How Can Course Design Help Prevent Online Cheating?

Academic integrity in remote courses is a concern and challenge for faculty. The May 11 Georgia Tech town hall explored the issue from a variety of sides, pedagogical, technical, and administrative. Module 5 of the Remote Teaching Academy Canvas site (Georgia Tech login required) also has information relating to designing assessments with academic integrity in mind.

A white paper from Dr. Tom Tobin of the University of Wisconsin-Madison dives into how faculty can plan for academic integrity when planning a course and syllabus. Dr. Tobin has over 20 years of experience in higher education and is the co-author of books about evaluating online instruction and Universal Design for Learning. The eight-page paper published through Magna Publications’ 20-Minute Mentor series offers direct advice while reminding readers that different aspect of a course will require different strategies for encouraging academic integrity. He offers a three-part framework to consider:

Where students are working together, starting processes, and doing everyday things like taking quizzes, allow them a measure of trust. For assessments, draft work, lab results, anything that shouldn’t be faked; make sure to verify that the students are doing authentic work and that they are respecting the conditions you’ve set for their work, too. And for the times when students are playing for big points or high stakes, use a strategy for observing them as they demonstrate their skills.

Click here to Download the concise guide to course design for academic integrity.

Click here to download a transcript of the accompanying video as a PDF.