Issues of quality assurance in the management of plagiarism in blended learning environments

Increasing access to and availability of electronic resources presents students with a rich library of opportunities for independent study. But students also find themselves in the confusing territory of how they should best use these resources within their assessment activities. Likewise, teaching institutions are faced with the problems of plagiarism and collusion, and the challenges of educating, deterring, detecting, and dealing with breaches of policy in a fair and consistent way across all disciplines. This paper examines issues of quality assurance in the management of plagiarism by discussing the following questions: – How can effective automated plagiarism detection services be introduced and managed across the institution? – What teaching and assessment practices can be adopted to deter plagiarism? – What part should collusion and plagiarism detection tools play in educating and deterring students? – What are appropriate penalties for plagiarism and collusion and how can these be applied consistently across disciplines? Drawing together three distinct strands of research, in both distance and campus based institutions, the authors discuss how practice and policy have evolved in recent years in an attempt to reduce the incidence of plagiarism and collusion. The paper will illustrate this evolution by reporting on recent developments in assessment strategy, detection tools, and policy within two UK HE Institutions: The UK Open University and Manchester Metropolitan University

Distance exams : can targeted warnings discourage cheating?

During the COVID-19 sanitary crisis of 2020, many exams were hastily moved to online mode. This revived a much-needed debate on the privacy issues of online proctoring of exams, while the validity and fairness of unproctored exams were increasingly questioned. In a randomized control trial, we send a targeted warning to half of the students who were identified as cheaters in previous exams. We then compare their cheating behavior at the final exam to the group of unwarned cheaters. Preliminary results show that the warning proves effective but does not completely annihilates cheating as the cheating strategies of some students become more sophisticated. We conclude that switching traditional exams to online mode should come with proctoring. When proctoring is not possible, credible and effective anti-cheating technologies should be deployed, together with adequate warnings

Collaboration Versus Cheating

We outline how we detected programming plagiarism in an introductory online course for a master's of science in computer science program, how we achieved a statistically significant reduction in programming plagiarism by combining a clear explanation of university and class policy on academic honesty reinforced with a short but formal assessment, and how we evaluated plagiarism rates before SIGand after implementing our policy and assessment.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure, 5 tables, SIGCSE 201

Navigating Academic Integrity in the Digital Era: Challenges, Strategies, and Solutions

In contrast to the slower pace of adopting online learning seen in the previous decades, the COVID-19 pandemic brought about a rapid and widespread shift to online education. However, this sudden transition also led to an increase in academic dishonesty, posing a threat to the integrity of online courses. Many educational institutions and educators are uncertain about how to effectively respond to these new forms of cheating. This research aimed to understand the recent changes in academic dishonesty based on the latest literature. The study revealed concerning trends: new methods of contract cheating and collaborative cheating, shifting perceptions of cheating among students, a reported increase in online cheating, and a lack of strong institutional efforts to address these challenges. Despite these difficulties, the study also identified a range of potential solutions, both innovative and well-established, that can help counteract the problem of academic dishonesty, provided there is a willingness and the necessary resources to implement them. Keywords: Academic Dishonesty, Online learning, Contract Cheating, Cheating DOI: 10.7176/JEP/14-25-05 Publication date:September 30th 2023

Effects of Eye Imagery on Criminal Justice and Forensic Students Cheating in Online Testing

Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) is a well-established subsection of environmental criminology in which aspects of the environment are altered in order to prevent crimes before they happen. This is primarily accomplished in two ways: physical and psychological. CPTED strategies often utilize both in order to prevent crime, but there is a lack of primarily psychologically based research in circulation. This includes the manipulation of the biopsychological response to gaze detection in order to increase prosocial behavior. Additionally, there is a lack of studies indicating if CPTED strategies are effective in a classroom setting and even less concerning online classroom settings. This research seeks to fill the void of psychologically based research as well as determine if CPTED strategies are effective through online classroom delivery by using eye imagery to influence cheating rates in online quizzes at a collegiate level. Results indicate that there is no significant association between eye imagery and cheating in criminal justice and forensic investigation students

Mix(ed/ing) Messages: Online Teaching, Student Success, and Academic Integrity in Sociology

