Abstract:

As online education has become an enduring component of higher education, online exam proctoring has been increasingly adopted to support academic integrity in fully online and hybrid courses. Although a growing body of research has examined online proctoring in relation to exam anxiety, academic integrity, student performance, and perceived legitimacy, the literature remains methodologically fragmented and relies largely on study-specific or single-construct measures. To date, there is no widely adopted, psychometrically validated instrument designed specifically to fully assess experiences with online proctored exams as a multidimensional construct. The present study addresses this gap by developing and initially validating a concise scale measuring these student experiences.

Using a two-phase scale development design, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted with independent samples drawn from two undergraduate online upper-division courses at a public research university in the United States. In the first phase, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted using principal axis factoring with Promax rotation on survey responses from over 300 students. Factor retention was guided by eigenvalues, scree plot inspection, and theoretical interpretability, with iterative evaluation of item performance based on factor loadings, cross-loadings, inter-item correlations, and communalities. In the second phase, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted using maximum likelihood estimation on an independent sample of over 120 students to examine the plausibility of the factor structure identified in the EFA.

Results of the EFA supported a three-factor solution comprising 12 items. The retained factors reflected aspects such as system fairness, technical uncertainty, perceived benefits of online proctoring, and exam quality. Factor loadings were substantial and conceptually coherent, and inter-factor correlations supported the use of an oblique rotation. The CFA provided initial empirical support for the proposed three-factor measurement model. Standardized factor loadings were statistically significant and largely exceeded recommended thresholds, indicating acceptable item–factor relationships. Overall model fit indices suggested acceptable fit for an early-stage measurement model, supporting the plausibility of the factor structure while identifying opportunities for further refinement.

The study findings provide preliminary evidence for a theoretically grounded, multidimensional scale assessing student experiences with online proctored exams. The scale offers a practical tool for future research examining relationships between online proctoring experiences and academic outcomes, as well as for institutional efforts to evaluate and improve assessment practices in online and hybrid higher education contexts.

Keywords:

Online, Exam, Proctoring, EFA, CFA.