Google first adapted this method to prevent cheating and to conduct fair and square interviews.
Now a Turkish University has brought in the same technique to conduct online exams. The Bilkent University, situated in Ankara, has dispatched medium-sized mirrors to all its students to ensure fair examination. Students have been directed to place these mirrors behind them while they take tests.
Securing Online Exams
The novel method makes sure that no one cheats as the mirrors placed behind the students display their screens or something behind the computer’s camera that could be of any help.
Chancellor Abdullah Atalar, while speaking with TRT World, said that the attempt is to secure the online exams by ensuring that there are zero margins to cheat while students take their upcoming examinations. The Chancellor added that we don’t doubt that our students cheat; instead, we applied this method to conduct a fair examination.
Atalar said the mirrors are not the only technique we are using to prevent cheating in exams. Other than this, the university uses handwritten scanned answer sheets for the evaluation of each paper.
The mirror technique sounds like a fool-proof method to prevent cheating in examinations. If applied at large, it could ensure fair and square examinations worldwide amidst the ongoing pandemic and at home examinations. It is not much expensive as each medium-sized mirror costs only 3-4 Dollars each.
Honor Pledge
The school has an honor pledge that each student has to sign.
Bilkent University’s pledge says, “I pledge on my honor that the work that I will submit for my final exams will be completely my own. I will not take or utilize any unofficial assistance from any source, nor will I give such support to others. I understand and accept that any violation of integrity on my part will result in a disciplinary hearing and may lead to severe penalties.”
Atalar emphasized the point that the school does not say its students are cheaters. Instead, the mirror technique is implemented to ensure future employers that they cleared their respective examinations from what they have learned in their academic tenure.