Encouraging Academic Honesty adopted from CU.docx

1、Encouraging Academic Honesty adopted from CUEncouraging Academic Honesty ToolkitAdopted from David Thomas (david.thomascudenver.edu)IntroductionDavid Thomas document summarizes issues, solutions and resources surrounding academic honesty in online courses. This document is a selected and modified ve

2、rsion that addresses issues of classroom as well as online honesty.The issues of academic honest are handled in three sections. The problem section puts the issue of cheating into a broader context and looks at some of the underlying motivations that discourage honesty in an online classroom.The sec

3、ond section deals with strategies for preventing and detecting cheating and encouraging honesty. The final section offers some additional resources to support the online instructor.Each subject is tackled in a brief survey. The goal is to provide the online instructor quick access to tools, tips and

4、 techniques for improving academic honesty in the online environment. And while this document does not pretend to offer comprehensive coverage of all aspects of academic honesty and cheating, the strategies covered here will go great lengths toward dealing with the issue of cheating in the online cl

5、assroom.The ProblemIs cheating worse online than in the classroom? Why do students cheat? Understanding the problem in its appropriate context is the first step in dealing with it.Internet Plagiarism versus Traditional PlagiarismNew York Times reported that 38 percent of the students they surveyed a

6、dmitted to cut and paste plagiarism form Internet sources. 40 percent acknowledged that they had plagiarized from written sources.“The numbers demonstrate that cheating is a problem on college campuses and that the Internet is probably not making matters better, but plagiarism is certainly not a new

7、 phenomenon.” Matthew S Willen in the Fall 2004 edition of “Liberal Education”The bottom line, plagiarism online appears to be as big a problem as in the classroom, but not much bigger.Cheating in the Classroom“In a recent survey, Mr. Stephens found that about two-thirds of high-school students admi

8、t to at least minor cheating on quizzes and tests, and he estimates that college students are not far behind.” The Chronicle of Higher Education, July 16, 2004, Friday (Jason Stephens, a research assistant at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching)Cheating is the problemnot simply c

9、heating in an online classroom. Why Do Students Cheat? Pressure to earn a higher GPA Competition for jobs and graduate school Culture of cut-up (file sharing, Google research, cut and paste creativity) Course content not important Busy, course is hard, falling behind are not as important!“Surprising

10、ly McCabe indicates that this cheating is not an effect of the expectations or requirements for courses being unreasonable; nor are the pressures created by workloads, deadlines and poor time management the primary issues.” (Willen) (Donald L. McCabe is a Rutgers University researcher)Source of Stud

11、ent Pressure“It is not difficult to imagine some of the reasons for students; experiencing higher education this way. From a young age, both parents and the schools inculcate by a narrative that presents the conventional path to successto living a good lifeas paved with good grades, good SAT scores,

12、 and acceptance into a good college. All of these, it is assumed, lead ultimately to a good job. Historically, there has been some truth to this narrative, but when confronted with current economic uncertainties, it seems rather inadequate. Graduates now find themselves in intense competition for op

13、portunities for the success myth that are more limited than they were at other times in the past.” (Willen)The Cheating Culture“The message that a lot of young people hear from the culture and economic life is that there is no one to catch you if you fallyoure on your own. Being really ruthless and

14、competitive is the way you get to the top. Nice guys dont really finish first. You see it in the television shows like The Apprentice and Survivor.” (David Callahan, author of the book “Cheating Culture”, Denver Post 5/12/04) Traditional Prevention Methods Dont WorkProctoring of exams is a common me

15、thod used to make sure students doesnt cheat on tests. Of course, just showing up to class and staying during a test is a natural form of proctoring.Online, it is not easy, or even possible, to proctor a test.The Modeling Problem“Student behavior in a traditional classroom is relatively well-defined

16、. Even a new college student can adapt to instructor expectations by modeling other students in the classroom. In the distance classroom, expectations are not as obvious unless the instructor takes strides to explicitly state them. Appropriate student behavior must be identified and described.”“Desi

