Students of all grades have installed Respondus on their devices, a testing browser that locks down the test environment on Canvas. As in-class assessments surge in popularity, Respondus has been implemented to block access to external websites or applications during testing.
Apart from in-class writing assignments, there are additional benefits for classes using Respondus highlighted Dean of Studies and Instructor in Physics Caroline Odden.
“Respondus will be a great tool for in-class writing assignments. For many students, writing on the computer is preferable to writing by hand, and typed essays are easier to read. There are potential uses for the Respondus technology beyond in-class writing. For example, it is possible to make the Desmos graphing calculator available through Respondus — that may benefit some STEM classes. We were motivated to incorporate the Respondus LockDown browser into our suite of technology tools so that students would be able to use their computers for in-class writing assignments,” wrote Odden in an email to The Phillipian.
At Andover, where academic honesty is encouraged, the use of Respondus can be a means of ensuring it. Erin McCloskey, Associate Director of Technology, emphasized that the use of Respondus is a new way to tackle the problems stemming from generative artificial intelligence (AI).
“In a phrase, academic integrity. In response to the rapid proliferation of generative AI over the past couple of years, faculty and students have been exploring its role in learning, both to harness its power to support and augment learning and also to understand how it can give students shortcuts to produce work that doesn’t necessarily reflect their true understanding. This creates a challenging environment in which to assess students… Respondus LockDown Browser offers a technological approach, so that students cannot access other materials during an assessment,” wrote McCloskey in an email to the Phillipian.
Stephanie Curci, Instructor in English, had previously tested Respondus in the spring and recently used the application for in-class essays in ninth and twelfth grade classes. Curci spoke of Respondus’ usefulness as AI use becomes more widespread.
“A lot of people are using it due to the rise of AI. Not necessarily because we suspect that kids are going to use it, but so that we don’t have to think about it. We’re trying to make as suspicion-free a space as possible, so that then you don’t have to worry about it… The other thing you could do is have students use Blue Books [but] I can’t read students’ handwriting particularly well. I think a lot of [students] have worked for so long on computers that [they] want to be able to manipulate the text and move it around. That’s why I like [in-class essays with Respondus],” said Curci.
Jayden Roos ’29 first heard about the software from her English teacher and received a few emails from other teachers regarding its implementation. Roos shared that the use of a lockdown browser created the impression that teachers do not trust students to complete their work honestly.
“I don’t personally cheat on tests, so [Respondus is] not a big deal for me, but it is a little annoying that we have to go out of our way to download a new software. I know a lot of people with Macs are having trouble downloading it, so it could be annoying… We value academic integrity here, and everybody takes that pretty seriously, and they know the consequences if they don’t take it seriously. I personally don’t think [Respondus is] needed. It doesn’t really bother me, but it is an extra thing that shows that [teachers] don’t trust us as much,” said Roos.
While she mentioned AI use as a concern, Curci reiterated that in-class assessments predated AI. She also pointed to limited class time as a factor.
“In-class essays or things like that are not just about AI, but just about the time we have with you all. If you map out across a term, you might only have only 20 class days. If we’re going to spend a whole week working on an essay, we’ve really lost a lot of class time together. That’s also part of the calculation that teachers are making,” said Curci.
Shiloh Robinson ’27 described using Respondus for a history paper. She noted that the software malfunctioned, requiring her to repeatedly re-enter her work into the browser.
“The software’s a little bit glitchy, but other than that, I have no problem with it. When I was working, it was glitchy. I had to copy and paste my answers just to make sure they didn’t delete, and I think that could be a problem… I was not super stressed using it, but it just feels like there’s a barrier when you’re using it, so it just feels a little bit more stressful,” said Robinson.
