Impact of proctored examinations on students' performance in an online undergraduate pharmacology course
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.46542/pe.2025.251.129135Keywords:
Academic integrity, Assessment, Online learning, Pharmacy education, ProctoringAbstract
Background: Previous studies on assessment techniques in education have observed that students tend to take longer and score higher on unproctored exams than proctored exams in some disciplines.
Objective: To investigate the impact of a post-pandemic return to proctored examinations on student performance in undergraduate pharmacology education.
Methods: This was a quantitative, retrospective, observational study in which exam scores and time spent data were collected for two sections – one unproctored and one proctored – of an online 2000-level introduction to pharmacology course. Data between the two groups was compared using independent two-sample t-tests to investigate any statistically significant differences. Cohen’s d was calculated for effect size.
Results: In aggregate, exam scores were statistically higher in the unproctored group than in the proctored group. Student time spent on exams was significantly longer in the unproctored group than in the proctored group.
Conclusion: These findings support the consideration that students score higher and spend more time on unproctored exams than proctored exams in undergraduate pharmacology similar to many other disciplines. The explanation for this observation is likely multifactorial and may warrant further investigation.
References
Alessio, H. M., Malay, N., Maurer, K., Bailer, A. J., & Rubin, B. (2017). Examining the effect of proctoring on online test scores. Online Learning, 21(1), 146‒161. https://doi.org/10.24059/olj.v21i1.885
Brallier, S., & Palm, L. (2015). Proctored and unproctored test performance. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 27(2), 221‒226.
Dadashzadeh, M. (2021). The online examination dilemma: to proctor or not to proctor? Journal of Instructional Pedagogies, 25, 1‒11. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1294386.pdf
Daffin Jr, L. W., & Jones, A. A. (2018). Comparing student performance on proctored and non-proctored exams in online psychology courses. Online Learning, 22(1), 131‒145. https://doi.org/10.24059/olj.v22i1.1079
Goedl, P. A., & Malla, G. B. (2020). A study of grade equivalency between proctored and unproctored exams in distance education. American Journal of Distance Education, 34(4), 280‒289. https://doi.org/10.1080/08923647.2020.1796376
Hollister, K. K., & Berenson, M. L. (2009). Proctored versus unproctored online exams: Studying the impact of exam environment on student performance. Decision Sciences Journal of Innovative Education, 7(1), 271‒294. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4609.2008.00220.x
Howard, D. (2020). A synopsis of online testing integrity in a general education math Course: A correlational study. Online Learning, 24(4). https://doi.org/10.24059/olj.v24i4.2148
Milone, A. S., Cortese, A. M., Balestrieri, R. L., & Pittenger, A. L. (2017). The impact of proctored online exams on the educational experience. Currents in Pharmacy Teaching and Learning, 9(1), 108‒114. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cptl.2016.08.037
Morgan, K., Adams, E., Elsobky, T., Darr, A., & Brackbill, M. (2021). Moving assessment online: Experiences within a school of pharmacy. Online Learning, 25(1), 245‒252. https://doi.org/10.24059/olj.v25i1.2580
Moten Jr, J., Fitterer, A., Brazier, E., Leonard, J., & Brown, A. (2013). Examining online college cyber cheating methods and prevention measures. Electronic Journal of E-learning, 11(2), 139‒146.
Noorbehbahani, F., Mohammadi, A., & Aminazadeh, M. (2022). A systematic review of research on cheating in online exams from 2010 to 2021. Education and Information Technologies, 27(6), 8413‒8460. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-022-10927-7
Steger, D., Schroeders, U., & Gnambs, T. (2018). A meta-analysis of test scores in proctored and unproctored ability assessments. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 36(1). https://doi.org/10.1027/1015-5759/a000494
Yıldırım, D., Ilgaz, H., Bayazıt, A., & Akçapınar, G. (2023). The effects of exam setting on students’ test-taking behaviours and performances: proctored versus unproctored. International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 24(4), 174‒193. https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v24i4.7145
