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Mitigating Cheating and Plagiarism
This document discusses strategies for promoting academic integrity and preventing cheating. It provides an overview of common reasons why students cheat and various methods they use. It then outlines different technological tools that can be used to deter cheating, such as plagiarism detection software, locked browsers for online exams, and remote proctoring services. The document emphasizes the importance of also using pedagogical approaches like clearly communicating policies, teaching proper citation, and helping students with time management.
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Mitigating Cheating and Plagiarism
- 1. Anastasia M.Trekles, Ph.D. ClinicalAssociateProfessor School of Education and Counseling http://tinyurl.com/PNWintegrity
- 2. Implement variouspedagogical strategies to teach students the importance of academic integrity Explain issues regarding copyright and intellectual property so that students can understand them better Use technology tools such as TurnItIn and remote proctoring to help mitigate and prevent cheating and plagiarism
- 3. Concerns aboutcheating and plagiarism can be a big obstacle, and may limit our choices for assessment Studies show that students may cheat less online than face-to-face Luckily, there are ways to use technology to help ensure that students are doing authentic work
- 4. There arelots of reasons why a student might choose to cheat Most commonly: They lack proper knowledge The don’t understand school policies or copyright They don’t understand the seriousness The class is too high-stakes Poor time management skills
- 5. For the“amateurs” (more commonly the case): Copy and paste Homework and Answer-sharing sites (not always a bad thing, but can lead to cheating) Taking pictures with smart phones For the “pros” (far less common): Term paper mills Identity-swapping Lessons posted onYouTube (it’s true!) See http://www.cmu.edu/teaching/solveproblem/strat- cheating/
- 6. There aremany ways that technology can help us mitigate cheating: “lockdown” browsers and proctoring tools TurnItIn, Quetext, Plagiarisma, and other plagiarism detectors Monitoring software for the classroom likeApple Classroom and GoGuardian BUT… some pedagogical strategies can help, too Help students with time management Tighten up the syllabus Use bigger test pools, include essay and short answer Active classroom management Involve students in the discussion
- 7. Most studentsdon’t set out to cheat, but when time becomes the enemy, pressure wins Help students set up calendars and set aside time for study Help students learn to prioritize Keep in mind that they have other classes Great resource from Cal Polytechnic
- 8. Include anAcademic Integrity Policy in your syllabus Take time to explain the policy in class Ask students to complete a class contract at the beginning of the semester If they think it’s important to you, they’re more likely to listen Purdue Code of Conduct as an example Example from IUPUI Duneland academic integrity policy What’s your policy?
- 9. Provide lessonson ethics, paraphrasing, and time management Uses short videos and other attention- getting strategies Allows students to explore what “academic integrity” really means at their own pace Classroom management advice from Common Sense Education How do you teach ethics?
- 10. Despite popularbelief, just because it’s on the Web doesn’t mean it’s up for grabs! May be one of the biggest problems for students AND teachers What doYOU know about copyright? Copyright for Educators online course Fair use videos My favorite Fair Use video! (a must to share with kids)
- 11. TurnItIn, Quetext,Plagiarisma for plagiarism checking Respondus LockDown Browser for test-taking (works with LMS’s like Canvas) Monitoring/classroom management software (AppleClassroom, Casper Suite, LANSchool, GoGuardian, etc) Respondus Monitor (for remote automated proctoring – also works with Canvas) Remote Proctor NOW (for remote semi- automated proctoring) ProctorU (live proctoring)
- 12. Checks writtenwork against a database Drafts should not be sent to the database otherwise final copies will be “100% plagiarized” Shows you a score and specific areas that are questionable May have false positives – 10% is about the tolerance for error You may wish to share your error tolerance determination ahead of time to avoid panics!
