Cheating In The 21st Century: Strategies To Tackle Online Academic

Dishonesty

Patricia McGee, Associate ProfessorPatricia.mcgee@utsa.edu

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons NonCommercial Sampling Plus 1.0 License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/nc-sampling+/1.0/

POLL: What is the problem?

1. Students don’t understand cheating & plagiarism

2. It is impossible to monitor cheating online

3. Institutions are not proactive when it comes to online academic dishonesty

4. Online learning systems are not designed to prevent students from cheating

RESPOND IN CHAT!

What is academic dishonesty?

… the “intentional participation in deceptive practices regarding one's

academic work or the work of another”

(Webster, 2000, p. 4).

Universal Categories

• “Plagiarism—using another’s words or ideas without appropriate attribution or without following citation conventions;

• Fabrication—making up data, results, information, or numbers, and recording and reporting them;

• Falsification—manipulating research, data, or results to inaccurately portray information in reports (research, financial, or other) or academic assignments;

• Misrepresentation—falsely representing oneself, efforts, or abilities; and,

• Misbehavior—acting in ways that are not overtly misconduct but are counter to prevailing behavioral expectations.”

(Gallant, 2008, p. 10)

The Priority for Online Courses

• The Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 (HEOA) states “ [must] establish that the student who registers in a distance education or correspondence education course or program is the same student who participates in and completes the program and receives the academic credit.” (HEOA: Issue 10 2009)

• “In order to maintain their accreditation (or be reaffirmed), universities must demonstrate they have processes in place that will reduce opportunities for students to cheat." (SACS)

WHAT IS ONLINE ACADEMIC DISHONESTY?

http://www.esubulletin.com/2010/12/02/6468

Online Academic Dishonesty Categories

• Collusion: Organized cheating, exchanging information

• Deception: Nonconsensual use of peer’s work or instructor’s material

• Plagiarism: Unattributed use of the work of others

• Technology Manipulation: Breaking the tech• Misrepresentation: Work for hire

WHY DO STUDENTS ENGAGE IN ACADEMIC DISHONESTY?

POLL: Why do they do it?

1. Everyone else cheats

2. Laziness

3. Easier than doing the work

4. Don’t see anything wrong with it

RESPOND IN CHAT!

Why do students engage in dishonesty?

Contextual• Fear of failure• Desire for better grades• Parental pressure to do well• Unclear instructional

objectives• Everyone else cheats• Won’t get caught

Personal • Lack of organizational skills• Poor understanding of

academic dishonesty • Students who cheat often

are self-deceptive in other areas of their lives

CHAT: What are the implications for the instructor?

WHAT STRATEGIES DECREASE INCIDENCES?

1. Making Expectations Clear

• Reference school honor code• Define academic dishonesty • Articulate consequences• Provide a clear policy on syllabus and in other

locations in the course • Require tutorial or pre-assessment

– Penn State: http://istudy.psu.edu/tutorials/academicintegrity/– UT Austin:

http://www.lib.utexas.edu/services/instruction/learningmodules/plagiarism/

2. Construct Valid Assessments & Delivery with Foresight

• Make sure assessment strategy matches what is being assessed

• Align activities, assignments, assessments for validity

• Focus on higher levels of thinking rather than “one right answer” assessments (Google™)

Assessment Strategies

• Administer random quizzes or tests using social media tools

• Design test items that allow the student to use their textbook (Google™)

• Allow multiple attempts, perhaps with highest score recorded (practice challenge)

• Use Online Classroom Assessment Techniques

Online CAT Example: Memory MatrixCAT Online

ApplicationPossible Tool

Memory Matrix: students complete a table about course content in which row and column headings are complete but cells are empty. (Angelo & Cross, n.d., p. 1)

Collaborative writingConcept Mapping

Google Docs/ Spreadsheet™Bubblus™

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qPztS2l4ixUYIf-paVQmxUEzf5VCzgh5CqzyYNYsj1c/edit

Designs that Reduce Cheating

• Design questions that build on prior course work, requiring knowledge that has already been covered and assessed

• Use one-correct answer items (such as true/false, matching and multiple choice) for ungraded or low stakes assessment

• Use "rote-memory" questions for taking the measure of class progress

• Offer more frequent and shorter quizzes

Technology Set-up

• Present items one at a time rather than all at once so they cannot be printed or shared with others

• Randomize answer choices on single answer items

• If tests require calculations, provide students different number sets

• Set a time limit for completion

Delivery Considerations

• Make test available the day it is offered• Use different versions of a test for different

groups of students• Assign a password to assessments and send

just prior to test release • Check both start and submission times so

that assessment duration can be monitored

3. Make the Most of the Technology

• Consider computer-adaptive testing and randomized testing from vendors

• Use browser lock-down software• Integrate identity authentication (webcam,

fingerprint scans, optic retinal, palm vein scanning, face recognition, or keystroke pattern analysis )

