How to Prevent AI-Assisted Cheating in Classroom Exams: A Guide for Professors

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AI is everywhere. Students know it. You know it. During exams, some will try to use it. You can’t block everything, but you can raise the cost, shrink the payoff, and keep your grades honest.

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What AI Cheating Looks Like in 2025

Academic dishonesty has evolved far beyond crib sheets. Today’s students have instant access to smartphone apps that solve problems step-by-step, AI chatbots that generate polished essays and code, and browser extensions that enable rapid answer lookup during unsupervised assessments. Most of these tools are free, require no technical expertise, and many students rationalize their use as legitimate study help rather than cheating.

Online and take-home exams are especially vulnerable. Without supervision, students can freely consult these resources during the assessment window. Meanwhile, detection remains unreliable—automated AI detectors produce frequent false positives and negatives, and sophisticated outputs can be easily edited to appear authentic. Institutions report catching more AI-assisted cheating cases than ever before while acknowledging that many likely go undetected.

Schools are responding by redesigning assessments rather than relying on detection technology. Solutions include more in-person proctored exams, oral defenses, authentic classroom assessments, and explicit policies governing AI use. The reality is clear: when testing moves online without adequate safeguards, the technological advantage shifts decisively to those willing to exploit it.

Low-Tech Solutions Work Best: Multiple Choice Tests on Printed Paper

The most reliable defense against technology-enabled cheating is surprisingly low-tech: in-person, paper-based multiple choice exams administered in a controlled environment. While this approach may seem outdated, it remains the gold standard for assessment integrity. Students can’t consult AI chatbots, search engines, or homework sites when they’re sitting in a proctored room with nothing but a pencil and bubble sheet.

Even in-person exams administered on computers or tablets fail to provide the same level of security. Students can exploit split-screen functionality, hidden browser tabs, or messaging apps to access unauthorized resources. Sophisticated students have been caught using secondary devices, screen-sharing with remote helpers, or employing browser extensions designed specifically to evade monitoring software. Lockdown browsers and proctoring software create an arms race between detection and evasion that institutions rarely win.

Paper exams eliminate these vulnerabilities entirely. There are no browsers to lock down, no apps to monitor, no network connections to secure. Proctors can easily scan a room and identify unusual behavior—a much simpler task than detecting subtle digital cheating across dozens of screens. The format also forces students to rely on actual knowledge rather than test-taking strategies that exploit technology. Yes, paper exams require physical space, scheduling coordination, and manual grading. But for high-stakes assessments where accurate measurement matters, these inconveniences are worthwhile tradeoffs.

If your goal as an instructor is to truly assess what students know rather than how well they can navigate digital tools, sometimes the old way is still the best way.

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Strengthen Paper Exams with Multiple Versions and Randomization

Paper exams aren’t foolproof. Students can glance at neighboring tests, consult hidden notes, or coordinate with others. But the real vulnerability of multiple choice exams is the bubble sheet itself—even from several feet away, filled-in bubbles create a distinctive visual pattern that’s remarkably easy to read. A student doesn’t need to see the actual questions to copy answers; they just need a sight line to someone’s answer sheet. The contrast between marked and unmarked ovals makes cheating possible even when students are spaced apart.

Multiple exam versions with randomized elements effectively neutralize this advantage. When answer choices are shuffled, “C” on one test corresponds to a completely different answer on another. Randomizing question order adds another layer of protection, ensuring students work through material in different sequences. A student who copies their neighbor’s bubble pattern will likely get most answers wrong, and the deterrent effect is powerful—once students realize adjacent exams are different versions, the risk isn’t worth the effort.

Modern test bank software and learning management systems can automate this randomization with minimal instructor effort. For maximum security, combine shuffled versions with strategic seating—assigned seats or empty chairs between students. These simple measures transform multiple choice exams from highly vulnerable to remarkably secure assessment tools.

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FAQ

Are paper exams still the best defense against cheating? For high-stakes assessments, yes. Proctored, device-free, paper exams eliminate access to AI chatbots, answer apps, and search engines—the primary cheating channels. While they require physical space and coordination, they remain the most reliable way to ensure students are demonstrating their own knowledge.

Can I rely on browser lockdown software? Not as your primary defense. Lockdown browsers can be bypassed through virtual machines, secondary devices, screen-sharing software, or smartphone apps running alongside the locked-down computer. Tech-savvy students routinely find workarounds, and the software creates a false sense of security while burdening honest students with technical issues and compatibility problems. If you use online exams, treat lockdown browsers as one layer in a multi-faceted approach—combine them with shorter time limits, question randomization, and proctoring. Better yet, recognize that truly secure assessment requires either in-person paper exams or assignment designs that make cheating irrelevant.

How many exam versions should I create? Aim for at least 3–4 versions with randomized question order and shuffled answer choices. More versions provide better security if your test bank software can maintain consistent difficulty across versions. The key is making it impossible for students to benefit from glancing at a neighbor’s bubble sheet—even spacing students apart won’t help if everyone has the same exam version.

Isn’t creating multiple versions and secure exams a lot of work? With modern test bank software, the upfront effort is minimal. Once you build a question bank, generating multiple randomized versions takes just a few clicks. The time investment pays off by preserving exam integrity and reducing the need for post-exam investigations into cheating. Over time, you’ll develop a reusable library of questions that makes future test creation even faster.

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