Proctoring Guide

Before an activity

• Give all students the Student's Guide and encourage them to install and open MATCHA well ahead of time. Ask them to report installation or launch problems before the day of the activity.
• If students write on their own computers, as MATCHA is designed to support, establish procedures in advance for handling computer malfunctions. We recommend planning a pencil-and-paper fallback.
• Telling students about the paper fallback in advance can also encourage them to bring reliable computers.
• Make sure all proctors have accounts and are on the activity's staff list. Manage staff lists in the Dashboard . To use a list, assign it to the activity in its settings; creating a list without assigning it is an easy step to overlook. People added to a staff list are automatically invited to create accounts and join your organization as needed. You can also add people with existing accounts, including instructors.
• Tell proctors whether the activity allows MATCHA's built-in AI assistant and, if so, what level of help is permitted. Permitted AI help inside MATCHA is distinct from using outside AI tools or separate devices.

During an activity

Open MATCHA Proctor

Both instructors and proctors access MATCHA Proctor from the MATCHA Proctor button in Dashboard .

Starting instructions for students

Single-App Mode is normally enabled for examinations. Ask students to put their computers in Do Not Disturb mode (or the equivalent) for the duration of the activity. They should also close any application with an always-on-top window, such as Zoom. To avoid problems, they should close all applications except MATCHA.

For an access-code activity rather than an LTI activity, display the access code on the whiteboard. You can find the code by selecting the activity in Proctor. Tell students to open MATCHA, select Start an instructor-led activity , and enter the code along with the instructor's last name.

When you are ready, start the activity in MATCHA Proctor .

Check-in and check-out

Check-in is normally enabled for supervised activities. Before they can write, students see a wait screen with a large QR code, even after the activity has started. Use MATCHA Proctor to scan each code and check the student in. This helps ensure that every student is working in the supervised space.

Checking in every student before writing begins is often impractical. The Start writing option in the Action menu lets students who are already connected begin before check-in. After writing begins, check them in using the QR code at the top of their screen. By default, MATCHA records them as checked in from the start of the activity.

Use this option carefully. Because it unlocks all connected students at once, a student outside the room could begin writing after receiving the access code from someone else. Watch late arrivals closely. If a student's editor is already unlocked when they enter the room, they connected from outside. Have them restart the activity and check them in from the wait screen.

When students finish writing, check them out by scanning the QR code on the Submit tab in MATCHA Writer. Students who are required to check out before submitting. (This prevents students from leaving the room, working more with help, then submitting.)

Single-App Mode lock screens

In a proctored activity with Single-App Mode enabled, students must keep MATCHA fullscreen without placing other windows on top.

MATCHA enforces these requirements without making deep changes to a student's computer. Such changes would require administrator privileges and could cause system problems, so MATCHA locks only itself when it detects a policy violation rather than locking the entire computer.

If a student leaves MATCHA or another window appears on top while Single-App Mode is enabled, MATCHA displays a red lock screen and prevents the student from writing. The lock screen summarizes what happened. A proctor can scan its QR code to review more details and unlock MATCHA.

A proctor must determine whether the lock indicates academic misconduct, such as consulting prohibited notes, or an honest mistake or software issue. Use the following guidance along with your judgment:

• Identify the event. Did the student leave MATCHA, reported as a "focus lost" policy violation, or did another window appear on top, reported as "overlay detected"?
• Review the overlay. When another application appears on top, MATCHA reports its name, and the application may still be visible. Decide whether it is benign. After scanning the QR code, you can exempt a benign application from triggering overlay detection. MATCHA also shows when the application appeared; one that appeared only a few seconds ago is less likely to be significant. Use your judgment to determine whether it is a cheating tool or merely a distraction. Benign applications can appear on top because MATCHA does not aggressively suppress other applications, although it terminates overlay applications when it can do so without administrator privileges.
• Review how long focus was lost. This duration can help you determine whether the student may have been trying to cheat. A student who accidentally leaves MATCHA will normally return immediately. MATCHA generally prevents students from switching to other applications, but its non-intrusive approach cannot prevent every method of switching.

We strongly recommend proctoring from the back of the room so that red lock screens are immediately visible.

You may also encounter the yellow "session suspended" screen. It appears when a computer has been disconnected from the MATCHA server for too long, such as after the computer goes to sleep.

AI assistant use

If the instructor enabled MATCHA's AI assistant, students may use it at the configured level during the activity. AI-made changes are tracked and reported in the Writing Analysis. Proctors should intervene only when students use AI outside MATCHA, exceed the permitted assistant level, or use another device or service in violation of the activity rules.

Outage codes

If a student loses access to MATCHA services during the activity, a proctor can authorize outage mode with an outage code so the student can continue writing locally. Grant outage approval only when the student genuinely cannot connect and should be allowed to continue.

Outage mode has important limitations, especially around later submission and certification. See the Internet and power outages guide for the full procedure and recovery requirements.

Cheating reports

If cheating reports are enabled, students can discreetly report suspicious behavior during the activity. Reports appear in MATCHA Proctor with the reporting student's name, seat number, and the relative direction of the concern. These details help proctors investigate quickly in the room.

Operational recommendations for proctors

• Proctor from the back of the room so that lock screens are immediately visible.
• Watch MATCHA Proctor for cheating-report notifications.
• Use seat numbers consistently if the room layout allows it, since this makes both attendance records and cheating reports more useful.