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

1. Cheating In The 21st Century: Strategies To Tackle Online Academic Dishonesty Patricia McGee, Associate Professor Patricia.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/

2. POLL: What is the problem? RESPOND IN CHAT!

3. What is academic dishonesty? … the “intentional participation in deceptive practices regarding one's academic work or the work of another” (Webster, 2000, p. 4).

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)

5. 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)

6. http://www.esubulletin.com/2010/12/02/6468 What is online academic dishonesty?

7. 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

8. Why do students engage in academic dishonesty?

9. POLL: Why do they do it? RESPOND IN CHAT!

10. Why do students engage in dishonesty? Contextual Personal Lack of organizational skills Poor understanding of academic dishonesty Students who cheat often are self-deceptive in other areas of their lives • Fear of failure • Desire for better grades • Parental pressure to do well • Unclear instructional objectives • Everyone else cheats • Won’t get caught CHAT: What are the implications for the instructor?

11. What strategies decrease incidences?

12. 1. Making Expectations Clear • Reference school honor code • Defineacademic 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/

13. 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™)

14. 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

15. Online CAT Example: Memory Matrix

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

17. 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

18. 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

19. 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

20. 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)

21. Plagiarism Detection Tools

22. 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

23. Engage the Learner Have students… • Contribute to course policies • Provide examples of academic dishonesty

24. Assignments & Assessments • Use performance assessments rather than objective tests • When possible, use progressive assessments in which students turn in parts or drafts • Have students apply personal experience or current events when answering questions Which do or can you use? POST IN CHAT

25. Assessment use in Online Courses (Baille & Jortberg, 2009)

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

27. Questions?

28. How do institutions address Academic Dishonesty?

29. POLL: What does your institution do?

30. 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

31. 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

32. Align Strategy with Course Design Writing-Based Courses Math/Fact-based Courses Highly 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: Practiceand Low-Stakes Assessments Security: Proctored Exams, Remote Authentication System. Subjectivein 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” (Modified from Trenholm 2006/2007)

33. Questions?

34. 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.

35. 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/ Dr. Patricia McGee Patricia.mcgee@utsa.edu CV http://www.visualcv.com/drpmcgee