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What is contract cheating?
“Contract cheating occurs when a student procures a third party (who knows about and benefits from the transaction) to produce academic work (that is usually, but not always assessable work) that the student then submits to an educational institution as if it were their own” (Ellis, Zucker & Randall (2018) p. 1). Contract cheating is an increasing concern. Research indicates contract cheating incidence is on the rise and is an international issue (Newton, 2018) . This form of cheating has been getting more attention in the last decade, and more recently, during remote teaching and learning under COVID 19 restrictions. Fairness of assessment systems and evidence of student learning are…
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Ready to Talk to Students About Suspected Academic Misconduct?
When you suspect academic misconduct in your course, it’s common to feel frustrated. Some educators feel insulted or angry. Some blame themselves. Some people have a mix of all of this. Regardless, if you suspect a student has engaged in academic misconduct it is important to talk to them about it. The points below are offered to help you think through your approach, so that you can feel confident and clear about how you will facilitate that conversation. Key things to think about First, get grounded. Return to your own commitment to what ethical teaching and learning looks like in your course, in your subject/disciplinary area. Ask yourself: What am…
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13 tips for talking to students about academic integrity
Do you wonder how best to speak with students about academic integrity?Here is a great resource from Kwantlen Polytechnic University, developed by Dr. Kristie Durkewich (thanks again for creating this, Kristie, and for the CC-BY license). Watch this eight minute video for 13 tips of “pure academic integrity gold”, as one of our USask Educational Development Specialists put it. Kristie makes a particular point about the ways we “signal” to students our commitment to fostering and developing students’ academic integrity. This is an overview of Kristie’s 13 tips, with some USask resources added. Have a dialogue about the importance of academic integrity and review the policy. (here is the USask…
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Academic Integrity ‘Talking Points’ for Instructors
In addition to pointing students to the USask academic misconduct policy (a minimum requirement as part of your syllabus), it’s important to talk about academic integrity and academic misconduct with students. Students need to know that: You know about academic misconduct and the temptations students face; You respond to the suspected academic misconduct; You prevent academic misconduct in multiple ways; and You care about students’ learning and a fair environment for assessment. Core ideas What you can say to your students I know sites that facilitate or deliver academic misconduct exist unpermitted collaboration occurs I am aware of sites that make it possible for students to cheat on…
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What Can You Do About Academic Misconduct?
The causes of academic misconduct have been well-studied and the following points explain most of this concerning behavior. Research shows that very few students plan on doing things like buying papers or crowd-sourcing exam questions when they enroll in courses. Students widely report that their decision to “cheat” was almost always instead taken at the last minute, under pressure, based on one or more of these 3 concerns: Students placed a low value on what was to be learned Students had low expectations of success for themselves, whatever success meant to them Students believed cheating was widespread: “Everybody’s doing it—I’d be dumb not to” Low value on learning required…
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Worried About Take Home Exams and Academic Misconduct?
There is more than one way of looking at the extended time period for open book exams when it comes to academic misconduct worries. You can see 24 hours of unsupervised time with an exam as more time for students to break your rules. Some students may use the time that way and that is deeply frustrating. More encouraging is a view based in research about academic integrity in higher education (for a great review, see the 2013 book referenced below). The basic premise is this: When students are more confident they can do what needs to be done on their own, they are less likely to cheat. Obvious? Perhaps…
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How much help are students getting on their assignments?
You may be concerned with how much feedback or advice students are getting on their assignments or open exams. Below are some options, reasons to try them, and some tools for implementing. Option Reason Helpful tools for this Require an acknowledgement of feedback, guidance or teachings received Respectful of contributions of others Common academic practice as seen in many published papers Truthful An example acknowledgement from a paper you have written, An example where you have been acknowledged; Another example that you find or create that could fit with the assessment Distinguish types of feedback and their acceptability: e.g., proofreading, editing, error correction, peer teaching, conceptual changes… Communicates differences…
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Ways To Limit Concerns About Non-permitted Collaboration
Are you worried about non-permitted collaboration? It’s true, students can seek each other out for help, examples, interpretations, translations, feedback, and peer teaching when unsupervised. In fact, we often encourage students to do so as part of the learning process. Blatant “copying” is a real problem because then the submitted work does not represent what that individual student knows or can do “without the support of resources or colleagues.” Most students want assessment to be fair and are likely to appreciate your effort to have everyone play by the same rules. Below are two options you may want to consider for addressing concerns about students collaborating. Option 1: Limit collusion…
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Academic Integrity and Remote Teaching
The commitment of the University of Saskatchewan to academic integrity and fair assessment remains in place during this time of remote and online learning. As instructors, here are key points for academic integrity: You should explain your rules again, or any shift in your rules, for assessments. Clear understanding by students improves students’ academic integrity. You should explain the reason for the rules and how the rules improve learning and/or make the assessment more fair. Transparency about purpose and decisions improves students’ academic integrity. You should avoid statements focused exclusively on penalties – these are ineffective at deterring dishonesty. Instead, commit to following up on academic misconduct concerns as…
- Academic Integrity, Assessment and Evaluation, Instructional / Course Design, Instructional Strategies
Promoting Academic Integrity: Some design questions for instructors
[social_share/] [social-bio] Here are some propositions about students’ academic integrity that I’ve been working with: Students are more likely to do their work honestly when they see the personal value in what is to be learned. Students are more likely to do their work honestly when they believe the assessment produces actual evidence of what they have learned. Students are more likely to do their work honestly when they’ve had the chance for practice and feedback. 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…