The Sloan-C View Newsletter
spacer gifAcademic Integrity in Online Education
A recent conversation on the Sloan-C listserv focused on academic integrity as a perceived obstacle to the quality of online education
Bob Ubell of Stevens Tech notes that wherever he makes presentations about online learning, "inevitably, faculty and administrators at schools everywhere raise the specter of cheating online as a serious obstacle to faculty acceptance of online education." The issue of academic integrity is not unique to online education. Carole Hayes of Florida State University observes that, "in any situation, anyone who is really compelled to cheat will find a way" whatever the course delivery mode, and most online learning practitioners would agree with Boria Sax of Mercy College that "no security system is ever likely to be foolproof." Nevertheless, many practitioners also agree with Terri Buckner of the University of North Carolina that online education has to meet a higher standard for demonstrating academic integrity than occurs in the F2F classroom, reflecting the notion that online education is more susceptible than traditional instruction to cheating and other breaches of academic integrity. Although this notion may be based more on perception than reality, Ray Schroeder of the University of Illinois-Springfield comments that F2F students are rarely asked to present identification for taking exams in large-lecture classroom courses, whereas online students routinely do so when they take proctored exams. Online educators address this perception as they develop ways to protect academic integrity in online education.
"...F2F students are rarely asked to present identification for taking exams in large-lecture classroom courses, whereas online students routinely do so when they take proctored exams..."

Sloan-C institutions use a variety of strategies to encourage academic integrity among online learners. Requiring an academic honesty pledge is an increasingly popular strategy, and many schools use proctoring systems to ensure integrity. Carole Hayes reports that Florida State University has instituted an approval process for test proctoring all over the world, even aboard aircraft carriers at sea (see http://online.fsu.
edu/learningresources/proctoredexam
for details).

 

David Sachs notes that Pace University has used proctored mid-term and final exams for the past 5 years. Students nominate local proctors, who must notarize their adherence to academic integrity procedures. Online students at Stevens Tech take their final exams in proctored environments at commercially available sites in the US and abroad.

Other institutions have taken a different tack in addressing academic integrity, relying instead on strategies which do not require proctoring systems. The University of Cincinnati's Early Childhood associate degree program has eliminated tests altogether, according to Lisa Holstrom. Written essays, research papers, reflection papers, summaries, and other original work are used for assessments because "we feel that these assessments are a much better measure of what students have learned and how they have applied it." Lisa notes that this approach equalizes the problem of guaranteeing authenticity that exists in both "brick" and "click" classrooms, although it does not eliminate it. Al Powell of Colorado State University also questions why tests have to be "high-security," noting that most real-world tasks are "open-book" which require applying the results of quick research, and that well-designed tests that allow students to do this can be effective. Mike Kolitsky of Atlantic Cape Community College applies this strategy in the course he teaches, allowing students to use open-book materials but structuring tests so that students who rely excessively on these materials are unable to complete exams within prescribed time periods. Jacquie Moloney of The University of Massachusetts-Lowell finds that strategies that enable faculty to know their students' abilities are the most effective way to eliminate cheating.

Many institutions use a combination of methods to preserve exam integrity, and some have also created resources to help faculty and students learn more about academic integrity such as the University of Maryland University College's Virtual Academic Integrity Lab (VAIL). See VAIL's resources for faculty and for students at: http://www.umuc.edu/distance/
odell/cip/vail/home.html
. Proactive approaches such as these protect academic integrity in online education as they do in traditional delivery modes. Moreover, the continuous growth and expanded reach of online programs compel institutions to share more resources for academic integrity, and this issue's Opportunities column invites you to participate in one such initiative.

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