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by eben-ezer 2055 days ago
I'm currently taking online classes at a program which has had entirely online offerings for over a decade. Out of the 10+ classes I've taken so far, I'm currently enrolled in the only one that has required a lockdown browser (I haven't taken any tests yet, so I'm not sure what that will be like). Up until now, all the classes just had me sign something saying I didn't cheat. Also, usually the test was designed in such a way as to make it more difficult to cheat. About half of the classes, the tests are open-note. They combat the effectiveness of cheating by making the time of the test short enough to where if you don't know the information, you won't b able to look up more than 25% of the questions before time runs out. I can see how that wouldn't work for all classes, and admittedly I haven't taken any Math or Science courses so it may be different in that arena, but it seems like they have decided to take a different route than the schools mentioned in the article, and presumably haven't had any issues.
1 comments

I'm an undergrad studying biochem, and my professors have also made their exams open-notes but timed. There are more short free-response questions than previous years. Also, the questions are focused on synthesizing the material rather than recalling minutiae. I think it's a good compromise, especially since you can't rely on Ctrl+F when you have to reason beyond the material in your own words.