Office of Learning & TechnologyPurdue University North Central

Discuss issues regarding academic dishonesty in higher educational institutions and why students cheat

Implement various pedagogical strategies to teach students the importance of academic integrity

Use technology tools such as SafeAssign and Respondus LockDown Browser to help mitigate and prevent cheating and plagiarism

Identify new tools that may be available for preventing cheating such as Remote Proctor NOW

Concerns about cheating and plagiarism can be a big obstacle, and may limit our choices for assessment

Studies show that students may cheat less online than FTF (see http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/spring131/watson131.html)

Luckily, there are ways to use technology to help ensure that students are doing authentic work

There are lots of reasons why a student might choose to cheat

Most commonly: They lack proper

knowledge

The don’t understand university policies

They don’t understand the seriousness

The class is too high-stakes

Poor time management skills

For the “amateurs” (more commonly the case): Copy and paste Homework and Answer-sharing sites (not always a bad

thing, but can lead to cheating) Taking pictures with smart phones

For the “pros” (far less common): Term paper mills Identity-swapping Lessons posted on YouTube (it’s true!)

See http://www.cmu.edu/teaching/solveproblem/strat-cheating/

Extreme measures to cheat are relatively rare – for most students, the issue is poor time management

Educating students on what constitutes cheating and how to manage their time has been shown to help reduce and eliminate cheating

Sometimes students receive the wrong messages from high school teachers and must “unlearn” these habits

Include the Academic Integrity Policy in your syllabus

Take time to explain the policy in class

Ask students to complete a class contract at the beginning of the semester

If they think it’s important to you, they’re more likely to listen

Purdue Code of Conduct: http://www.purdue.edu/purdue/about/integrity_statement.html

Academic Affairs policy on Academic Integrity: https://www.pnc.edu/academic_affairs/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2013/05/Academic-Integrity.pdf

Provide lessons on ethics with short videos and other attention-getting strategies

Allow for a two-conversation so students can explore what “academic integrity” really means

Don’t forget about our available online courses – use these resources to help!

Many students do not know how to properly paraphrase and cite sources

Fact: many high school teachers allow students to copy and paste from Internet sources for projects, papers

Tips: Emphasize proper

citation style in your discipline

Clearly describe your expectations for paraphrasing and citations

Explain to students the differences between common knowledge and referenced sources

Most students don’t set out to cheat, but when time becomes the enemy they often feel too much pressure

Help students set up calendars and set aside time for study

Help students learn to prioritize

Keep in mind that they have other classes to study for, too!

SafeAssign (BlackBoard assessment to check student work for plagiarism) Included in all assignments in BlackBoard

Respondus LockDown Browser (for test-taking) Available through the MyPNC portal

ProctorU and Remote Proctor NOW (to proctor exams) Available at an extra cost – Purdue WL is looking

into RPN for systemwide use

OLT resource on cheating: http://www.pnc.edu/distance/cheating/

Dean of Students incident reporting: http://www.pnc.edu/sa/report-an-incident/

LockDown Browser information: http://www.pnc.edu/distance/lockdown-browser-instructions/

SafeAssign information: http://www.pnc.edu/distance/safeassign/

ProctorU information: http://www.pnc.edu/distance/proctoru/

Remote Proctor NOW information: http://www.softwaresecure.com

Reach us: TECH 206 and 298

219-785-5734

pncolt@pnc.edu

Twitter and Facebook: @PNCOLT

http://www.pnc.edu/distance for all workshop notes, links, and training needs