The Impact of Online Assessment on Grades in Community College Distance Education Mathematics Courses

Abstract This study compared the impact of proctoring on the final course grades of community college students enrolled in distance education mathematics courses. The goal was to determine whether distance education students who are evaluated entirely online, in environments that are not proctored, receive grades that differ from distance education students who take proctored exams. In an analysis of 850 grades from a variety of distance education mathematics courses, 406 were given to students who were evaluated in a proctored environment, and the remaining 444 were a result of assessment that was conducted entirely in the online setting and was not proctored. Statistical analysis revealed no significant difference between the grades that were earned in any of the individual courses. Also, no significant difference was found when the grades of the 406 students who took exams in person were compared with the 444 who were assessed entirely in an unsupervised online environment.