The Psychological Impact of Online Exam Proctoring: Investigating Student Learned Helplessness

By Wejdan Alharthi, Evangelos Leros, Alexander Kosecki, and Andrew Piotrowski

Arizona State University

Introduction: A Modern Education Challenge

As remote learning grows, online proctoring tools like lockdown browsers and webcam monitoring have become common in online exams. While these tools help maintain academic honesty, they can also create unintended problems for students.

Our research explores how these tools affect students emotionally, especially through something called “learned helplessness.” This feeling arises when people face situations where they feel powerless, which can lead to frustration, stress, and even disengagement.

What Is Learned Helplessness?

Learned helplessness happens when people feel stuck in situations they can’t control. Over time, this can lead to giving up or feeling defeated, even when they have the chance to change things. In online exams, students often feel helpless when:

• Automated systems flag innocent behavior, like moving their eyes or making noise.
• There’s no way to challenge these automated decisions.
• Students don’t know how their personal data is being stored or used.

These challenges add more stress during exams and can harm students’ performance and confidence.

What We Found

To understand the impact of online proctoring, we approached the research from multiple angles. We surveyed college students to hear directly about their experiences and feelings during proctored exams. To dig deeper, we used the Learned Helplessness Scale Form B (LHS Form B) to measure how much control students felt they had in these situations. Here’s what stood out:

1. Helplessness Is a Common Feeling

Students often reported feeling powerless during online exams. Strict monitoring and automated decisions left many feeling they had no control over the process, which contributed to frustration and helplessness.

Questions related to privacy and fairness stood out as major concerns in our survey responses, with many students expressing discomfort about the lack of transparency and control over these aspects.

2. Privacy Concerns Add to the Stress

One of the biggest complaints was about privacy. Students didn’t like being recorded or monitored and felt uneasy about not knowing how their data was being used or stored.

This word cloud shows some of the most common words students used to describe their experiences, like “uncomfortable,” “distracting,” and “awkward.” These words capture the emotional toll that online proctoring has on students.

Figure 1: Word cloud showing common terms from student responses. Words like “uncomfortable” and “distracting” emphasize the negative emotional impact.

3. Negative Emotions Are Prevalent

Many students described feeling frustrated and stressed. Some even said the system made them distrustful of the process. These emotions don’t just affect how students feel — they can have a real impact on how they perform during exams.

We also found a clear connection between students’ comfort levels and feelings of helplessness. The less comfortable students felt, the more helpless they said they felt. This pattern came up again and again in the data.

Figure 2: Correlation heatmap showing how lower comfort levels relate to higher feelings of helplessness.

4. The Numbers Back It Up

When we looked at the overall results, most students scored in the moderate range (20–30) on the Learned Helplessness Scale. But there were a few outliers who scored much higher, showing extreme distress. These higher scores underline just how much stress online proctoring can cause for some students.

Figure 3: Distribution of learned helplessness scores. Most students scored in the moderate range, but some showed significantly higher levels of distress.

Why This Is Important

Emotional well-being plays a huge role in academic success. When online proctoring systems leave students feeling stressed, helpless, or anxious, it directly affects their ability to focus and perform their best. The goal of these systems should be to ensure fairness, but that shouldn’t come at the cost of student well-being. Striking the right balance between academic integrity and emotional support is crucial for creating a better testing experience.

What Can Be Done?

Based on our findings, we suggest the following improvements for online proctoring:

1. Explore Alternative Assessment Methods

• Consider options like open-book exams, project-based assessments, or take-home exams. These methods allow students to demonstrate their knowledge without the high-pressure environment of strict monitoring.

2. Use Less Intrusive Monitoring:

• Proctoring tools should respect student privacy while still maintaining fairness. For example, reduce excessive surveillance or use methods that feel less invasive.

3. Be Transparent:

• Explain exactly how proctoring decisions are made and how students’ actions are interpreted. When students understand the system, they feel less powerless and more prepared.

4. Allow Feedback:

• Allow students to dispute or provide context for automated decisions. Giving students a voice helps restore their sense of control and reduces feelings of helplessness.

Conclusion

Online proctoring is a necessary part of modern education, but it’s not without flaws. By understanding and addressing its impact on students, we can create a better system — one that’s both fair and supportive.

What Do You Think?

Have you ever taken an online proctored exam? Did it make you feel stressed, frustrated, or even helpless? We’d love to hear your experiences — share your thoughts in the comments below.

If you’re a college student, you can also contribute to our research by filling out our survey here. Your responses are completely anonymous and will help us better understand how online proctoring affects students like you. Together, we can work toward creating better, more supportive exam systems.