Due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-2019) and the sudden shift to online learning, higher education institutions adopted various approaches to reduce cheating in online assessments, mainly involving online live proctoring (OLP). The international assessment integrity regulation trend also applied to a university in South Africa, where…

This study investigates students' perceptions of rehearsal (test preparation) and testing after the pandemic forced increased online teaching use and experimentation. Data was gathered from information and decision sciences (IDS) students in an underrepresented minority (URM) serving university. Responses from 136 participants were analyzed and…

The examination of the testing mode effect has received increased attention as higher education has shifted to remote testing during the COVID-19 pandemic. We believe the testing mode effect consists of four components: the ability to physically write on the test, the method of answer recording, the proctoring/testing environment, and the effect…

The benefits of practice testing for long-term learning are well established in many contexts. However, little is known about learner characteristics that might moderate its effectiveness. The effects of practice tests might depend on individual prerequisites for learning, especially in real-world educational settings. We explored whether the…

The testing effect is a well-established phenomenon in cognitive psychology that refers to enhanced long-term retention of information due to active recalling through testing. Following a cross-disciplinary translation of the testing effect into behavioral principles, we systematically replicated the previous findings in a behavior-analytic…

This article explores student perceptions of writing online examinations for the first time during the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to the pandemic, examinations at an open and distance learning institution in South Africa were conducted as venue-based examinations. From March 2020, all examinations were moved online. Online examinations were…

During the COVID pandemic, universities around the globe had to move not only their content delivery online, but also their assessments. Due to COVID causing significant upheaval in Higher Education (HE), this enforced experiment also afforded an opportunity to reflect on traditional, invigilated, closed book exams (ICBE) resulting in research and…

Students who are unable to complete an assessment due to circumstances beyond their control (e.g. illness) are often asked to submit a request for special consideration. However, few studies have looked at the reasons why these requests are made, or whether certain students are more likely to submit requests than others. The current study looked…

Open education systems play a significant role in providing flexible and accessible learning opportunities to large student populations, independent of time and location. These systems achieve cost efficiency through the effective implementation of economies of scale, reducing unit costs as student numbers increase. However, decision-making in the…

The observed decline in academic performance among 15-year-old students, as reported by recent OECD-PISA surveys, alongside the democratisation of university admissions, points to a potential decrease in the marginal academic proficiency of incoming higher education students. Paradoxically, grades at the tertiary level have either remained stable…

Demand for online courses continues to grow. To remain competitive, higher education institutions must accede to this demand while ensuring that academic rigor and integrity are maintained. The authors teach introductory Fundamentals of Financial and Managerial Accounting courses online. Previously, there was no proctoring of the exams. Prior…

Unproctored and teacher-proctored exams have been widely used to prevent cheating at many universities worldwide. However, no empirical studies have directly compared their effectiveness in promoting academic integrity in actual exams. To address this significant gap, in four preregistered field studies, we examined the effectiveness of…

Background: Practice tests have been shown to be an effective means to foster long-term retention in higher education, at least compared to restudying (i.e., the testing effect). Objective: The present study replicated and extended prior research by examining whether and to what extent the positive effects of testing on long-term retention in a…

Using an in-class field experiment, the authors study how cooperative learning affects trust, attitudes about group work, and performance. Students in some classrooms completed in-class quizzes individually, and students in other classrooms completed them in pairs. Completing quizzes in pairs led to higher levels of within-class trust, indicating…

For many professors, testing is primarily a tool for assessing the learning of students. However, research into the "testing effect" has established the value of testing also as a learning tool, not just as an assessment tool. This article provides an overview of this research and also of my own experiences in using a variety of testing…