Webcam as a New Invigilation Method: Students' Comfort and Potential for Cheating

Abstract

The purpose of this descriptive survey study was to determine the comfort of nurse practitioner (NP) students with webcam invigilation of online examinations and the effectiveness of webcam invigilation in preventing students from cheating. An online questionnaire was developed for NP students currently enrolled in Ontario's Primary Health Care Nurse Practitioner program, in which online examinations are invigilated through a webcam. All students were contacted via e-mail and invited to participate in the online questionnaire. The response rate was 77%. Data were collected and analyzed. Results demonstrated that webcam invigilation can be an uncomfortable experience and that cheating on webcam-invigilated examinations is possible. The results will contribute to the scarce literature available on webcam invigilation of online examinations, but research with a larger sample is needed if results are to be generalized to the webcam invigilation process.