Test integrity: using Populi's built-in anti-cheating features

Test Integrity controls gives you three options for mitigating certain kinds of cheating on online tests.

• Require Fullscreen: The student can't answer test questions unless his browser window is in fullscreen.
• Track copy-and-paste: If the student copies and/or pastes text into the test, that is recorded.
• Webcam monitor: At frequent but random intervals, the student's webcam will snap a picture of him for your review.
• When you enable any of these controls, incidents are logged and flagged for your review in the test's integrity log and the new To Review tab in the main Tests view.

For a test-taker, the test integrity features only work on a computer—e.g. a laptop or a desktop. They do not work in Populi's mobile apps or on mobile browsers (whether on a phone or a tablet). When students attempt to take a test with integrity controls on a mobile device, they will be unable to start the test.

Enabling controls

You can enable integrity controls either when you're creating the test or after it has been set up and designed in the test's Information panel.

1. You'll find the integrity controls grouped together at the bottom of the Add Assignment dialog and the test's Information panel.
2. Check the controls you wish to enable for the test. You can require any combination of controls you wish.

You can also require controls for particular students or excuse them by adding exceptions.

1. Under the integrity controls, click add/manage exceptions.
2. Select a student from the drop-down.
3. Check/uncheck individual controls to require/excuse the student.
4. Repeat these steps as often as you wish.
5. Click Save when you're done.

The student experience

Here's how your students will experience a test with integrity controls:

1. They'll go to the test's page (or a course alert) and click Take Now.
2. After confirming that they wish to start the test, they'll come to a screen (pictured above) explaining the integrity controls. The student cannot start the test until they've pressed the webcam and fullscreen buttons.
3. They'll take the test as normal. The integrity controls operate in the background, imperceptible to the student.
4. When they click Submit Test, the webcam will shut off and the browser will exit fullscreen on its own (if those controls were enabled).

Integrity Log

As students submit tests, you'll be able to review the integrity log for each test attempt. You can get to it a couple ways:

• On the test attempt's page, the summary at the top will link to the integrity log (whether or not anything requires your review).
• On the main Tests view, the To Review tab will show a summary of all integrity incidents for all test attempts, together with links to each attempt's integrity log.
  • After examining the incidents on the integrity log, return to To Review to mark the test attempt as reviewed.

The integrity log itself is a detailed list of every event in the test attempt (whether or not you've enabled integrity controls for this test). If a student checks something in a multiple choice question, that gets noted; if he goes back later and changes his answer, that gets noted. Every time the webcam snaps a picture, that's noted. Every time text is copied or pasted... you get the idea. The log's job is to provide you with information to help you evaluate what the student did while taking the test; it is entirely up to you to make any determination of wrongdoing.

• Copy-paste and fullscreen events with are considered "incidents" and are probably worth your attention.
• Click to expand any event or incident to see the details or a webcam image.
• You can delete individual images or all of them at once.
• The log also notes other incidents not mentioned or pictured above:
  • Re-entering the test multiple times
  • Device or browser changes
  • IP Address changes