Thu 19 Feb 2026 16:40 - 17:00 at Meeting Room 105 - Student Behaviors and Reasoning Chair(s): Jelena Trajkovic

As undergraduate computer science classes grow in size, institutions increasingly rely on asynchronous computer-based assessments. However, concerns about academic integrity remain. To investigate whether exam timing reveals evidence of cheating, we analyze 21,403 submissions from 51 asynchronous exams across two undergraduate courses. We extend prior research on proctored, multi-day exams by introducing a comparison in student performance trends between two distinct assessment modes: on-site proctored and off-site unproctored. We find that performance declines throughout the exam window in both modes, suggesting the absence of widespread collaborative cheating. We observe a weak negative correlation between start time and performance, with standardized scores decreasing by 0.14 points per hour (on-site proctored) and 0.61 points per hour (off-site unproctored). In addition, start-time distributions and student surveys reveal behavioral differences. On-site proctored exams follow a centered start-time distribution, likely influenced by a reserved lecture hour. In contrast, off-site unproctored exams show a left-tailed distribution, with most students starting later than intended. This pattern suggests that greater scheduling flexibility leads to later exam starts, potentially exacerbating performance declines due to academic procrastination.

Thu 19 Feb

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15:40 - 17:00
Student Behaviors and ReasoningPapers at Meeting Room 105
Chair(s): Jelena Trajkovic California State University Long Beach
15:40
20m
Talk
Analogical Reasoning in Undergraduate Algorithms
Papers
Jonathan Liu University of Chicago, Erica Goodwin University of Chicago, Diana Franklin University of Chicago
16:00
20m
Talk
Choosing Their Own Way: Guided Self-Placement for Students in an Introductory Programming Sequence
Papers
Brett Wortzman pc, Melissa Chen Northwestern University, Miya Natsuhara University of Washington, Seattle, Eleanor O'Rourke Northwestern University
16:20
20m
Talk
Investigating Answer Choice Bias within a College-Level Introductory Computing Assessment
Papers
Miranda Parker University of North Carolina Charlotte, Sin Yu Ciou University of Washington, Yale Quan University of Washington, He Ren University of Washington, Chun Wang University of Washington, Min Li University of Washington
16:40
20m
Talk
Performance and Start-Time Trends in Asynchronous Computer-Based AssessmentsGlobal
Papers
Iris Xu University of British Columbia, Romina Mahinpei Princeton University, Steve Wolfman University of British Columbia, Firas Moosvi University of British Columbia Okanagan