Academic Integrity for Faculty

Upholding academic integrity requires a collaborative approach. Students, faculty, support staff, and administrators all have inter-related roles and responsibilities in a holistic and college-wide strategy for academic integrity. On this page you will find guidance about your role as an educator for upholding academic integrity.

Content in the Online Learning section adapted, with permission, from University of Calgary, Taylor Institute for Teaching and Learning's Academic Integrity and Online Learning site.

Carefully designed and explained open-book assessments are an increasingly common way to help students learn online with integrity. Below is a list of tips to consider when planning such assessments.

Honesty

Be honest with your learners if you find yourself in a position of having to teach online for the very first time with no preparation. Sometimes being vulnerable with your students can help them to understand that you are human, too.

Be honest with your students about your expectations.

Also, it is important to start with the assumption that most students are honest and they want to learn with integrity. They may also be scared and unsure as they engage in remote and online learning for the first time. Have conversations about what it means to adapt quickly during these times. Show kindness and compassion.

Trust

It is important to trust that your students are doing the best they can; and so are their families, friends, and everyone else. Just because learning moves online, that does not mean that all academic misconduct automatically increases.

Now is a time to have conversations with your students about trust. One of the factors that can impact cheating rates is negative relationships between students and faculty or the college as a whole. Students do not suddenly engage in academic misconduct the moment they enter an online learning environment. Studies show that the types of misconduct may be more influenced by learning environment than the rate of misconduct. It is important to start from the position that we trust our students until they give us a reason to believe otherwise.

Focus on learning

Trust that students are here to learn. Be clear on what students should know and be able to do by the end of the course. Intentionally align course activities and assessment strategies to these goals. When possible, establish relevance by linking their learning to current events, or their future academic experiences. Communicate and have students consider questions such as, “Why is this worth learning?” and “How does what I am learning connect to what I already know?” Provide structure and opportunities for students to practice what they will be assessed on wherever possible, and clearly communicate your expectations for learning.  You may also integrate activities related to Academic Integrity in your assignments and assessments using reflective prompts such as:

• How did you demonstrate academic integrity in this assignment?
• When were you most challenged to demonstrate academic integrity? How did you overcome these challenges?
• What have you learned about learning with integrity in this assignment, and how might this apply to your future academic or professional experiences?

Respect

Be patient with questions and remind students that you still expect them to conduct themselves respectfully, even if learning happens remotely.

Respect the college’s academic integrity policy.

Understand and respect that not all students have stable Internet connectivity, or personal technology that is well-suited to online learning. Many may be dealing with the challenges associated with self-isolation, illness, and/or caregiving for others. Some students for whom Assiniboine's campus communities are not home are in the process of, or making plans to, return to their own families. They may be travelling or in different time zones. Please respect that it is very important to be flexible with deadlines.

There is lots of evidence to show that although young people today may be adept at using technology for entertainment and socializing, they do not have innate online learning skills. Understand that some students are experiencing extreme learning curves and stress associated with developing new strategies to support their learning.

Responsibility

As educators, we have a responsibility to lead by example. Remind students of what their learning responsibilities are. Take the time to explain your expectations of them, even if classes are quickly moving to remote delivery in an online environment. Let them know you still expect them to be responsible for their learning, but also show compassion if they are experiencing trauma or anxiety.

Students lack knowledge about academic integrity

Strategies

• Provide examples of proper academic work, and discuss common academic misconduct examples.
• Communicate expectations early and provide opportunities to discuss with students.
• Create a discussion area for students to ask questions.
• Provide opportunities for students to submit assignment drafts for feedback.
• Integrate Learning Commons workshops on academic skills such as citing and paraphrasing.
   

Less opportunity for the instructor to form in-class relationships with students

Strategy

• Get to know student writing through discussion platforms and other frequent small stakes assessments.

Student anxiety about technology

Strategy

• Provide opportunities for students to learn the technology to reduce their anxiety before a test or project is due, such as a practice quiz that has no grade association.

Time management for students

Strategies

• Time management for students in online courses is challenging. Communicate expectations early, set due dates, and provide opportunities for feedback.
• Seek help from the Learning Curve with topics such as time management, study skills, and stress management.

Build community

Strategies

• Create activities that have students engage with each other and you to build a supportive community of integrity.
• Encourage students to talk about academic integrity in discussion platforms.

