Online Exam Proctoring violates the 4th amendment

[mythbuster]

https://www.chronicle.com/article/students-say-room-scans-during-online-tests-are-invasive-now-a-judge-agrees

The "room scan" has always struck me as one of the creepier aspects of online proctoring. So I'm all for this one, and I'm in a field where exams are not easily avoidable. My suggested solution is for more independent testing centers. If it works for the MCAT, it can work for my midterm exam.

[downer]

We will see if the university appeals. I find it a stretch to say that enrolling in a university that requires "room scanning" violates the 14th amendment. I'm no legal scholar, but that amendment seems to apply to state searches. I doubt that universities in other states will be worrying about this court decision.

[apl68]

Eliminating online exam proctoring in favor of exam centers would be a problem for students who live in isolated regions where such things can be few and far between.  There's a reason why public libraries in rural areas--like ours--proctor a lot of exams.  We certainly have no problem with a room scan.  All it covers is the small, publicly-available study room at the library where we have students take proctored exams. 

[mamselle]

We will see if the university appeals. I find it a stretch to say that enrolling in a university that requires "room scanning" violates the 14th amendment. I'm no legal scholar, but that amendment seems to apply to state searches. I doubt that universities in other states will be worrying about this court decision.

Do you mean 4th? (not 14th....!)

M.

[downer]

We will see if the university appeals. I find it a stretch to say that enrolling in a university that requires "room scanning" violates the 14th amendment. I'm no legal scholar, but that amendment seems to apply to state searches. I doubt that universities in other states will be worrying about this court decision.

Do you mean 4th? (not 14th....!)

M.

I said I was no legal scholar!

[Anon1787]

We will see if the university appeals. I find it a stretch to say that enrolling in a university that requires "room scanning" violates the 14th amendment. I'm no legal scholar, but that amendment seems to apply to state searches. I doubt that universities in other states will be worrying about this court decision.

Do you mean 4th? (not 14th....!)

M.

The 4th wouldn't apply to a state university without the 14th.

"Privacy advocates have also suggested open-book exams and honor codes."

Honor codes? That's crazy talk. They only work in a very limited set of circumstances.

[mleok]

We will see if the university appeals. I find it a stretch to say that enrolling in a university that requires "room scanning" violates the 14th amendment. I'm no legal scholar, but that amendment seems to apply to state searches. I doubt that universities in other states will be worrying about this court decision.

Do you mean 4th? (not 14th....!)

M.

The 4th wouldn't apply to a state university without the 14th.

"Privacy advocates have also suggested open-book exams and honor codes."

Honor codes? That's crazy talk. They only work in a very limited set of circumstances.

I have only found honor codes to work in places like Caltech, which are small and extremely selective. The service academies might also be able to sustain a honor code.

[kiana]

My students signed the honor code and then Photomathed their math exams anyway.

I could write a solid open-book exam but I can't write an exam that's open-friend, open-chegg, and open-app that will test whether they actually know the math that they need to know to move on.

[clean]

Either In class only courses, or allow the proctoring services to do what they can to prevent cheating.

I use Examity for exams and Respondus Monitor (RM)  for some take home quizzes that are online.  I get many good grades with the Respondus Monitor (which records, but has no live proctor).  I can give the same quiz the next class and the number of As dwindles.  Why?

(which is why my syllabus now has 2 separate scores for quizzes, the lower valued, frequent, online, RM quizzes and the infrequent but more valuable in class quizzes.)

AS for honor codes, I have a take home final exam. Each student has a different set of numbers based on their student ID number.  I regularly do google searches for questions on my final exam to see how many are now on Chegg.  However, as each exam is unique I have tracked down the guilty parties who failed the course, some faced Academic Suspension to boot! 
But it is a time consuming pain in the butt to write all of that up, and even to get Chegg to cooperate takes a letter from an associate dean and a bit of a wait.  The point being that honor codes work only for those with honor. 

[bio-nonymous]

Interpretation at our place  so far is that only the actually work area (desktop) and monitors can be scanned, not the whole room. Don't know how that will stand up. Is it a 4th amendment violation to walk around the classroom during an in person test to ensure no textbooks are open on the floor or phones are in laps? /sarcoff

[Mobius]

So you can still require a room scan if students are notified in advance that a room scan is required. Nothing to see here.

[Caracal]

  The point being that honor codes work only for those with honor.

Usually honor codes also specify that faculty members shouldn't monitor students for cheating-basically you're supposed to assume the students aren't doing anything wrong unless you have clear evidence to the contrary. That always seemed like the best feature to me. Part of the reason I give essay exams is that it really reduces the efficacy of cheating. Last year, I started allowing students to bring in a page of notes as well. There are other reasons I think that makes sense, but it also means that a student going to the bathroom and googling something is just completely wasting their time.