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

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.