Ensuring Academic Integrity Online

^{Last revised: 12/01/2020 by cah}

Overview

Faculty can use the strategies, tools, techniques and technologies available to them to help ensure academic integrity in online courses.

Strategies to promote academic integrity include both prevention and compliance methods.

Prevention:

Use multiple assessment techniques versus high stakes exams. Consider using multiple, smaller, unproctored assessments as formative assessments with reduced weighting.
Increase reliance on staggered written assignments (students submit various parts of written assignments in stages such as outline, draft, peer review, and final draft) and threaded discussions.
Conduct a Search Engine Test. Type your questions into a search engine to see if the answer can easily be found. If so, consider revising your questions. Refer to Writing Effective Multiple Choice Questions for help drafting questions.
Use test banks and timed test delivery. Refer to Test Options for more information.
Raise awareness among students about what constitutes inappropriate behavior in an online course. Consider adding an agree/disagree certification question to the beginning of assessments where students agree to abide by the student code and academic integrity. For example, “I understand my responsibilities as a member of the UConn community to refrain from participating in dishonest or unethical academic behavior that includes, but is not limited to, misrepresenting mastery in an academic area. To do otherwise would be a violation of academic integrity and the Student Code.”

Compliance:

Use plagiarism detection software and browser lockdowns.
Proctor exams.
Authenticate students.

Ensuring students are authenticated in online courses is the responsibility of faculty. Refer to Guidelines for the Authentication of Students in Online Courses for more information.

In cases of disruptions to face-to-face teaching and learning activities, if classes are moved to online or remote modes of delivery, faculty have the responsibility of authenticating students participation. Refer to Authentication of Students in the Event of Teaching Disruption for more information.

Tools available to faculty for use with HuskyCT/Blackboard to promote academic integrity include:

SafeAssign – Can be used when submitting written assignments to check for plagiarism. The text in a student’s submitted paper is compared against sources on the internet and in various databases. The instructor receives a report indicating the percentage of matching text with sources identified.
LockDown Browser – Can be used during exams administered through HuskyCT. When employed, students are unable to copy, print, access other applications, or visit other websites during an exam.
Respondus Monitor – Can be used in conjunction with LockDown Browser. Students are not monitored by a live proctor, but the student’s webcam will record the entire exam period for review, as needed. Students can be required to show their desk area and identification.
ProctorU – Can be used during exams administered through HuskyCT. This solution offers live remote proctoring and student identity verification. (PLEASE NOTE: ProctorU is the online exam proctoring service that eCampus makes available only to UConn students enrolled in courses formally listed as ONLINE in StudentAdmin.)
Test Options – Setting various test options can help reduce incidences of cheating. For example, time limits, randomized order, question pools, and restricted access to results.

For help with any HuskyCT tools and options, contact Educational Technologies to set up an appointment at edtech@uconn.edu, 486-5052 or stop by Rowe CUE 422.

For assistance with course design to promote academic integrity, contact eCampus to set up an appointment at ecampus@uconn.edu or call 486-1080.

In cases of suspected academic integrity violations, refer to the following resources:

Knowledge Base