• Use plagiarism detection tools (students too)

Plagiarism Detection ToolsService Cost How it WorksDupli Checker Free Copy and paste text into provided textbox GLATT Plagiarism Services

Varies Three services, one if free with copy and paste into a textbox

Grammarly Free Copy and paste text into provided textbox, also reviews grammar

PlagAware Varies Varies: Free offers copy and paste text into provided textbox

Plagscan Varies Document upload ScanMyEssay Free Document uploadSafeAssign Free to Blackboard™

Clients Document upload

Turnitin Varies Document upload WCopyfind Free Executable file that analyzes hard drive

documents WriteCheck Per document Document upload

4. Use Pedagogical Strategies

Assess student’s moral & ethical orientation/stage of development– Ethical Position Questionnaire– Sensation Seeking Scale– Beliefs and Values Questionnaire– Myers Briggs Type Indicator– HESI Personality Profile

Engage the Learner

Have students…• Contribute to course policies• Provide

examples of academic dishonesty

Assignments & Assessments

1. Use performance assessments rather than objective tests

2. When possible, use progressive assessments in which students turn in parts or drafts

3. Have students apply personal experience or current events when answering questions

Which do or can you use? POST IN CHAT

Assessment use in Online CoursesInstructors use… Frequency.. Percent…

Homework 665 20%Online Tests/Quizzes 606 19%Discussions 547 17%Projects/papers 494 15%Participation in chats 313 10%Proctored Texts/Quizzes 234 7%Team Projects 149 5%Reflective Journal 92 3%Student Portfolio 79 2%Other 31 1%

TOTAL 3,200 100%

(Baille & Jortberg, 2009)

Classroom Climate

• Create culture of openness• Address incidences directly and honestly• Teach writing style (APA, MLA, etc.)• Make work/activity public• Be present

QUESTIONS?

HOW DO INSTITUTIONS ADDRESS ACADEMIC DISHONESTY?

POLL: What does your institution do?

1. Enforce an honor code

2. Require reporting

3. Provide plagiarism detection tools

4. Educate students

Issues for Online Academic Dishonesty

• Online students may not be oriented to institutional policy

• Reporting and enforcement mechanisms may not be feasible or apply to an online environment

• Faculty may not ‘see’ misconduct as easily in an online course

Impact of Strategies

• Visible & enforced honor codes work• Plagiarism education reduces occurrence• Plagiarism detection software impact is mixed– Must be used correctly and effectively– Can’t be used as sole strategy– Are not perfect (free guilty, convict innocent)– Cannot accommodate for cultural differences

Align Strategy with Course Design

Writing-Based CoursesSubjective in nature• English, History, Psychology,

Education • Focus on writing-based

assessment (such as written assignments and term papers)

• Priority: plagiarism• Strategy: Progressive

Performance Assessments and “writing fingerprint”

Math/Fact-based CoursesHighly objective in nature• Math, science, business, computers• Focus on calculation and fact-based

assessment (such as mid-term and final exams)

• Priority: cheating and identity verification

• Strategy: Practice and Low-Stakes Assessments

• Security: Proctored Exams, Remote Authentication System.

(Modified from Trenholm 2006/2007)

QUESTIONS?

Resources• Callaghan, D. (2004). The cheating culture: Why more Americans are doing

wrong to get ahead. Houghton-Mifflin.http://www.cheatingculture.com/academic-dishonesty/

• Turnitin. (2011). Plagiarism and the web: Myths and Realities: White Paper. iParadigms . Retrieved August 28, 2012 from http://pages.turnitin.com/PlagiarismandtheWebHE.html

• Online classes see cheating go High-Tech Retrieved July 23, 2012 from http://chronicle.com/article/Cheating-Goes-High-Tech/132093/.

• Academic Integrity vs. Dishonesty [online module for faculty] - http://elearningfacultymodules.org/index.php/Academic_Integrity_vs._Dishonesty

• WCET. (2009). Best Practice strategies to promote academic Integrity in online education (Version 2.0). Retrieved on September 22, 2012 from http://wcet.wiche.edu/wcet/docs/cigs/studentauthentication/BestPractices.pdf.

Dr. Patricia McGeePatricia.mcgee@utsa.edu

CV http://www.visualcv.com/drpmcgee

Thank you!

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons NonCommercial Sampling Plus 1.0 License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/nc-sampling+/1.0/