Academic Dishonesty: Considerations for the Online Environment The Office of Judicial Affairs strives to work in partnership with students, staff, and faculty at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa to prevent academic dishonesty in the classroom The tips and tools presented below are recommendations for a starting point in encouraging and educating students to commit to academic integrity in their journey Not all of the information below may be adapted to your specific course, but generally assist faculty in adjusting formally in-person coursework to an online modality while still protecting the academic integrity of the material Portions of the information below is borrowed from a report from Dr Ana Krsak titled “Curbing Academic Dishonesty in Online Classes.” Please refer to the longer report for additional information: https://laulima.hawaii.edu/access/content/group/fb8c10fd-5445-420b-0034-bad118df6196/ TeachingResources/CurbAcademicDishonestykrsak.pdf The Student Conduct Code (EP 7.208) provides the following definitions of “cheating” and “plagiarism”: Cheating is an act of academic dishonesty and includes, but is not limited to: (1) use of any unauthorized assistance in taking quizzes, tests, or examinations; (2) use of sources beyond those authorized by the instructor in writing papers, preparing reports, solving problems, or carrying out other assignments; (3) the acquisition, without permission, of tests or other academic material belonging to a member of the UH faculty, staff or student body; and (4) engaging in any behavior specifically prohibited by a faculty member in the course syllabus or class discussion Note: this definition requires that faculty only state what students can use in completing academic deliverables It does not require that faculty outline every possible source that a student cannot use Plagiarism is also an act of academic dishonesty and includes, but is not limited to, the use, by paraphrase or direct quotation, of the published or unpublished work of another person without full and clear acknowledgement It also includes the unacknowledged use of materials prepared by another person or agency engaged in the selling of term papers or other academic materials Online Exams Designing questions: Design questions that could not be answered easily unless the individual has done the previous work in the course Have students apply personal experience when answering questions For courses that test using calculations, give each student the same exam with numbers changed slightly Avoid multiple-choice questions and those relying on “rote memory” If using multiple-choice tests, consider having “open book” Design “open book” questions so that they are more than “scavenger hunts” for the answer Testing procedures: Do not make the test available until the test date Assign password to the exam so they can only access it just prior to the attempt Consider breaking a larger exam into shorter quizzes to make it difficult for students to get constant help Set time limits Monitor beginning and end time for students in each section Compare student answers (also in partnership with start/end time) Use multiple forms of exams Plagiarism Cheating: “Unauthorized Sources” Randomize the answers on multiple-choice questions Software or online-based tools to detect plagiarism can often be faulty as they can show “no results” although the information could still have been taken from another source improperly Nonetheless, there are several online tools that offer free use: Grammarly EasyBib WCopyfind 2.6 In lieu of these tools, consider the following signs of plagiarism: Unusual spelling of words (ex colour, flavour) Odd formatting: o unusual line breaks, margins, or spacing o inconsistent quote marks: “curly” vs “straight” o varied font sizes, types, and colors The assignment doesn’t quite cover the required components – or covers the required components plus additional “extra” components Use of atypical words: owners vs proprietors Plagiarism tools students may use are countless and are undoubtably imperfect Tools that are common and easily accessible: ArticleRewriteTool.com : students insert a reference portion and the tool “rephrases” the content Note that the tool simply replaces words intermittently, creating a largely unreadable replacement Prepostseo: free, and easier, tool compared to ArticleRewriteTool As the website states: “Article rewriting is to express information in a new way Article rewriting is to make changes in a text by replacing words, phrases, sentences, and sometimes whole paragraphs to make the text look unique and more engaging.” Additional considerations: Plagiarism can also include using the same “main points” or organizational structure of a resource For example: using the Wikipedia outline to create and focus their own work – structure and order is identical on both Require written assignments to be submitted in stages to avoid a last-minute temptation to plagiarize Students should submit all sources with the assignment (or the first page at minimum) Ask each student questions about their submission that would require additional knowledge about the concept(s) Accept only Word (or similar) files - pdf may hide various signs of plagiarism If submitting via googledoc, check the document’s edit/collaboration history for other “collaborators.” This may also show you if sections of the text were pasted into the document If submitted via googledoc, consider requiring students to enable “track changes” before writing the assignment This will show you how each part was included in the final submission Know where your material is online and how it is used Several websites exist that incentivize students uploading their own academic work in order to view other academic content Research your own course to determine what materials are shared in order to review and revise future academic deliverables Sites include: Quizlet Chegg Coursehero There are a rising number of incidents where academic work is “borrowed” from other student’s work in previous semesters Scan/Save academic materials from previous course offerings Change assignments from semester to semester, or at a minimum, alter significant parts of the assignment For example, in one semester you may require a lab report to include specific components and in the following semester you may require a different order, examples, etc that a careless act of dishonesty would uncover If submitting via googledoc, check the document’s edit/collaboration history Include components that would require personal reflection/concepts from the student Remote Instruction During an Emergency: https://www.uhonline.hawaii.edu/id/resources/emergency.php Online Assessment Strategies and Tips: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mcWtS_mKvRwbJp9QyoawG73s2aDkNDYd Wymjfb8qXII/edit Online Proctoring: Yes or No? Focusing on Assessment https://docs.google.com/document/d/19F8u88YZ4qa-EvyNygwY6HRGXHAhxjEPSM4IM_sJXg/edit Hamilton Library Teaching Resources: https://manoa.hawaii.edu/library/teaching/ Hamilton Library Learning and Research Skills: https://manoa.hawaii.edu/library/learning Consider requiring review/response to online academic integrity resources: UH Manoa CTE Plagiarism Website: http://www.cte.hawaii.edu/plagiarism/plagiarism.html Academic Integrity Seminars: https://integrityseminar.org AIS “Help Henry” Video: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QYW4NLhvfowhkbV7ArGp18hFIv1e_pPv/view Harvard Guide to Using Sources: https://usingsources.fas.harvard.edu/why-does-itmatter-if-you-plagiarize Plagarisim.org: https://plagiarism.org International Center for Academic Integrity: https://www.academicintegrity.org UH Online Education Resources Academic Integrity Resources