One of the significant benefits of developing authentic assessment activities, as opposed to standard multiple choice quizzes or stock essay questions, is they are inherently less prone to cheating. Because academic integrity is of concern for many instructors, we wanted to share some considerations and tips to help you, as an instructor, find a comfortable position with regard to the possibility of academic dishonesty in your classes.

It's often assumed at least some students are going to cheat but consideration is rarely given to students' motivations for dishonesty beyond labeling the student as lazy, bad, or unethical. A question to ponder: How would our teaching practices change if, instead of working to design assignments and assessments with the goal to prevent cheating, we made a conscious decision to develop trust for and understanding of our students and their learning experience?

While it's a myth that cheating is more prevalent among online students, there is a correlation between students who feel less connected to their instructor and/or less engaged by the course and those who are more likely to participate in dishonest practices.

The thing to remember is that student cheating is not a new phenomenon. What's changed as more instruction moves online is the instructor's relationship to—and perception of—academic dishonesty. Dr. Jason Stephens (academic motivation researcher, University of Auckland) asserts that instructors are uniquely positioned to instill a sense of responsibility in their students and help students dispel rationalizations that enable them to think cheating is acceptable (or, at least, not a big deal). Humanizing practices that support students in creating a sense of connection with you and each other and seeing the relevance of the coursework to their lives/goals will be the most effective defense against cheating. Hello, Authentic Assessment! ;-)

The following are some recommended practices.

Turn Down the Pressure, Turn Up the Engagement

Keep in mind, many—if not most—community college students are working and/or caring for family at the same time as completing their coursework. They're not just being lazy; they're busy with real commitments beyond school. You can help increase legitimate participation by avoiding repetitive or rote assignments that offer little substantive value and instead developing activities that engage student interest and encourage them to apply what they're learning. Ineffective or perfunctory assignment and exam design (unclear instructions, vague prompts, inflated expectations) can contribute to students taking "shortcuts" to their desired grade.

Choose Your Words Thoughtfully

Research has found that students who receive praise for being smart—as opposed to praise for effort and progress—are more inclined to cheat (in order to continue meeting "expectations"). Other research suggests that one of the best ways to improve student success is to provide more descriptive feedback (corrective guidance) rather than more numerical evaluations (grades). Be intentional about focusing feedback on students' efforts - for example, "Fine work on your essay! You really implemented my comments from your first draft well." or "Your solutions to the first three equations are well thought out and clearly written. You could improve your fourth solution by [offer a specific tip]."

Make Academic Integrity a Topic of Discussion

In today's technology-based world, where students are likely reposting images, repurposing memes, and watching parody videos on a daily basis, they often see ownership of content as ambiguous. Ongoing, explicit discussions of ethical conduct can ensure students see what behaviors qualify as cheating in an academic setting. Organizations like Common Sense Media can provide resources and guidance for teaching students about media literacy and digital plagiarism.

Shift Students' Attention from Grades to Learning

After 12+ years in our educational system, many students see grades, not learning, as "the point." As much as you can, implement strategies that underscore your desire for students to learn, not just get a good grade.

Consider allowing for revision/resubmission more than you do now. Learning how to implement instructor or peer feedback and how to identify, analyze, and correct their own errors are both valuable skills (perhaps even more so than getting it right the first time). "Evolving assignments”—such as papers written in installments or projects completed in discrete steps—with descriptive feedback but no grades until the end can demonstrate that learning is never finished, and that work can always be improved.
Here's a delightful example of the power of iterative feedback. (It's an elementary setting but can be "mapped across" to higher ed.)
Draw an explicit link between learning objectives and activities/assessments. This helps students see that learning is intimately connected to getting a good grade. In addition, clearly explain the standards for excellent work (e.g., using rubrics) so that students understand how to best direct their efforts to achieve the results they want.
Actively encourage an intrinsic motivation for learning by regularly demonstrating your own enthusiasm for your subject matter. Dry presentations (whether in person or on the page) can dishearten even the most motivated of students and compelling ones can draw in even the most apathetic.
Adjust your grading policies to incorporate "equitable grading" strategies like those suggested in Grading for Equity (by Joe Feldman) or on Jesse Stommel's Ungrading blog.

ChatGPT

Yikes! There's an elephant in the room.

ChatGPT is a natural language processing tool using artificial intelligence technology. It can answer questions and assist with tasks like composing emails, essays, and code. It's also a topic of controversy in higher ed as some instructors fear it will exacerbate student cheating while others see it as an exciting new tool.

New technologies are often met, at least by some, with alarm and dire warnings of impending repercussions. Socrates is said to have cautioned against writing because it would "create forgetfulness in the learner's soul..." (Here's a short article on the history of media technology scares, if you're interested.)

However, the tool itself is neither "good" nor "bad." How we use—and frame student use of—the tool determines whether it's a positive or negative contribution to learning.

Of one thing we can be certain—artificial intelligence, ChatGPT among it, is here to stay. Instead of trying to force that genie back into the bottle (keeping in mind, the forbidden thing is always more highly desired), it behooves instructors to figure out how we are going to approach the responsible use of ChatGPT in our class/discipline. Ultimately, the ways in which you might integrate ChatGPT will depend on the course subject matter and learning outcomes, as well as your teaching style and preferences.

Spoiler Alert: The following description was intentionally generated by ChatGPT-3 ;-) and edited after critical reflection by me.

Source: ChatGPT-3. April 18, 2023. Query: "Write a short explanation for college instructors of how to use ChatGPT effectively as part of student assignments." Generated using OpenAI. https://chat.openai.com/.

Clear Guidelines

As a first step, we recommend coming up with a clear set of guidelines for usage appropriate to your class/assignments. For example, you may want to limit the number of times ChatGPT can be used or specify which types of assignments it can be used for. This can help prevent plagiarism and encourage students to use the tool in a responsible and ethical manner. Here's an open source document created by Lance Eaton to help you see how other instructors are approaching this: Classroom Policies for AI Generative Tools.

Once guidelines are established, ChatGPT can be used effectively in a number of ways as part of student assignments:

A Research Tool

Encourage students to use ChatGPT as a research tool to generate ideas and gather information for their assignments. You'll want to remind students to use the information as a starting point and not to rely on ChatGPT as the sole, or a completely accurate, source of information. Students may not realize ChatGPT does make mistakes, and has even been known to fabricate details and citations entirely(!).

A Writing Assistant

Encourage students to use ChatGPT as a writing assistant to check their grammar and syntax. At the same time, remind students to use their own judgment and not rely solely on ChatGPT to correct errors.

A Learning Tool

Instructors can use ChatGPT as a learning tool to teach students about AI language models, their capabilities, and limitations. This can help students understand the role of AI in writing and research and how to use it ethically both with classwork and in future jobs.

A Conversation Partner

For language courses, instructors can ask students to use ChatGPT to practice their language skills by having conversations with the model in the target language.

A Study Buddy

Instructors can provide students with sample exam questions or a study guide and ask them to use ChatGPT to research and gather information to help them prepare for the exam. ChatGPT could also serve as a virtual "tutor" to support students who may be struggling to understand a new concept or topic.

Knowledge Check

Which of the following is TRUE about academic integrity?

Students are more likely to cheat in the online learning environment.
There's a correlation between academic cheating and a sense of disconnection with the instructor/content.
Instructors have little to no influence over their students' attitude toward cheating.
ChatGPT is a serious threat to academic integrity.

Select the button below for the answer.

The answer is B.
Students who feel connected and engaged are less likely to engage in academic dishonesty.

Answer