Cheating and Security on the AP Exams Spring 2021
Covid-19 Series The Princeton Review
Hi there, everyone, and welcome to our latest video about the AP
exams—and how Covid-19 closures could affect your test-taking experience. I’m Rob Franek,
Editor-in-Chief at The Princeton Review, and today we’re covering a topic we get
asked about a lot—how the College Board plans to prevent cheating on the AP exams this year.
Quick recap from our last video about the structure of the exams—this
year, the AP exams will be offered in two formats: as a traditional
paper-and-pencil exam and as a full-length digital exam. They’ll also be offered both in-school and
remotely. While the new digital option provides students and administrators with much-needed
flexibility in testing location, it also requires new security measures to prevent cheating—since
unlike in last year’s unusual exams, your notes, books, and other study aids will not be permitted.
We’re going to go through together the security measures that the College
Board has put in place for each exam format—starting with the digital exam,
which is what we’re hearing the most about from students right now.
Let’s start by talking about what won’t be in place, and that is cameras of any kind.
I want to clear up any confusion about the need for cameras and photo IDs
on the digital exam right now! While the College Board had initially said that students would
need a computer with a webcam and a photo ID for security purposes, they have since
reconsidered the requirement. So, you will not be required to have a working webcam or photo ID for
the digital AP exam. In short, if you’re taking the exam at home, no one will be watching you.
So anti-cheating measures will be all the more important. Here’s what you can expect.
(Just a quick note that what I’m about to tell you
about digital exams applies to all digital exams except for Chinese and Japanese exams.)
For starters, all digital exams will begin at the same time worldwide—with synchronous section
start times. That means whether you’re taking the exam in Honolulu, Toronto, or Mumbai, you will be
taking the exam at the exact same time! There are two testing times: 12 noon Eastern Daylight Time,
and 4 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. (That also means that if you’re in, for instance, Honolulu,
you might be starting an exam at 6:00 a.m.; or if you’re in Mumbai, you might be starting
an exam at 1:30 a.m.) It’s far from ideal for students outside the continental United States,
but this measure does help ensure that students won’t have an advantage based on information
received from those folks taking the exam earlier elsewhere in the world.
Second, in order to take the digital exam, you’ll need to
download the exam app 1 to 3 days before each of your exams. This app includes
security features designed to prevent students from collaborating,
accessing unapproved aids, or attempting to have someone else test on their behalf.
Third, the exam will also include plagiarism
detection software and other post-exam analysis features to detect potential
exam violations that could result in the cancellation of a student’s score.
Fourth, the digital exam will limit how students navigate questions. For security purposes,
students will not be allowed to return to answered questions or
move back and forth between unanswered questions.
This is a critical difference between the digital exam and the paper-and-pencil exam! So, if you’re
taking the digital exam, please remember that if you skip ahead, you won’t be able to go back!
Friends, I want to take a moment to emphasize the importance of this change for your test-taking
strategy. The ability to move back and forth between unanswered questions is key to a strategy
that involves answering questions out of order. If you’re taking the digital exam, you will not
have the luxury to choose the order in which you answer questions,
meaning that you can’t tackle easier ones first and secure those points—so
you’ll need to plan your time management accordingly. When you prep, practice not
being able to move from question to question, and allocate your time per question with that in mind.
Now, for free-response questions that show multiple question parts on different screens,
students will be able to go back and forth between the various parts of the question.
However, once you answer the last part of the question and move on to a new question,
you will not be able to go back to any part of the previous question.
Fifth, students will need to type all responses directly into the app,
where your work will be automatically saved as you type. This is yet
another cheating prevention measure; the exam logs what you type as you type it,
and you will not be allowed to upload any files or submit handwritten responses.
Sixth, the College Board is going to be very intentional about excluding questions that can
be answered with internet searches, textbooks, notes, study guides, or other related material.
Seventh, keep in mind that the digital exams will be compatible on desktops
and laptops, including PCs, Macs, and school-managed Chromebooks. However,
smartphones and students’ personal Chromebooks
may not be used for the digital exam—this is another measure implemented for added security.
Now, let’s switch gears and talk about cheating prevention measures for the pencil-and-paper
exam. This traditional exam format will follow the standard security procedures
found in previous years, including having exam proctors that will be present at all
times in every testing room where AP exams are being administered.
Additionally, electronic equipment
including phones, smartwatches, laptops, tablet computers, bluetooth devices, cameras,
and other devices that can access the internet are prohibited in the exam room and break area.
Next, for any exam given in school, whether paper-and-pencil or digital,
the seating policy requires that students be seated a minimum of 5 feet apart to maintain
exam security. In reality, schools may opt to seat students even farther apart,
as needed, to meet social-distancing guidelines.
Lastly, AP exam Terms and Conditions are available on the College Board’s website (we’ll put the
links in the video description). Please take some time to review them before exam day. On
the day of the exam, you will be required to sign a statement
on your answer sheet acknowledging you have read and agree to the terms and conditions.
That’s all for today! If you enjoyed today’s video, please give it a thumbs up!
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out our Princeton Review AP Cram Courses for individual students, and of course our Princeton
Review AP books. However you prep, know that we’re rooting for you every step of the way!