Dr. Laura Costelloe discusses the importance of designing assessments that promote academic integrity, especially in the context of COVID-19. The document emphasizes creating authentic, meaningful tasks and incorporating student feedback to enhance learning while addressing potential misconduct. Several references highlight the necessity of engaging with the root causes of academic dishonesty rather than just focusing on detection.

1. Dr Laura Costelloe, Academic Developer
Learning Enhancement and Academic Development Centre (LEAD)
Mary Immaculate College, Limerick @Lostelloe
Promoting Academic Integrity
Through Robust Assessment
Design

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Why focus on assessment design?
Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash

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• Scott (2017): importance of creating a strong environment for
academic integrity;
“We ourselves may be unwittingly creating conditions that
facilitate misconduct through the design of our assessments”
“When we are intentional about incorporating design elements
that limit opportunities for misconduct, we promote a stronger
academic integrity environment. This in turn facilitates a focus on
academic skills development and relationships of trust between
students and between instructors and students”
What the literature tells us…

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• Walden & Peacock (2006): addressing issues relating to
plagiarism and breaches of academic integrity are best
addressed by engaging with the causes, rather than focusing
solely on detection;
• Owens & White (2013): “assignments must be designed to
ensure that dull, reworded summaries do not obtain strong
marks”
• Egan (2018): “Assessment design that uses scaffolding as a
basis for learning is likely to support student’s incremental
development. Using this approach, as students’ progress
through their academic programmes, their opportunities to
practice and develop their skills will be enhanced”
What the literature tells us…

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• It has been challenging to (re)design robust alternative assessment in the
context of COVID-19, while taking academic integrity into account.
• Strongly agree
• Agree
• Neither agree nor disagree
• Disagree
• Strongly disagree
• I am able to access or identify key institutional and sectoral resources to
support the integration of academic integrity into assessment (re)design.
• Strongly agree
• Agree
• Neither agree nor disagree
• Disagree
• Strongly disagree
A few quick questions for you….

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Designing robust assessment
approaches to support academic
integrity

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8. 8https://teuintegrityproject.wordpress.com/principles/

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(Bretag et al,
2019)

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• Prof Sally Brown, building on the work of Conklin &
Hughes (2016) and Jazaieri (2018)
• Assessment design which takes account of the realities
and lived experiences of both students and staff;
particularly important in the COVID-19 context
• For students, this means that they are provided with authentic
and meaningful assessment tasks
Compassionate Assessment

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(Source: Prof Sally Brown: www.sally-brown.net)

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(Source: Prof Sally Brown: www.sally-brown.net)

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• 1st Year undergraduate module focused on the
development of academic writing skills
• Students worked throughout the semester on a
portfolio, composed of the following elements:
• A plan for an assignment of their choice from another
module on the programme;
• Writing journal;
• Samples of their writing from assignment/s submitted for
other modules on the programme;
• An annotated bibliography;
• Reflection on the writing process.
Sample Assessment Approach (1)
Received
peer
feedback on
draft writing;
template
provided
Weekly reflective prompts
Reviewed and
commented on
exemplars in small
groups
In-class writing tasks

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Full rubric shared and
discussed in class.
Learning portfolio – focused
on the process as well as the
product.
Reflective pieces, ongoing
formative assessment and
feedback are important
elements of the learning
process, and the overall goal
is to facilitate and document
learning and development
over time (Klenowski, Askew &
Carnell, 2006; see also Scully
et al, 2018)

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• Postgraduate module designed to enable students to
explore some contemporary and enduring issues
impacting on teaching, learning and assessment
practices
• Students participated in a series of in-class debates/group
discussions, in collaboration with the Theories of Learning
and Teaching module;
• Prepared a written response to one of the debate topics,
drawing on the arguments raised during the classes;
• End of semester written exam, using student-generated
questions (pre-approved)
Sample Assessment Approach (2)
(Assessment approach co-designed with Dr Leo Casey, National College of
Ireland)
Rubric
negotiated and
agreed in class
Opportunity for
informal peer
feedback and
learning
Students supported to write
individual exam questions which
are grounded in their particular
academic practice context

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• When it comes to assessment design and academic integrity:
• Consider how assessment design can support broader institutional
initiatives to enhance academic integrity;
• Consider how you can support students to create authentic,
personalised and contextualised assignments;
• Consider self- and peer-assessment for formative feedback;
• Consider compassionate assessment approaches that take
account of the realities of students experiences of remote learning;
• Consider semester-long assessment approaches (e.g portfolios) to
avoid the pressures caused by ‘bunched’ assessments;
• Consider involving students as partners in the design of
assessments and rubrics;
• Consider various assessment types that are appropriate for your
discipline – is there anything that has worked previously for you?
To summarise…

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• Breakout room discussion to explore these themes
further and share some ideas/examples
• Suggested discussion topic:
• How can we best support students to avoid breaches of
academic integrity principles through assessment design
in the online/blended context?
Over to you….

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• DCU TEU Academic Integrity Project: https://teuintegrityproject.wordpress.com/
• IUA Guide to Academic Integrity in Online Assessments:
https://edtldotblog.files.wordpress.com/2020/04/academic-integrity-in-online-
assessment_covid19.pdf
• National Forum Guide to Selecting Online Alternatives to Common Assessment
Methods: https://www.teachingandlearning.ie/resource/selecting-online-alternatives-
to-common-assessment-methods/
• Profs Kay Sambell and Sally Brown COVID-19 Assessment Collection: https://sally-
brown.net/kay-sambell-and-sally-brown-covid-19-assessment-collection/
• University of Limerick blog post series Promoting Academic Honesty with Online
Assessment: https://www.ul.ie/ltf/blog
Resources

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Bretag, T., Harper, R., Burton, M., Ellis, C., Newton, P., van Haeringen, K., Saddiqui, S. and
Rozenberg, P. (2019) 'Contract cheating and assessment design: exploring the relationship',
Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 44(5), 676-691.
Conklin, H. and Hughes, H. (2016) 'Practices of compassionate, critical, justice-oriented teacher
education', Journal of Teacher Education, 67(1), 47-60.
Egan, A., (2018). Improving Academic Integrity through Assessment Design. Dublin City University,
National Institute for Digital Learning (NIDL).
Jazaieri, H. (2018) 'Compassionate education from preschool to graduate school: bringing a culture
of compassion into the classroom', Journal of Research in Innovative Teaching & Learning, 11(1),
22-66.
Owens, C., & White, F. A. (2013). ‘A 5‐year systematic strategy to reduce plagiarism among
first‐year psychology university students’. Australian Journal of Psychology, 65(1), 14-21.
Scott, S. (2017). ‘From Plagiarism‐Plagued to Plagiarism‐Proof: Using Anonymized Case
Assignments in Intermediate Accounting.. Accounting Perspectives, 16(4), 247-268.
Scully, D., O’Leary, M. & Brown, M. (2018). The Learning Portfolio in Higher Education: A Game of
Snakes and Ladders. Dublin: Dublin City University, Centre for Assessment Research, Policy &
Practice in Education (CARPE) and National Institute for Digital Learning (NIDL).
Walden, K., & Peacock, A. (2006). ‘The i‐Map: a process‐centered response to plagiarism’.
Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 31(2), 201-214.
References