Academic Integrity in Online Courses
Academic integrity is an important characteristic in all students. Throughout one’s academic journey, numerous exams, activities, and collaborative projects are completed for grades. The online format is no different. However, you do not get to see students and watch as they complete activities and assessments. Just like traditional courses, cheating and plagiarism can be a concern. The following section provides tips to help reduce issues with cheating and plagiarism in online courses.
Communicate Expectations
Students need to be informed about the university’s policy as well as your policy related to academic integrity. Provide this information in your syllabus. From time to time, remind students about your expectations, especially if you have experienced issues with certain activities in the past. Use the following link to access USU's Academic Integrity Code
Course Design
As previously mentioned, design your course to ensure a variety of activities and assessments are included. Activities should promote learning not just earning of a grade. With high stakes assessments, incorporate scaffolding to build students skills and confidence. Design activities and assessments that require students to apply their learning.
Time Limits for Assessments
Whether you are using a low stakes quiz or higher stakes exam, consider setting a realistic time limit for the assessment. If you do not want students to access their notes, text book, or internet, state this explicitly. Time limits help reduce the use of supplemental resources. The DRC will help you alter this for students with an extended time accommodation.
Proctored Exams
At USU, students may be required to complete exams in a proctored setting. The Academic Testing Center is one option for those living in the Logan area or if students live near a regional campus, they can take proctored tests at their nearest campus. More information about this service, for students, can be found on the Find a Proctor
Faculty need to enter information regarding their exams on the Materials and Testing website. More information can be found on the Testing Information for Faculty
Virtual Proctoring, through Proctorio, is another option that is used widely to prevent cheating, especially in online courses. Additional information can be found on our virtual proctoring webpage
Create a Question Group
Canvas allows you to create a pool or group of questions for each quiz or test. When students access the assessment, Canvas will randomly select test questions from the pool you created. For example, maybe you placed fifty questions in the question group but only assign students twenty-five. Canvas will randomly select twenty-five questions from the question pool when the student attempts the assessment. This ensures students don’t get the same exact exam. More information on this Canvas feature
Group Work Self and Peer Evaluation
Even with the technology tools that exist today, some groups find it difficult to get all students involved in team projects. When a student doesn’t do their part, they don’t deserve the same grade as those who did the work. This form of academic dishonesty can be addressed through the use of self and peer evaluation rubrics. Each time a group project is completed, have students assess the performance of each group member including themselves.
Discussion Forums
Concerned that students copy ideas from others while reading discussion forums? Utilized the “users must post first” option when creating the discussion forum in Canvas. Students will only be able to read entries in the discussion forum after they submit a post.
Copyleaks
Any time students submit a written product, via a file upload, you can enable Copyleaks in Canvas from the assignment page. Copyleaks detects plagiarism by matching text from a student assignment to a database of outside sources. The Center for Instructional Design and Innovation has created a tutorial to assist you in using this feature. Access step-by-step directions.
Additional Resources
For additional information on this topic, visit these resources.