Mitigating Cheating

A Cliff’s Notes version

What is cheating?

• The expectations change• Faculty vs. Students vs. administration

• “Stealing a glance at a test, a little bit of plagiarism – it’s just not on people’s radar screens anymore.”

- Donald L. McCabeDuke UniversityCenter of Academic Integrity

Conventional vs. DigitalType Conventional Digital

Copied homework 84.5% 40.2%

Unpermitted collaboration 81.4% 49.5%

Plagiarized a few sentences 46.6% 60.4%

Plagiarized a complete paper 20.2% 13.6%

Used unpermitted notes during an exam

44.5% 27.2%

Coped from someone else during an exam

60.5% 23.5%

UVU TurnItIn statistics

• 2011-2012– 8% of submission scored above 50%– 16% scored above 25%

• 2010-2011– 10% scored above 50%– 23% scored above 25%

• 2009-2010– 7% scored above 50%– 21% scored above 25%

Why cheating?

• A number of reasons

Performance

Napster effect

Class a hoop

Get away with it

Culture

Who is to blame?

Students

Teachers

• “ – unreasonable assignments, the poor quality of teaching, and unclear instructions on major assignments were mentioned frequently by students.”

• “I have witnessed cheating on several occasions and even reported it to the professors. On one occasion I was told no action was going to be taken against them since they were doing a poor job of cheating”

• “Faculty need to be more active in monitoring academic dishonesty as well as punishing those students that participate in it. Facutly often turn their heads or “Punish” on their own terms rather than follow university policy.”

The institution

Course design strategies

Avoid war on cheating

• “…students at schools with high levels of self-reported cheating often discuss the issue of academic dishonesty in terms of a ‘we’ versus ‘they’ mentality. Cheat by us (students) is acceptable because they (faculty and/or administrators) ‘deserve’ it for any number of reasons” (McCabe and Trevino, 1993)

Process documents

• Reflections• Drafts (Annotated bibliography, thesis

statement, etc.)• Multiple assessments• Oral reports (process questions)

Courtesy of TurnItIn.com

High-Stakes Assessments

Make connections

• Why are students doing this assessment?

• “Students are also taught that collaboration is a critical business skill that is valued in corporations. Yet, students are often required to complete assignments by themselves with no outside assistance.” (McCabe, Butterfield, and Trevino, 2006)

Statement

• Usually placed in syllabus. Good idea to have it in Canvas if you are using it.

• Consult with department if unsure about language.

• Custom TurnItIn statement

F2F Strategies

• Proper seat spacing. Seat randomization.• A/B quizzes• Cell phone policy• Random walkthroughs

Other ideas?

Strategies for Canvas

• Files• Quizzes