Cheating in an exam no longer involves merely hiding a crib sheet or secretly checking a mobile phone. Academic fraud has also evolved alongside technology and artificial intelligence, creating new challenges for teaching staff. To address them, the University of Zaragoza will offer its faculty online training sessions designed to prevent, identify and respond to potential cases of plagiarism and fraud in assessments.
The Group of Nine Universities (G-9) is responsible for promoting this training program, aimed at faculty members of the universities that belong to the alliance. The initiative was proposed during a meeting of the G-9 Sectoral Committee on Digital Transformation, held this week at the University of Zaragoza's Paraninfo and chaired by Ramón Gonzalo, rector of the Public University of Navarre.
The proposal follows a presentation by David Asiain, a professor at the Polytechnic University School of La Almunia, which is affiliated with the University of Zaragoza. During the session, he demonstrated various technological devices and tools that can be used to cheat in exams and explained how teaching staff can detect such practices.
FROM TRADITIONAL METHODS TO THE MOST ADVANCED
Asiain reviewed how cheating methods have evolved, from the most traditional techniques to the use of virtually invisible earpieces, hidden cameras, connected devices and artificial intelligence tools. These advances are forcing universities to update their fraud prevention and detection systems and also reconsider how assessments are conducted.
“Cheating methods in exams have evolved considerably with new devices and artificial intelligence. It is essential for teaching staff to know the tools available to them to address, detect and prevent these new forms of fraud,” David Asiain said.
In response to this situation, the Sectoral Committee proposed launching a series of online training sessions for faculty members at G-9 universities. The first would be led by David Asiain himself and would provide practical guidance on the devices used to commit fraud, how to detect them and what measures can be taken to prevent such situations.
Javier Fabra, the host vice rector for Digital Strategy and Artificial Intelligence, explained that the aim is to “provide practical training on the devices and technologies used to commit fraud, the tools available to detect them and the measures teaching staff can take to prevent these situations.”
The meeting also highlighted the need to adapt assessment methods in response to the advance of artificial intelligence, which is capable of generating answers and completing certain tasks automatically. Among the options under consideration is the design of exams that are more contextualized and linked to real, recent cases, requiring students to apply knowledge, reason and demonstrate that they truly understand the subject.
