Promoting Academic Integrity: Some design questions for instructors

Here are some propositions about students’ academic integrity that I’ve been working with:

1. Students are more likely to do their work honestly when they see the personal value in what is to be learned.
2. Students are more likely to do their work honestly when they believe the assessment produces actual evidence of what they have learned.
3. Students are more likely to do their work honestly when they’ve had the chance for practice and feedback.
4. Students are more likely to do their work honestly when they know the rules and expect them to be enforced.

Designing assessments for academic integrity is much more than tight invigilation processes and tools like Turnitin and SafeAssign (thankfully). There is much that instructors can do to set students on honest learning paths when they design and teach their courses.   Below, I offer some prompting questions instructors can ask themselves when designing course materials, assessments, and learning activities that relate to the four propositions above.

“See-the-Value” Questions for Instructors:

• How can I convey/demonstrate the value of what students learn in my course?
• How can I share my enthusiasm for learning this and the value I place on it?
• How can I connect students to the benefits this learning brings for them individually, for their families or communities, for society or the world?
• How can I provide opportunities for students to follow their individual interests and values in the context of this course?

“Evidence” Questions for Instructors:

• What kind of evidence does this assessment provide that students have learned what I wanted them to learn?
• What other forms of evidence could I use to determine this?
• What alternatives could I offer students to show me what they have learned?
• How can I make explicit to students that an assessment is transferrable to other contexts?

“Practice and Feedback” Questions for Instructors:

• What do students need to be able self-assess their progress before grades are at stake?
• How can I provide early feedback so that students still have the opportunity to improve?
• How can I stage larger assignments with feedback so that students have time to improve (and avoid last minute temptations)?
• How could I best equip students to provide feedback to each other?

“Rules” Questions for Instructors:

• What are my rules for my assessments within the academic integrity policy framework?
• How can I clearly explain both the assessments and the rules so that students know how to best proceed?
• What are some common misconceptions/errors that I can address early on?
• How can I help students learn how to follow the rules, especially when it involves technical components like a new citation or referencing protocol?
• How can I show students that I am committed to enforce my own rules?

We have a workshop coming up at the GMCTL on November 14 that will explore assessment practices that promote academic integrity. Please consider registering.