Student and professor use of publisher test banks and implications for fair play

This study examines whether student access to publisher test banks (PTBs) impairs the ability of PTB multiple-choice questions to distinguish between students who understand the material being tested and those who do not. We develop and validate a detection technique that can be used to detect students who use PTBs to memorize question-specific cues and correct answers. Results indicate that a significant number of students (48 percent) use PTBs and that use results in a performance advantage (approximately 30 percent) on exams. Results indicate that student use of PTBs may significantly impair the ability of a professor, who uses PTBs to create in-class exams, to distinguish between students who understand the material and students who do not understand the material. Results serve to inform professors who were either unaware of student access to PTBs, or who were unaware of the extent with which student access to PTBs can impair fair play in the classroom. We discuss the pedagogical implications that arise from our findings and provide some insight about how fair play may be restored in the short- and long-run.