Managing Academic Integrity & Honesty in the Online Environment

By moving online, a multitude of questions may arise from what can feel like the loss of a controlled environment. Some questions may race through your head such as, “Are my students going to cheat? And if so, what can I do to minimize those attempts?” Although there are many ways to combat cheating, let’s face it, some students will attempt it regardless of course mode. In the face of larger numbers of students in online courses and the challenge of designing effective assessments in an online environment, you may need to implement scalable strategies that mitigate academic integrity issues. 

Instructional Strategies & Best Practices

Academic Integrity

“Do you expect technology to compensate for a lack of ethics? (Dzuiban, 2010)”

In regard to academic integrity, Dr. Dzuiban, director of The Research Initiative for Teaching Effectiveness (RITE) has sometimes challenged participants in faculty development with that question. No matter how effective or advanced the assessment technology, nor how creative an instructor may be in designing assessment activities, if students are determined to cheat or shift responsibility for their own work, they will certainly find a way.

This perspective is not generally popular, but its reality allows us to rethink our approach to effective assessment in all modalities, especially for online learning. While reading the module materials and keeping in mind your own instructor experiences, please consider the following focal points:

• There is no magic to prevent cheating. Technology and creativity assist us in creating environments that limit opportunities to cheat, but none provide a fail-safe method to prevent cheating 100% of the time.
• Cheating occurs in all educational modalities. This includes face-to-face, online, and testing or proxy centers. In fact, recent research shows that cheating occurs equally in both the face-to-face classroom and in the online environment (Eplion & Keefe, 2010, April; Krovitz, 2007; Watson & Sottile, 2010).
• Technically, there is no such thing as a “closed-book” assessment in online courses. Although there are ways to use assessment technology that discourages the use of available materials, (e.g., time limits, date availability, question and answer randomization), there is no way for an instructor to monitor students in distant locations. And if student learning, not student control, is the major goal of an assessment; it may actually be a good practice to design assessments that will guide students to find the best answer or solution.
• Authentic assessment includes activities and assignments. Authentic assessment is not limited to the traditional quizzes or exams that are often a part of higher education. It’s time to, perhaps, “think outside the box.”
• The focus should be on student learning, not student control. Once the focus shifts away from setting precise controls, you have room to focus on creating activities and exams that rely on higher-order thinking skills.

Academic Honesty

Academic honesty is a point of concern for all instructors. At <Replace - Institution Name>, we have a variety of strategies that will help minimize dishonesty in their course activities.

• Turnitin.com. Cyber-tools like Turnitin identify potential plagiarism for writing assignments and act as a powerful deterrent. Such tools should not be used as a punitive approach for students who failed to uphold academic honesty standards. Ideally, these are learning tools that allow students to improve their written work before submitting it. Remember, it is important to keep in mind that the focus of any assessment should be primarily on student learning, not student control. 
• Activity-based Assessments. Consider creating assessments that require the student to obtain unique resources and require analysis and synthesis. This will help minimize attempts to plagiarize. Also, using strategies, such as weekly writing submissions (e.g., mini-papers, reflective thoughts on a topic, journal entries) and discussion board postings can help you recognize the student's writing style. This can help you identify possible attempts at cheating and plagiarism.

Optional Further Reading

If you would like more information related to academic integrity and honesty, check out the following references. Each contains a wealth of information that you will find helpful now and in the future.

• Olt, M. (2002). Ethics and Distance Education: Strategies for Minimizing Academic Dishonesty in Online Assessment. Capella University. Retrieved from http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/fall53/olt53.html Links to an external site.
• Levy, Y., Gelman, W. & Rauseo, N. (2003). Minimizing Academic Misconduct in the Online Learning Environment. WebCT 2003 Conference, San-Diego, CA.
• Rolfe, V. (July 2011). Can Turnitin be used to provide instant formative feedback? Vol. 42 Issue 4, p701-710. (This article is available via UCF's Library EBSCOhost Service.)
• Dowden, L. Academic Integrity Self-Check Download Academic Integrity Self-Check
  . This checklist is implemented by the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and is used with faculty to understand academic integrity at the institutional level.

References

• Dzuiban, C. (2010). Quotation used when presenting to IDL6543. Research Initiative for Teaching Effectiveness (RITE), UCF.
• Eplion, D. M., & Keefe, T. J. (2010, April). On-Line Exams: Strategies to Detect Cheating and Minimize Its Impact. Paper presented at the Instructional Technology Conference, Murfreesboro, Texas.
• Krovitz, G. E. (2007). Ways to prevent cheating on online exams. eNewsletter: Editor's voice, 8 (6), Retrieved from http://www.ecollege.com/Newsletter/EducatorsVoice/EducatorsVoice-Vol8Iss6.learn.
• Watson, G., & Sottile, J. (2010). Cheating in the digital age: Do students cheat more in online courses? Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, 13 (1), Retrieved from http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/spring131/watson131.html Links to an external site.

 

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