Resources to Set You Up for Proctoring Success
At the 2017 PAEA Education Forum, we ran two successful — and completely full — Exam Preview for Faculty sessions. During these sessions, PA faculty members not only took a real PAEA End of Rotation™ exam, but also saw PAEA Assessment team leaders modeling proctoring best practices, including:
- Active observation of examinees’ physical space
- Close, undistracted monitoring of the ExamDriver proctor portal
- Follow-up on all inappropriate activity alerts
An essential part of these best practices were the pre-exam instructions, which complement active proctoring to help deter inappropriate behavior. Now, PAEA has introduced a model proctor instruction script that program faculty and staff can use to communicate guidelines for appropriate exam behavior as well as introduce some basics of the exam system.
The instructions include the seemingly obvious and general rules applicable to most exam administrations – put away all books and notes, close all other computer applications and documents, and no assistance with exam content is available. But they also include a few items that are specific to PAEA Assessment exams, like the need to disable popup blockers and that viewing the tutorial will not take away from students’ exam time.
To assist the proctor, the instructions include the types of behavior to which the ExamDriver system alerts proctors – taking screenshots and viewing things on the computer other than the exam window – in the hopes that this knowledge will stop those students tempted to violate the student honor code.
Instructions like these are meant to be given before every exam event, in accordance with the proctor acknowledgment that must be read and acknowledged before launching each proctoring session. But are also adaptable to non-PAEA Assessment exams.
Your role as an active proctor is valued as an important component of a successful exam administration. The instructions that you provide reinforce the student honor code and ensure that students know they, too, play a role in maintaining the value of the exams. The responsibilities that PAEA, your program, your students, and you all share are important to the integrity, validity, and security of PAEA Assessment exams.
For more resources like these, including proctoring best practices videos and exam policies, as well as the form to sign up to purchase and deliver PAEA Assessment exams at your program, visit our Proctor Resources page.
