A Format for a Plagiarism-Proof Online Examination for Calculus and Linear Algebra Using Microsoft Excel

TL;DR

This paper presents a novel online exam format using protected Excel spreadsheets with randomized questions to prevent plagiarism in calculus and linear algebra courses, ensuring exam integrity and ease of grading.

Contribution

The paper introduces a secure, randomized Excel-based exam format specifically designed for online calculus and linear algebra assessments, reducing dishonesty and grading effort.

Findings

Effective prevention of plagiarism through question randomization

Low marking effort due to standardized answer formats

Successful implementation in a real calculus course

Abstract

As educational systems move from onsite to online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, teachers face the difficulty of designing online examination formats which minimise opportunities for dishonesty. In this paper, we expose our design of such a format: a protected Microsoft Excel spreadsheet containing short-answer questions, which was implemented in a calculus module taught by us. This format allows examiners to randomise questions with the aim that each student receives each question with different numerical details, making plagiarism impossible, while keeping the marking effort very low.