Modeling and Simulation of Online Examinations Procedures in COVID-19 Pandemic Using Arena Software: A Case Study

The outbreak of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has made higher education institutions around the world shift to online education. Online exams are exponentially expanding as part of this online education. Although online exams have been implemented a few decades back, there are still impacts on online evaluation methods, gaps in students' priorities, and challenges with academic dishonesty. In this study, Arena simulation is used for determining the feasibility of the framework proposed for online exams during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study investigates the implementation of online exams from three different perspectives that include students, academic staff and administrates at a state university in Sri Lanka that moved into online education and online exams amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. The framework is derived from the data collected through the mixed research method. By following a scenario-based study, the performance of the framework is simulated with Arena that determines its feasibility for real-world applications. Overall findings of this study suggest best approaches to conduct students' evaluations in online education as an alternative to coping with challenges where threats to continue academic performance.