Patent Application
20170193845
The present invention relates to digital education settings, and more specifically, to a computer-implemented method and system for determining or detecting anomalous behavior in a digital education setting.
Computer-aided testing is becoming more prevalent as users of data networks realize the potential to administer and score the test via electronic means. Many facilities administering standardized tests are now using electronic devices as a replacement to traditional paper answer sheets.
Cheating on exams is a problematic habit that prevents educators from properly determining how well their students are able to acquire and apply information taught in the class. Cheating detection and prevention is a hard task considering that there are several forms of cheating: examinees can do it individually (e.g., using cheat sheets) or in group (by copying one from another). In this scenario, anti-cheating mechanisms applied in schools are fundamental to assist the proctors during the exams.
Therefore, it is desirable to have an apparatus, system and method by which a testing environment can be monitored.
According to an embodiment, a computer-implemented method for determining anomalous behavior in a digital education setting is provided. The method including the steps of: receiving, by a processor of a computer system, data corresponding to a position of a device with respect to at least one axis of the device; determining, by the processor of the computer system, whether the position of the device is an appropriate location for an intended use of the device; and notifying, by the processor of the computer system, wherein the device is not in an appropriate location for an intended use of the device.
According to another embodiment, a system for determining anomalous behavior in a digital education setting, the system having: a memory; a processor communicatively coupled to the memory, wherein the processor is configured to perform: receiving, by a processor of a computer system, data corresponding to a position of a device with respect to at least one axis of the device; determining, by the processor of the computer system, whether the position of the device is an appropriate location for an intended use of the device; and notifying, by the processor of the computer system, wherein the device is not in an appropriate location for an intended use of the device.
According to yet another embodiment, a computer program product for determining anomalous behavior in a digital education setting is provided. The computer program product having: a non-transitory storage medium readable by a processing circuit and storing instructions for execution by the processing circuit for performing a method comprising: receiving, by a processor of a computer system, data corresponding to a position of a device with respect to at least one axis of the device; determining, by the processor of the computer system, whether the position of the device is an appropriate location for an intended use of the device; and notifying, by the processor of the computer system, wherein the device is not in an appropriate location for an intended use of the device.
The accompanying figures wherein reference numerals refer to identical or functionally similar elements throughout the separate views, and which together with the detailed description below are incorporated in and form part of the specification, serve to further illustrate various embodiments and to explain various principles and advantages all in accordance with the present invention, in which:
With reference now to
Referring now to
As is known the related arts device and referring now to
The bus 130 represents one or more of any of several types of bus structures, including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus, an accelerated graphics port, and a processor or local bus using any of a variety of bus architectures. By way of example, and not limitation, such architectures include Industry Standard Architecture bus, Micro Channel Architecture bus, Enhanced ISA bus, Video Electronics Standards Association local bus and Peripheral Component Interconnects bus.
Although not shown in
Program/utility 160, having a set of program modules 170, may be stored in memory 120 by way of example, and not limitation, as well as an operating system, one or more application programs, other program modules, and program data. Each of the operating system, one or more application programs, other program modules, and program data or some combination thereof, may include an implementation of a networking environment. Program modules 170 generally carry out the functions and/or methodologies of the embodiments described herein.
The device 12 can also communicate with one or more external or associated devices 180 such as a keyboard, a pointing device, a display 190, etc.; one or more devices that enable a user to interact with the device 12; and/or any devices, e.g., network card, modem, etc., that device 12 to communicate with the server 14. Such communication can occur via I/O interfaces 200. Still yet, the device 12 can communicate with one or more networks such as a local area network, a general wide area network, and/or a public network, e.g., the Internet, via network adapter 210. As depicted, the network adapter 210 communicates with the other components of device 12 via the bus 130. Other hardware and/or software components can also be used in conjunction with the device 12. Examples include, but are not limited to: microcode, device drivers, redundant processing units, external disk drive arrays, RAID systems, tape drives and data archival storage systems.
Referring now to
As disclosed herein a system, method and apparatus for detecting abnormal movements on a device 12 in order to trigger notifications to the proctors conducting the exam includes a plurality of devices or digital devices that have data transmission capabilities (e.g., Wifi) with a remote server 14 such that the digital devices 12 (e.g., portable devices, laptops) are able to receive notifications from a proctor via a proctor device 16.
Referring now to
Once the exam has been loaded onto the device 12, the student will begin taking the exam, which may occur simultaneously along all of the devices 12 or each student may individually begin or initialize the exam taking process. The beginning of the exam taking process is illustrated by box 36. After this step has been performed, the initialized application of the digital device 12 will periodically (e.g., 100 measurements per second or any other suitable measurement period greater or less than 100 measurements per second) register sensed data or sensor data from the sensors (e.g., gyroscope 18 and an accelerometer sensor or sensors 20) of the digital device 12. This is represented at box 38. Non-limiting examples of sensed data are: acceleration, orientation, pitch, yaw, etc., which may be attributable to the device 12 being held in an inappropriate manner consistent with cheating or other anomalous behavior.
This sensed data is then periodically (e.g., every second or any other suitable period greater or less than one second) is submitted or uploaded to the remote server 14, which is represented by box 40.
The remote sever 14 upon receipt of this data, uses it in a software application that is configured to identify potential anomalous behavior based on the sensor data. This step is illustrated at box 42. For example, the software application will upon receipt of the sensed data compare that to data consistent with a digital device being used in an appropriate manner. This is illustrated by decision node 44. If the sensed data is consistent with a digital device being used in an appropriate manner the program continues to compare updated or newly sensed data with that of data consistent with a digital device being used in an appropriate manner until the test period has ended. This is illustrated by decision nodes 46 and/or boxes 48 and 42.
