The Mixed-Bag Impact of Online Proctoring Software in Undergraduate Courses

Abstract

This quantitative study is designed to help educational institutions and instructors make informed decisions regarding the use of online proctoring software. The researchers studied the impact of proctoring software in online courses by comparing the final grades of two groups of online, undergraduate students who took the same online course with the same professor who administered virtually the same content, with and without proctoring software. The overall sample included 252 students in six different undergraduate courses. When regressing all six courses together, the data did not show that the addition of proctoring software created a significantly lower course grade. The researchers then regressed the data of each individual undergraduate course, with the addition of independent variables, which had a mixed-bag of results. Interestingly, an undergraduate business course showed that the use of proctoring software reduced course grades while other courses produced interesting significant findings relative to gender and attendance status.