- 13. More popularin university use but seeing more use in high schools with blended/online components Removes the ability to do anything else on the computer except go to the LMS and start a test Good for lab situations where everyone is in the same room together Does not really mitigate cheating for those with access to multiple devices at home
- 14. Works withLockdown Browser (comes as a package – relatively inexpensive) Records the student taking the test through their webcam Automatically walks students through the preparation process You must watch the videos to review suspicious behavior Only works within the LMS
- 15. Available atan extra cost, approx. $15 per exam per student, picked up by your department (ask for authorization) Semi-automated – the student activity and screen is recorded, but a human watches the recording and flags suspicious behavior for you Easy to use, integrates with any LMS or standalone
- 16. Live proctoring throughthe Internet and a student’s webcam Incurs a fee of $17-$25 depending on the length of the exam – students must pay this fee for each exam Use for high-stakes online test settings
- 17. Contact me: atrekles@pnw.edu @ICEIndiana onTwitter Visitus online at ICEIndiana.org and consider our upcoming Digital Citizenship online course and our October 12-13 ICE Conference!
Editor's Notes
- #5 There are many reasons why a student might choose to cheat on an exam, project, or paper. Some of the most common reasons cited in studies of student academic behavior include: They lack proper knowledge The don’t understand university policies They don’t understand the seriousness The class is too high-stakes Poor time management skills Of these, poor time management and a lack of time for proper study are cited as the top reasons why students cheat. Rarely do students go into a class with the intention of cheating, in fact; it happens over time as they realize that they have not been able to put the proper time in to do well in the course. The likelihood of cheating goes up when a class or specific test is very high-stakes and may “make or break” a student’s performance or ability to continue in a program. On the other hand, there is a fair number of students who are completely honest when they state that they did not know they were cheating, or that they did not know it was not allowed. It may seem like common sense to you and me, but to students who have gone through a high school career where group study and open book tests were frequently the norm, they may not truly understand your policies regarding academic integrity, or how seriously you and the university takes it.
- #6 There are of course many ways that students can and have thought of to cheat on exams and projects, including the most common way of copying and pasting from Internet resources, but there are other methods as well. Term paper mills exist where students can purchase a paper, although most of these are already catalogued by technologies like SafeAssign. Homework and answer-sharing sites such as Quizlet and Sparknotes are also available, which are often not in themselves meant to be cheating resources, but students may be tempted to use them in this way. The more extreme examples of cheating include identity-swapping, where students take exams or complete assignments on behalf of another student. Some may also take pictures with their phones of exam questions and send them to other students – solutions like ProctorU and Remote Proctor Now can take care of this behavior when students are online, but even in class, the enterprising student can use these tricks. Those who are really interested in cheating (the “professionals” as we might call them) will even review lessons posted on YouTube about how to cheat on exams and papers. They are certainly out there to be viewed.
- #8 Time management, as noted previously, is a big problem for many students. Some have not yet learned how to set aside time for study, and others do not have a good idea of how long it should take them to study for the many classes they may be taking. Students often wait until the last minute or find themselves behind because they did not devote their time in the right way. Teaching students how to prioritize and compartmentalize their time will help them with all aspects of their schoolwork, although keep in mind that they do have other classes than yours. It is often difficult for us to consider how long students may need to spend with courses that are not in your discipline, but do your best to guide them to dedicate at least 3-5 hours per course per week outside of class. Urging them to use calendars and planners may be helpful, and a template is available on the student cheating and plagiarism BlackBoard course.
- #9 Your syllabus is a great place to start with establishing policies in your classroom. Include the official Academic Integrity policies in your syllabus and take time to explain these in class. You might even ask students to complete a class contract at the beginning of the semester, which might even be a quiz of some kind about what’s on the syllabus and what your policies are. If they agree to a contract and understand the importance of academic integrity that you place in class, they will be more likely to pay attention to it. If you appear to place little emphasis on such policies (even if you really do value them, but just don’t express it!), then students may not be as likely to take them seriously.