17、gning Online Courses to Discourage Dishonesty, Barabard Christe, Educause Quarterly Number 4 , 2003Cheating is Cheating“Fundamentally, the problems and their causes are exactly the same for the traditional classroom as for the distance-education classroom.” (Christe)ConclusionsOnline cheating is pro

18、bably not worse than cheating in traditional classroom environments. Understanding why students cheat is a first step in preventing cheating. We need to do a better job of helping students understand why academic honesty matters and why cheating will not help them in the long run. Strategies: Preven

19、tionThis section deals with techniques for preventing cheating before it occurs.Prevention versus DetectionWe can separate strategies for dealing with cheating into two general categoriesdetecting cheating and preventing cheating.Detection strategies are concerned with the techniques for catching ch

20、eaters. Prevention strategies deal with methods of stopping the problem before it happens.While the temptation is to focus on detection, encouraging honesty depends on focusing on not letting the problem happen.Or think about it this way:When you detect cheating, all that remains is confrontation an

21、d punishment. When you work on prevention, you can focus on the positive aspects of responsibility, personal development and learning.Which side do you think your students would like to be on?Which side would like top be on?The Heart of PreventionA couple of core ideas run through each of these prev

22、ention techniques. Lower the rewards for cheating: If you assign one or two big papers to determine the entire grade for a class, students have a greater incentive to cheat on these papers. Small assignments worth fewer points are often not worth cheating on. Raise the obstacles to cheating: If you

23、make it easy to cheat, dont be surprised more people cheat. If you offer the same multiple-choice midterm each semester, expect that the answers are floating around your class. Encourage honesty: Show the benefits of not cheating. Students cheat because they think that this is a more rewarding alter

24、native than doing their own work. Flip the equation so that students feel cheating is not in their best interest. Not just that they will get in trouble if they do.SyllabusYour frontline of defense in the battle for academic honesty is the syllabus. Be sure you are clear about the subjectBe sure you

25、r syllabus answer the following questions: Why does academic honesty matter? What is cheating? What is plagiarism What are the expectations of the university? What are the expectations for this class? What are the consequences? What will you do in this class to detect cheating?Set StandardsIn your s

26、yllabus, welcome announcements, emails, class assignments and feedback, reiterate the importance of academic honesty. Confront students in areas that cheating is possible. Remind them when assigning an essay that you have tools to check for plagiarism, you will check for plagiarism and you have caug

27、ht plagiarizers in the past.Student Sign OffA short quiz or questionnaire given at the beginning of the class covering issues of academic honesty serves a dual purpose. First, it ensures that students understand the honesty policies. Second, it forces them to explicitly agree to the policy. Both kno

28、wledge and agreement can help minimize the desire to cheat!Some sample questions include:1. Define plagiarism: (short answer)2. Plagiarism is:a. Using someones words without attributionb. Using someones ideas without attributionc. Extensive borrowing from source materiald. All of the above3. After t

29、aking an exam, its is OK to talk about the test and share answers with a friend in another section of the same class to help him or her prepare:a. Trueb. False4. In an online course, its OK to have someone look over your test answers and make suggestions before submitting the test:a. Trueb. False5.

30、Paying someone to write a paper for you is an example of:a. Cheatingb. Plagiarismc. BothSign-off questions might include:1. I understand what constitutes plagiarism in this class and promise not to plagiarize:2. I understand the universitys academic honor code and discipline policies and promise to

31、uphold them:3. I understand that if I cheat or plagiarize in this course the consequence may include immediate failure of the course at the instructors discretion:4. I understand that the instructor may use tools to check for plagiarism:Academic Honor Code and Discipline PoliciesSome of the key lang

32、uage from the university policies includes (consider adding to your syllabus):“Academic Integrity“A universitys reputation is built on a standing tradition of excellence and scholastic integrity. As members of the University of Colorado at Denver academic community, faculty and students accept the responsibility to maintain the highest standards of intellectual honesty and ethical conduct in completing all forms of academic work at the university“Forms of Academic Di