The design, implementation and pilot application of an intelligent online proctoring system for online exams
Interactive Technology and Smart Education
ISSN: 1741-5659
Article publication date: 12 May 2021
Issue publication date: 10 February 2022
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to design and implement an intelligent online proctoring system (IOPS) by using the advantage of artificial intelligence technology in order to monitor the online exam, which is urgently needed in online learning settings worldwide. As a pilot application, the authors used this system in an authentic university online exam and checked the proctoring result.
Design/methodology/approach
The IOPS adopts the B/S (Browser/Server) architecture. The server side is implemented with programming language C and Python and stores the identification data of all examinees and their important behavior change status, including facial expression, eye and mouth movement and speech. The browser side collects and analyzes multimodal data of the examinee writing the online test locally and transfers the examinee’s most important behavior status change data to the server. Real-time face recognition and voice detection are implemented with the support of open-source software.
Findings
The system was integrated into a Web-based intelligent tutoring system for school mathematics education. As a pilot application, the system was also used for online proctored exam in an undergraduate seminar in Peking University during the epidemic period in 2020. The recorded log data show that all students concentrated themselves on the exam and did not leave the camera and did not speak.
Originality/value
During the epidemic period of the novel coronavirus outbreak, almost all educational institutions in the world use online learning as the best way to maintain the teaching and learning schedule for all students. However, current online instruction platforms lack the function to prevent the learners from cheating in online exams and cannot guarantee the integrity and equality for all examinees as in traditional classroom exams. The literature review shows that the online proctoring system should become an important component of online exams to tackle the growing online cheating problem. Although such proctoring systems have been developed and put on the market, the practical usage of such systems in authentic exams and its effect have not been reported. Those systems are heavyweight and commercial product and cannot be freely used in education. The light-weight IOPS developed by the authors could meet the need for online exam as a stable and practical approach and could contribute to the growing online learning and distance learning.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The paper is one achievement of the national educational technology research key project from Central Educational Technology Center, China, “Personalized instruction research based on artificial intelligence and big data technology” (Project No.: 176220009). The research is supported by the project “Lexue 100, Smart Education” of Beijing Lexue 100 Online Education Co., Ltd. The authors thank all the teachers and students who have participated in the program.
Citation
Jia, J. and He, Y. (2022), "The design, implementation and pilot application of an intelligent online proctoring system for online exams", Interactive Technology and Smart Education, Vol. 19 No. 1, pp. 112-120. https://doi.org/10.1108/ITSE-12-2020-0246
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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