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

Patricia McGee, Associate Professor [email protected]

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)

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

WHAT IS ONLINE DISHONESTY?

ACADEMIC

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/plagiar ism/

• • •

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 Matrix CAT

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)

Online Application

Collaborative writing Concept Mapping

Possible Tool

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 Tools

Service

Dupli Checker GLATT Plagiarism Services Grammarly

Cost

Free Varies Free

How it Works

Copy and paste text into provided textbox Three services, one if free with copy and paste into a textbox Copy and paste text into provided textbox, also reviews grammar PlagAware Varies Plagscan ScanMyEssay SafeAssign Turnitin WCopyfind WriteCheck Varies Free Free to Blackboard™ Clients Varies Free Per document Varies: Free offers copy and paste text into provided textbox Document upload Document upload Document upload Document upload Executable file that analyzes hard drive documents 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 Courses

Instructors use… Frequency..

Percent…

Homework Online Tests/Quizzes Discussions Projects/papers Participation in chats Proctored Texts/Quizzes Team Projects Reflective Journal Student Portfolio Other TOTAL 665 606 547 494 313 234 149 92 79 31 3,200 20% 19% 17% 15% 10% 7% 5% 3% 2% 1% 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 Courses

• • • • Subjective 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 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: 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._Di

shonesty 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/BestPractic es.pdf

.

Dr. Patricia McGee [email protected]

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