CHAPTER 4 : PROMOTING ACADEMIC INTEGRITY AND DEALING WITH CHEATING

STRATEGIES TO PROMOTE ACADEMIC INTEGRITY ⁽¹⁾

As a faculty member, one of the easiest things you can do to prevent cheating is to simply tell your students at the beginning of each quarter that you will not tolerate academic dishonesty. Tell them in class and tell them on the syllabus. Tell them cheating hurts everyone and that they should not hesitate to inform you if they witness such an act. There are other ways to prevent cheating: some quite simple, others not. Select the ones that best suit your style. Students begin UCSB with a clear warning (given at new student orientation) that academic dishonesty is contrary to the spirit of higher education as well as a violation of Campus and University Regulations. It is their responsibility to behave honestly, but we continue to have an abundance of cases year after year. Instructors can promote honesty by making it difficult to cheat.

Familiarize your students with University Policy. See: http://judicialaffairs.sa.ucsb.edu/pdf/academicintegflyer.pdf

Tips for Prevention

• Give specific topics for assignments.

• Keep copies of past papers.

• Send for a copy of Research Assistance, a $2 catalogue of term papers for sale (call 800-351-0222 to order or see a copy on file with the Dean of Students).

• If possible, familiarize yourself with each student's writing ability.

• Ask for the original copy of the paper; don't accept photocopies.

• Make it clear whether or not students are allowed to collaborate on take-home assignments.

• Read all papers on the same topic together.

• Make your requirements for footnotes, use a quotation marks, bibliography known to class.

• Beware - returning altered exams for re-grading and in-class copying can occur in any test situation.

Proctoring exams

• If space allows, assign alternate seats (sometimes empty adjacent rooms are available - call the Registrar's office for information (x3602).

• Assign permanent seating; taking roll periodically.

• Check picture IDs before exams (helpful if class is very large - and if you have TAs).

• Give different versions of the exam (simply changing the order of questions is helpful in lengthy objective exams).

• Make duplicates of random exams to compare with exams returned for re-grading and inform class you are doing this (recommended for Science, Engineering, and Math).

• Collect unmarked bluebooks & Redistribute randomly.

• Change exam questions periodically.