Bootsie said:

How did he know ahead of time if this type of monitoring would be used or not?  

He knew that this could be a possibility.  So he signed up for 7 classes, and in the first week found out what kind of assessment they would have.  He dropped the classes that had this type of monitoring.  

[lewelma]

1 hour ago, G5052 said:

My school allows professors to give live professor-monitored tests in Zoom if they have regular Zoom meetings. So they test during the regular Zoom class time but have to have a video camera placed.

His four classes have these assessments:

1) Psychology: 3 short papers and one final paper

2) Math: 5 take home exams that last a week that he can use any sources he wants.  They typically take 20 hours each

3) Physics: 2 take home exams + a final that last 24 hours, all open book. 

4) Physics: 2 take home exams + a final that last 70 minutes, closed book, honor system.  There are two time slots you can choose: during class time or at 10:30pm (which allows for all the different possible time zones.) You must get a time stamp on your test when you finish it, and then you upload it.  But because it is a long test with only 70 minutes, you would be hard pressed to be looking anything up anyway, as you wouldn't have the time. DS barely finished it and he is a top student.

As I said, he dropped all the classes that had video monitoring through zoom.  He just didn't like the added stress, and he didn't like the reminder that everything is so odd in the covid world.  He felt it was invasive, insulting, and stressful.  

Edited October 11, 2020 by lewelma

[Bootsie]

7 hours ago, lewelma said:

His four classes have these assessments:

1) Psychology: 3 short papers and one final paper

2) Math: 5 take home exams that last a week that he can use any sources he wants.  They typically take 20 hours each

3) Physics: 2 take home exams + a final that last 24 hours, all open book. 

4) Physics: 2 take home exams + a final that last 70 minutes, closed book, honor system.  There are two time slots you can choose: during class time or at 10:30pm (which allows for all the different possible time zones.) You must get a time stamp on your test when you finish it, and then you upload it.  But because it is a long test with only 70 minutes, you would be hard pressed to be looking anything up anyway, as you wouldn't have the time. DS barely finished it and he is a top student.

As I said, he dropped all the classes that had video monitoring through zoom.  He just didn't like the added stress, and he didn't like the reminder that everything is so odd in the covid world.  He felt it was invasive, insulting, and stressful.  

I am curious whether he generally took proctored exam pre-Covid; I know some schools use an honor system where students are supposed to report any cheating and exams are not necessarily proctored.  I am not sure how video monitoring would be more invasive or insulting than in-person monitoring.  

[lewelma]

1 hour ago, Bootsie said:

I am curious whether he generally took proctored exam pre-Covid; I know some schools use an honor system where students are supposed to report any cheating and exams are not necessarily proctored.  I am not sure how video monitoring would be more invasive or insulting than in-person monitoring.  

Yes, he had proctored exams in a big hall when in person.  I'm not sure his entire mindset, but he decided he would delay the classes until they could be in person so he would have to do electronic monitoring.  He was going to have to write all his answers on an ipad that they shipped to him, and have the zoom screen open the whole time.  This is just not how my ds learns.  He was homeschooled his whole school career and I never gave tests, so he is not a big fan of them.  And doing them on an ipad with a zoom window was more than he was willing to do. 

[Bootsie]

12 minutes ago, lewelma said:

Yes, he had proctored exams in a big hall when in person.  I'm not sure his entire mindset, but he decided he would delay the classes until they could be in person so he would have to do electronic monitoring.  He was going to have to write all his answers on an ipad that they shipped to him, and have the zoom screen open the whole time.  This is just not how my ds learns.  He was homeschooled his whole school career and I never gave tests, so he is not a big fan of them.  And doing them on an ipad with a zoom window was more than he was willing to do. 

I don't blame him for thinking that would be an awkward way to take an exam.  I had a colleague who was giving an exam a couple of weeks ago and there was a big thunderstorm that came in can knocked out wifi in apartment complexes near campus so students got kicked out of the lockdown browser than does the recording and he had a mess on his hands getting them back into the system.  Personally I don't want students to have to load surveillance software onto their personal devices, that just makes me a bit nervous.