Exam time has come and gone and grades are filed. I have never had any trouble, as far as a I know, with cheating in my exams.  My expectation is that most problems arise from plagiarism in writing assignments.   There may be people trying to cheat on my exams, I suppose, but I am not sure it would prove helpful.   I change my exams and take steps to try to make the exam as fair possible, so that cheaters, should there be any, can't get much of an advantage.  

I was interested to see the report that China took proctoring to new heights this week, according to a news report in The Guardian, China deploys drones to stamp out cheating in college entrance exams:

Authorities in China are employing surveillance drones in an effort to stamp out cheating in college entrance exams.

The stakes are high in the tests, with the scores determining which tier of university students can go to. Methods of cheating have included selling answers, hiring surrogate test takers and using wireless equipment to communicate during the test.

But this year officials have unleashed a six-propeller drone, flown over two testing centres in Luoyang in Henan province on Sunday – the first day of the exam – to scan for signals being sent to devices which may have been smuggled in. No such signals were detected, local reports said.

I suppose it makes sense to add enforcement mechanisms, especially with the stake so high for the exams.  Drones sure make my walking of the aisles seems a little outdated. 

Apparently some employers are taking steps to combat cheating, too.  Potknox, a cloud-based online assessment tool, is used by some employers to screen applicants. According to the Potknox Blog, here, there are ways to combat cheaters. Among other things, the program can take random pictures of the test-taker (which can catch them on the phone) and random screenshots (checking Wikipedia).  

Law schools that use exam software can lock out the internet, which can help limit such things, though I wonder just how much smartphones have changed the game.  I have never caught anyone looking at a phone during an exam, but these days, one could get a basic definition of the business judgment rule or the Howey Test pretty quickly, I suppose. I'd be shocked if anyone could cheat their way to a high grade on my exams, but one who is struggling might find it useful to get by.

I'll have to give some thought about other ways to catch cheating. I have almost no interest in catching cheaters, because that's awful for everyone.  However, I have zero interest in sending people out into the legal profession who would do such a thing, so I'll keep looking.