Nature of assessments

Strategies

• Use diverse assessment types to provide a variety of opportunities for students to demonstrate their learning. 
• Use frequent, short, low-stakes assignments and provide timely feedback. 
• Use assessments in which students demonstrate and apply their learning, rather than write about it, to help minimize academic misconduct.

Keep the Focus on Promoting Learning and Not on Avoiding Cheating

There is ample research to support that there is not necessarily more cheating in online courses, especially when they are designed to be delivered and taken online by students seeking this type of learning environment. However, the nature of the cheating can change. There might be less collusion but more contract cheating, for example. As educators, our role includes assessing in ways that are appropriate and fair for the learning environment.

What to Avoid:

High-stakes exams, where there is limited time

Multiple-choice exams designed from face-to-face proctored environments are not recommended. Alternative assessment ideas are available through the Taylor Institute for Teaching and Learning.

Makeshift proctoring

Avoid trying to use synchronous tools like Zoom or Skype to invigilate exams. Not all students have cameras and some of them may not be financially able to buy one. Other issues surrounding e-proctoring have included privacy, accessibility, accuracy, consent, intellectual property/copyright, and inclusion in policies and procedures.

Tight deadlines

Understand that connectivity, necessary travel, different time zones, access to technology, and personal circumstances may make it impossible for students to do online tests with a minimal window of time. We recommend giving students a minimum of 24-48 hours to complete any assessment.

“Reducing assignment turnaround time has been used as a method to curb certain types of academic misconduct such as contract cheating. However, Wallace and Newton (2014) point out that taking this too far could “severely compromise a valid assessment of many of the outcomes tested in long written assignments, such as developing a research question, searching for literature, analyzing it and developing an argument” (p.236).

References

Wallace, M.J. & Newton, P.M.(2014). Turnaround time and market capacity in contract cheating. Educational Studies, 40(2), 233-236.

Inflexibility

Having compassion and understanding, within reason, during a pandemic and major shift in education is recommended. 

Being unaware

Finally, be aware that there are predatory third parties (contract cheating companies, term paper mills, file-sharing sites, unethical tutoring companies, etc.) that have escalated their operations recently. Some services are employing aggressive marketing tactics directed specifically to students experiencing high levels of stress. Have conversations with your students about the importance of protecting themselves against these companies. Emphasize that you and other Assiniboine staff are here for them and will help them in whatever way you can.

Now is the time to communicate to our students that we are all part of the Assiniboine learning community and we are here to support each other.

Moodle Quizzes

Moodle quiz tool has multiple features to help mitigate academic misconduct. Yet, for courses that are put online last-minute some additional considerations need to be reflected in how you set up online quizzes.

1. Randomize questions for each student using the question library. For example, 20 questions for each student can be randomly selected from a library of 50 questions, giving each student a different set of questions.
2. Use the randomize answer order for each question. Even though the answers options will be the same for all students, the order will be different.
3. Showing 1 question at a time is a good option to help students focus.
4. Set a realistic yet tight time limit which will require students to focus and work through the quiz relatively quickly, but not to create anxiety by rushing students through the quiz.
5. Make tests available for a 24-hour time period to accommodate different time zones, student schedules and technical difficulties. For example, a quiz that takes 60 minutes to complete can be open for 24 hours.
6. Hide all review options, so students do not see the questions and their responses. You can always release the quiz, student results, and correct answers at a later date.
7. Show the clock to help keep students on time.
8. Only allow 1 attempt per student.
9. Disable right click to prevent quick copy/paste.

To learn more about Moodle Quizzes online see:

Tips for Online Quizzes

1. Create a practice quiz with the same settings as the actual quiz to provide an opportunity for students to experience the technology and process. This will help reduce their anxiety about seeing the technology for the first time as a graded test.
2. Have a back-up plan as some students might experience technology or internet troubles. Back-up plans include having students write a paper or complete another project. You can also release the quiz again or a different quiz to select students using the Special Access option.
3. Use frequent low-stakes quizzes.
4. When creating a new quiz, preview the test to identify any errors
5. Explicitly state academic integrity expectations, such as graded tests must be done individually.
6. When students submit the quiz limit the information provided back to them (e.g. Do not show submitted questions and answers)