An exploration of instructors' perceptions about online proctoring and its value in ensuring academic integrity

Abstract

AbstractAs universities moved to remotely taught courses during the COVID‐19 pandemic, the importance of maintaining academic integrity in online environments intensified. In response, this study explores instructors' perceptions about the role of online proctoring as a tool for their courses with the intent of enhancing the understanding of online proctoring's usefulness in ensuring academic integrity and the factors that may be swaying instructors' adoption decisions. An online survey was completed by 158 instructors at a variety of higher education institutions with 118 responding to an open‐ended question that allowed respondents to share any additional thoughts about or experiences with using online proctoring. A thematic review of the qualitative comments illustrates the multifaceted impact of online proctoring on instructors and students. Results identified instructors' perceived benefits and challenges of online proctoring to them, their students and the learning process. In addition, instructors voiced numerous legal, ethical and social concerns about the use of online proctoring, including concerns related to students' privacy. Despite these concerns, some instructors identified strong use cases for online proctoring while others provided alternative strategies for ensuring academic integrity in online courses. As institutions consider the role of online proctoring in ensuring academic integrity, a holistic approach that balances instructional design best practices, student‐friendly policies and proctoring tools is recommended to serve the complex needs and concerns of instructors, students and their institutions. Practitioner notesWhat is already known about this topic Prior research findings are mixed as to whether proctoring is valuable for ensuring academic integrity in online courses. Studies investigating grade performance in proctored versus unproctored exam settings have conflicting results; however, studies have found that students completing proctored formative exams perform better on summative exams than students completing non‐proctored formative exams. What this paper adds Qualitative data were collected to provide an overview of instructors' perceptions about and experiences with online proctoring. Analysis suggests that online proctoring is beneficial to some instructors, students and the overall learning process. At the same time, its use is also concerning to other instructors and students. Among the issues raised by instructors are concerns for student privacy, increases in student test anxiety and discriminatory proctoring practices. Implications for practice and/or policy Institutions must be proactive in ensuring that the use of online proctoring aligns with their institutional values and the changing legal landscape. Institutional policies should strive to find a balance between ensuring academic integrity and promoting a positive experience for students and instructors. Since there are strong use cases for online proctoring, these policies should include flexibility whenever possible.