On the Fairness of Multiple-Variant Multiple-Choice Examinations

Academic dishonesty is a widely acknowledged problem in tertiary education, and a range of safeguards and tools exist to both deter and detect cheating. During tests and examinations students are often monitored closely by invigilators, however incidents of misconduct still occur. Multiple-choice questions (MCQs) are particularly susceptible in this regard due to the simplicity with which answers can be communicated. Nonetheless, they are commonly used in large classes due to their convenience. In this work we investigate multiple-variant MCQs, where answer options are randomly selected from predefined sets. This format is less prone to student cheating and overcomes several weaknesses of similar methods. We evaluate this approach in two large computer science courses through student questionnaires and simple item analysis. We find that multiple-variant MCQ exams are perceived as an effective way to reduce cheating behavior, however not all question variants are equally difficult. This introduces concerns around fairness and we discuss approaches to mitigate these issues in the future.