If on the other hand, the sensed data is determined to be not consistent with a digital device being used in an appropriate manner at decision node 44, the program will flag the device 12 for inappropriate use as illustrated by box 50 and the proctor will be notified, which is illustrated by box 52.
It is, of course, understood that the flow chart of
Accordingly, the system will be able to determine whether the equipped digital device 12 is in a position which is significantly different from one observed for a student who's device 12 is not in a potential cheating position or inappropriate position (e.g., 90 degrees higher than usual).
Other conditions that may be detected by the server 14 include abnormal shaking behavior of the device 12, which may be detected for example, if a student usually holds the tablet or device as a book but the device starts to shake, as this may be indicate of a student who is nervous as they may have just done something inappropriate during the test. Another condition that may be detected is abnormal and abrupt movement of the device 12. For example, if a student moves the device 12 quickly from one side to the other. So that a fellow student may look at their answer. This is illustrated in
In addition, the server 14 may also be able to determine if one of the plurality of devices has movements that are consistently out of synch with the detected movements of all of the other devices.
The server 14 or remote server 14 may be configured to send real-time notifications to a proctor's device 16 if potential anomalous behavior is observed. The potential anomalous behavior may also be presented to the proctors after the exam session has concluded.
The computer-implemented method may be used to in any test taking environment, including educational settings (e.g., universities, high schools, elementary schools); and administrative testing environments (e.g., licensing exams).
In an embodiment, the computer-implemented method utilizes one or more modules to perform one or more of the steps described above. Non-limiting examples of such modules include, but are not limited to, a recording module, e.g., an analytics module, and a comparison module, e.g., a decision management module.
A computer-implemented method for determining anomalous behavior in a digital education setting, the method comprising: receiving, by a processor of a computer system, data corresponding to a position of a device with respect to at least one axis of the device; determining, by the processor of the computer system, whether the position of the device is an appropriate location for an intended use of the device; and notifying, by the processor of the computer system, wherein the device is not in an appropriate location for an intended use of the device.
In another embodiment, a system for determining anomalous behavior in a digital education setting, the system comprising: a memory; a processor communicatively coupled to the memory, wherein the processor is configured to perform: receiving, by a processor of a computer system, data corresponding to a position of a device with respect to at least one axis of the device; determining, by the processor of the computer system, whether the position of the device is an appropriate location for an intended use of the device; and notifying, by the processor of the computer system, wherein the device is not in an appropriate location for an intended use of the device.
In yet another embodiment, a computer program product for determining anomalous behavior in a digital education setting, the computer program product comprising: a non-transitory storage medium readable by a processing circuit and storing instructions for execution by the processing circuit for performing a method comprising: receiving, by a processor of a computer system, data corresponding to a position of a device with respect to at least one axis of the device; determining, by the processor of the computer system, whether the position of the device is an appropriate location for an intended use of the device; and notifying, by the processor of the computer system, wherein the device is not in an appropriate location for an intended use of the device.
Referring to
The bus 330 represents one or more of any of several types of bus structures, including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus, an accelerated graphics port, and a processor or local bus using any of a variety of bus architectures. By way of example, and not limitation, such architectures include Industry Standard Architecture bus, Micro Channel Architecture bus, Enhanced ISA bus, Video Electronics Standards Association local bus and Peripheral Component Interconnects bus.
Although not shown in
Program/utility 360, having a set of program modules 370, may be stored in memory 320 by way of example, and not limitation, as well as an operating system, one or more application programs, other program modules, and program data. Each of the operating system, one or more application programs, other program modules, and program data or some combination thereof, may include an implementation of a networking environment. Program modules 370 generally carry out the functions and/or methodologies of the embodiments described herein.
The information processing system 300 can also communicate with one or more external devices 380 such as a keyboard, a pointing device, a display 390, etc.; one or more devices that enable a user to interact with the information processing system 300; and/or any devices, e.g., network card, modem, etc., that enable computer system/server 300 to communicate with one or more other computing devices. Such communication can occur via I/O interfaces 400. Still yet, the information processing system 300 can communicate with one or more networks such as a local area network, a general wide area network, and/or a public network, e.g., the Internet, via network adapter 410. As depicted, the network adapter 410 communicates with the other components of information processing system 300 via the bus 330. Other hardware and/or software components can also be used in conjunction with the information processing system 300. Examples include, but are not limited to: microcode, device drivers, redundant processing units, external disk drive arrays, RAID systems, tape drives and data archival storage systems.
Certain aspects of the embodiments described herein may be a system, method or computer program product. Accordingly, the embodiments described herein may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may all generally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.” Furthermore, embodiments described herein may take the form of a computer program product embodied in one or more computer readable medium(s) having computer readable program code embodied thereon.
Any combination of one or more computer readable medium(s) may be utilized. The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer readable storage medium would include the following: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory, a read-only memory, an erasable programmable read-only memory, an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory, an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. In the context of this document, a computer readable storage medium may be any tangible medium that can contain, or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus or device.
A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signal with computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, in baseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may take any of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to, electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. A computer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium that is not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate, propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.
Program code embodied on a computer readable medium may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless, wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination of the foregoing.
Computer program code for carrying out operations for the embodiments described herein may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programming languages. The program code may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).
Aspects of the present invention have been discussed above with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems) and computer program products according to various embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable medium that can direct a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer readable medium produce an article of manufacture including instructions which implement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, other programmable apparatus or other devices to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide processes for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate the architecture, functionality and operation of possible implementations of systems, methods and computer program products according to various embodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment or portion of instructions which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specified functions or acts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.
The descriptions of the various embodiments of the present invention have been presented for purposes of illustration, but are not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the embodiments disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the described embodiments. The terminology used herein was chosen to best explain the principles of the embodiments, the practical application or technical improvement over technologies found in the marketplace, or to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the embodiments disclosed herein.
