Southern Utah University - Associate Professor of Economics Testimonial

EXAMIND Customer Testimonial

Joshua Price- Associate Professor of Economics at Southern Utah University

"I always tell my students, I don’t want the testing conditions to make you nervous. I want the test to make you nervous. Too often students are finding that it is the testing conditions that are creating a lot of their anxiety and preventing their optimal exam performance."

What Specifically Is Causing A Negative Test Environment? 

I never realized how much students don’t like being recorded while taking an exam. I was surprised to learn that it isn't just among those students who engage in cheating behavior. It is even amongst the students who don't cheat and are high achievers. Using webcam-based proctoring has caused my students a lot more stress than I realized.

How Did You Learn That Webcam-based Proctoring Increases Student Anxiety? 

A colleague and I surveyed our students and asked them about their exam taking experience after taking a webcam-based proctored exam. The students overwhelmingly responded that they felt incredibly nervous due to the camera. They were so worried about controlling their eye movements because they knew the camera tracked their eye movement and they didn't want to be accused of cheating.

"It just made me feel a lot more sympathy for the students knowing that I had created an exam experience that was not ideal or optimal for them to show their mastery of the material."

After each semester I also ask students for feedback on how to improve the course. This past semester several students asked me to please get rid of using webcam-based proctoring as it hinders their performance. I knew I needed to make a change.

Why Did You Adopt EXAMIND? 

I was really drawn to EXAMIND's approach of using non-invasive tactical deterrents.

"One of the biggest challenges we face in academia is promoting academic integrity without sacrificing a positive student experience."

When I introduced EXAMIND's tactical deterrents into my course, it showed that students who attempted to cheat were warned and didn't try to cheat again. Only students who engaged in cheating behavior received a warning. If you look at the results of my first exam, within the first five minutes of the exam a large portion of students tried to leave the exam. They were warned and didn’t try to leave again. On the second exam a much smaller portion of students attempted to leave the exam. Once again those students who engaged in cheating behavior were warned and didn't try again. By the third exam no one was engaging in cheating behavior.

"I found that non-invasive tactical deterrents were very effective and provided a great user experience for my students."

What Other Value Have You Received by Using EXAMIND?

• I like how EXAMIND is a browser-based platform. It didn't require my students to download anything. It was really easy for students to log in using their own university email address. It didn’t take a learning experience. It was simple and a good user experience from the very first attempt.

• EXAMIND saved me a lot of time and effort trying to manage the exam. I didn't have to manage students downloading software nor dealing with technical issues during the exam. That saved a lot of time and stress. Now I could have exams due on Saturday night and not have to stay up until midnight trying to answer all of the students' questions and resolve their technical issues.

Both my students and I have been really happy with our experience using EXAMIND.