- #12 To prevent cheating and plagiarism, there are several tools available to us, including SafeAssign, LockDown Browser, Respondus Monitor, Remote Proctor NOW. These tools help prevent cheating and plagiarism through electronic means. SafeAssign is integrated into every BlackBoard assignment and allows students to send work to a database that looks for matching sentences and phrases from websites and other similar papers. It returns an originality score to the instructor and if you like, you can let students see their originality report as well. No report is perfect, as there are always some words, citations, and phrases that are picked up, but any score over about 10% would indicate that some plagiarism is taking place, or that students are using too many quotes and not enough paraphrasing. LockDown Browser prevents students from opening other programs or windows on their computer while taking a test. Respondus Monitor works with Lockdown Browser to take video and audio of the student taking the test. You can then go back to the videos to review and see if anything “funny” was going on. Remote Proctor NOW also records all interactions and has staff look at the videos after the student takes the test, but the difference is that someone from the company reviews these videos and reports any suspicious activity back to the instructor after the fact back to you. Both systems work well for high-stakes testing that needs to be done at a distance. RP Now does incur a fee to the department, of $15 per student per exam at a flat rate. Consult with the OLT and with your department chair if you wish to use this product, which has been adopted by the Purdue system, and is in pilot evaluation here at PNC as of Spring 2016.
- #13 SafeAssign checks papers for plagiarism by comparing submitted work to a database that covers almost everything imaginable. It returns a percentage score of how much the paper matches to the database, and even allows you to see the source of the original item when plagiarism is found. With this in mind, take note that SafeAssign is just a tool, and as such as its failings. It may show you false positives, especially with references and quotes, which increase the percentage score. Typically, most instructors accept 10-15% as a margin of error for submitted assignments checked by SafeAssign – you should still check any paper if you have concerns more carefully, of course, but typically you won’t see “real” plagiarism until you get something over 20%. If you allow students to check their own scores, you may wish to share with them your margin or error tolerance that you have determined, so that they do not get concerned when they see a percentage higher than they expect.
- #14 Respondus Lockdown Browser is a program that allows you to remove the student’s ability to do anything else but get into BlackBoard and take their test. All other applications will be closed and cannot be accessed until Lockdown Browser is shut down. BlackBoard can be set to require the browser to be used, removing the ability for a student to get into the test without using Lockdown Browser. This is an actual application that students must download, install, and open on their computers in order to use it. If you have students with difficulties in doing these things on their computers, you may want to refer them to the tutorials or walk through it with them at least once. Also, note that this program is available in most of the labs, and is great for tests you give in person in a lab setting. When students are at home, it is quite possible that they will have other devices available to them, so if your concern is about their ability to take screenshots or otherwise copy questions during an exam, Lockdown Browser will not necessarily stop them from doing this.
- #15 Respondus Monitor is available within the course tool for Respondus Lockdown Browser. This tool adds an additional measure of security for a test by requiring that students use their webcam and microphone in order to be recorded while taking the test. It works with Lockdown Browser, so by requiring LDB is the only way to require Monitor. Monitor will automatically walk students through a series of steps to ensure that their camera and microphone are working properly, and in the Course Tool you can preview and select each of these steps for yourself. You can also, from the Course Tool, review the videos that have been captured after students have taken the exam. The entire exam is recorded, and you may choose to watch the entire thing, or skim through. This will allow you to see and/or hear any suspicious activity that may have been going on in the student’s environment while he/she was taking the exam.
- #16 Remote Proctor Now is a new system adopted by the Purdue system recently. This is available at an extra cost of $15 per exam, per student. Your department must agree to pick up this cost, but this system will not require students to pay anything to participate. It works very similarly to Respondus Monitor. The difference is that instead of you watching the videos, someone else at the company watches the videos and flags any suspicious behavior seen for you. You will have a dashboard of videos and flags after an exam is finished that you can review and decide what to do with any “offenders” as needed. An additional perk of RP Now is that it work with any online testing service. So if, for example, you have students complete tests in a textbook site like MyLab from Pearson, you can still have the tests remotely proctored. Respondus Monitor only works within BlackBoard, so it may limit your options if you use any outside exams. Contact the OLT if you would like to learn more about Remote Proctor Now.
- #17 ProctorU is a live proctoring service performed remotely via webcam and microphone. A student takes a test with a real human on the other end watching them, and their screens, and flags any suspicious behavior. The cost of this service starts around $17 is based the test length. This service can work with any system, including anything outside of BlackBoard, but the cost of the exam must be taken on by the student. At this time the university has no agreement with ProctorU. If you wish to use this system, you should inform students about their need to purchase exam time at the beginning of the semester so that they are prepared. You may also wish to consult with your department chair about the use of this system.