As online education continues to grow within higher education, issues of academic integrity become more concerning. Many assume that online courses provide additional opportunities for dishonesty. However, cheating and plagiarism have a long-history regardless of class format resulting in multi-faceted problems. Still, online learning presents its own unique challenges. Moreover, sociology courses may be especially susceptible to acts of plagiarism and cheating due to its diverse and engaging subject matter and strong emphasis on reading, writing, critical analysis, and qualitative methods. The careful integration of a variety of strategies and techniques within online sociology courses is imperative to not only deter academic dishonesty but also foster accomplishment and integrity. This paper explores the current state of academic integrity within online sociology courses. Additionally, effective methods for encouraging student success and academic honesty within online sociology courses are offered, centering on understanding sociological factors which influence a culture of plagiarism, carefully constructing assignments for online environments, and effectively utilizing technology

Weapons of mouse destruction: a 3D strategy for combating cut-and-paste plagiarism using the JISC Plagiarism Advisory Service

This article describes an action research project undertaken in the Business Information Technology (BIT) subject group of a post-1992 University Business School to combat the growing menace of cut-and-paste plagiarism. The authors regard plagiarism—the passing off as one’s own, the words and ideas of another—as an academic malpractice that should be deterred, detected and dealt with appropriately. We use these three themes, or dimensions, to structure our account here of an expanding portfolio of tools and techniques we have deployed over a period of three years. Recently the Joint Information Systems Committee’s (JISC) Plagiarism Advisory Service (PAS) has become central to our efforts, and whilst it is certainly useful in structuring student perceptions, detecting and highlighting sections of cut and paste, and providing professional disciplinary evidence, we draw attention to the potentially pivotal role it can play in structuring student perceptions of plagiarism. In particular, we advise that the JISC PAS is used carefully as part of a more considered approach to student plagiarism rather than as a quick and easy panacea. Pilot studies carried out across six undergraduate and postgraduate units have revealed a growing awareness, amongst both academic and student enthusiasts, of the strengths and limitations of this service. Potentially, these limitations, combined with the restricted sanctions available according to university regulations, could constitute a small risk that some students may calculate and be willing to take. We feel it is important whilst working within this framework to adopt other complimentary strategies in order to make the wholesale or part copying of another’s work an irrational choice, even for the desperate student. This article draws upon current plagiarism literature, field observations and a survey of plagiarism perceptions conducted on over 150 final year undergraduate students. We present the findings from our ongoing action research in the form of a ‘3D’ strategy that attempts to share best practice in deterring, detecting, and dealing appropriately with cut-and-paste plagiarism. Our findings indicate that students do perceive the JISC PAS as effective across all three dimensions, but this perception can be altered significantly depending upon how the service is presented as part of a broader set of strategies to combat student plagiarism. In particular, we have found that allowing students to see the comparison report output from the JISC PAS, not only heightens student anxiety regarding speculative accusations of plagiarism, but also significantly reduces their confidence in the service as a reliable and effective detection method

Cheating within Online Assessments: A Comparison of Cheating Behaviors in Proctored and Unproctored Environment

The purpose of this study was to describe the frequencies and types of cheating behaviors occurring within proctored and unproctored testing environments for students enrolled in online courses and taking assessments through an online format. In addition, this study sought to examine relationships between demographic variables of gender, age, GPA, discipline of study, undergraduate/graduate status and knowledge of the institutional honor code and online cheating behaviors for students who had taken online assessments through proctored methods. Participants in this study included students enrolled as distance learning campus students who took online courses and online assessments through a large, 4-year, public, degree-granting institution located in the southeastern region of the United States during the spring 2015 semester. Participants were asked to report their frequency in engaging in online cheating behaviors through the Online Assessment Cheating Behaviors Survey (OACBS). The study found that distance students who took unproctored exams reported more frequently engaging in overall cheating behaviors than proctored students. No differences were found in overall cheating behaviors for those taking exams through face to face and remotely proctored methods. Individual item analyses revealed that those taking unproctored exams reported more frequently using web searches during online exams to search for answers than those taking proctored exams. The study also found differences in overall cheating behaviors for those taking proctored online exams based on gender, with female distance students more frequently reporting engaging in cheating behaviors than male distance students. Individual level item analyses revealed females, those with a “C” GPA, and undergraduate distance students more frequently utilized web searches during an online proctored exam and used brain dump sites to obtain test questions and answers

Maintaining Quality in Online Learning Environments: Issues and Challenges

The online classroom continues to play an ever increasing role in higher education. There are proven, research-based pedagogical techniques available to instructors who want to create online courses that are both dynamic and engaging. With careful planning, online learning can provide students with a positive learning experience without sacrificing the academic quality of learning. Addressing security issues and challenges is vital to maintaining the desired academic rigor and quality. This paper discusses these important security issues and offers a variety of solutions for facilitating a secure learning environment