Assessing the usability of smartwatches for academic cheating during exams

Abstract

Smartwatches are growing in usage, yet they come with the additional challenge of regulating their usage during the taking of academic tests. However, it is unclear how effective they are at actually allowing students to cheat. We conducted an experiment that examines the use of smartwatches for cheating on Multiple-Choice Questions (MCQ) and Short Answers (SA) with either Pictures/Text shown on the watch to aid students. Our results indicate that smartwatches are neither efficient nor have a high usability rating for cheating. However, students are able to score higher on Multiple-Choice Questions compared to Short Answers. We use the cheating paradigm as an example to understand the perceived usability and appropriation of smartwatches in an academic setting. We provide suggestions that help to deter cheating in an academic setting. Our study contributes to the research on academic integrity and the growing demand of wearable technologies.