Ensuring academic integrity presents a unique challenge in online courses. There are several ways to design assessments and leverage online tools to ensure that students continue to uphold the Code of Conduct and Honor Code in an online course.
Best practices to promote Academic Integrity include:
- Using question banks and shuffling question/response option order in Canvas Quizzes.
- Considering online proctoring with Proctorio for high-stakes assessments, or Turnitin to detect plagiarism. More information on Proctorio can be found below.
- If you do not already have one, drafting an Academic Integrity policy statement for your class. This statement may include 1) a message that academic dishonesty will not be tolerated; 2) test-taking/assignment rules, including specific behaviors which may constitute academic dishonesty for the course, including policies as they relate to group projects, social media, plagiarism; and 3) The UT Code of Conduct and Honor Code.
Put your Academic Integrity policy statement in your 1) syllabus; 2) a pre-recorded or live lecture; and 3) in assignment instructions. For more information about academic integrity in online learning, visit the Office of the Dean of Students website.
Proctorio
Implement Proctorio for assessments delivered via Canvas Quizzes to monitor student behavior and promote academic integrity. Proctorio is an AI-based Google Chrome extension which integrates into Canvas and deters problematic behaviors by monitoring students during assessment.
Consult the Toolbox to learn more about installation info, best practices to ensure a smooth testing experience, and information on managing SSD accommodations. Also note that Proctorio is not a replacement, but rather an enhancement for quizzes already designed with academic integrity in mind. Instructors should continue to write effective, discriminating exam questions with large question banks and shuffled questions/answers.
Proctorio is likely a new testing experience for both instructors and students. Instructors will benefit from reading through all of the links in the Proctorio section of the Toolbox. Below are the three most important recommendations to ensure students have a smooth experience during testing.
- Configure your Proctorio exam settings per the recommendations provided in the Proctorio Best Practices doc.
- Send communication to students that adequately prepares them for the proctoring experience. Here is a template that can be modified.
- Conduct a practice graded quiz with students to ensure any technical hiccups can be addressed before a high stakes testing scenario.