I diagree that instructors should not be concerned about cheating in the online environment. Instructors must be very concerned about the possibility of cheating by students on written assignments.
It has been my personal experience that about 10% of the students submit at least one written assignment with too much word for word matching material to internet sources. These often lack any required APA/MLA quotation format, in-text citation, or proper reference in the list.
It may be true that students have done this by accident and do not realize that this is academic misconduct. The instructor must be sure to check each assignment using the TurnitIn Function. It must be realized that this may also occur in on-the-ground classrooms but is not noticed when proper software is not employed.
There is a misconception among some students that there exists a 'magic' score that is acceptable. However, it may be that long written assignments with green scores contain more than the two allowable properly quoted sentences.
Each instructor must ask the following question: Does this assignment lack originality? The assignment cannot be accepted if the answer is 'no'.
Tanya,
Loopholes do exist in many parts of our lives. We certainly do not want to see it in our teaching!
Shelly Crider
Ricardo,
We should use all technology out there and let the students know that things that we use to detect cheating.
Shelly Crider
kalysa,
Letting students know what is and is not acceptable right up front will help somewhat.
Shelly Crider
We should always be concerned about cheating in a classroom. I believe it is up to the instructor to be cognizant of the students work.
I disagree. Cheating is cheating whether this takes place in an online environment or traditional setting. We must uphold the integrity of the school by addressing the issue with the student. If the student is unaware of what he or she has done, we must provide information to the student to prevent additional unacceptable actions.
Now cheating on papers are much different than cheating on a test. How can we know if a student is cheating on a test in the online environment? We have tools such as turnitin to prevent cheating on papers. In a traditional class setting, we are watching the student take the test. How can we prevent cheating in an online environment?
There are some students who may cheat no matter if the environment is traditional or online. Plagiarism is one way of cheating and this can be done in either environment. In an online environment there are tools available to check for plagiarism aiding instructors in identifying these types of students.
Nikki,
We can make testing more project oriented.
Shelly Crider
Kevin ,
This is where being active in discussion. You can get a good feel of how a student talks and writes through discussion.
Shelly Crider
Diane,
This is true...and if a student cheats in class, he/she will probably cheat on the job.
Shelly Crider
Cheating in any format should be a concern regardless if it is online or in a campus environment. So therefore cheating is cheating. Because many campus classrooms are becoming blended, the problems of one environment is now becoming the problem of the other environment.
Ted,
Cheating is definitely cheating!!! No matter where you are or who you are!
Shelly Crider
Shelly-
I agree that they may cheat in a traditional classroom as well as an online environment; however, it is up to the Instructor to engage the students as much as possible to gauge their understanding of the content. For instance, every week I make outbound calls to a handful of students and ask them questions related to the material as well as use follow up questions in the Discussion Board to ensure they are comprehending the material. I feel like most often where the "cheating" occurs in my class is plagiarizing. Every week, I send out a reminder of the consequences that may occur if caught cheating and provide them with a "how-to" to APA format.
Leti Ramirez
Leti ,
I like how you reinforce the consequence of cheating. This lets the students know that you do mean business.
Shelly Crider
I disagree. We need to be concerned about cheating. It is very easy to copy and paste from the internet and plagiarize. Students might also use resources to answer questions on an exam. Less monitoring means more opportunity for cheating.
I agree. Giving assignments that depend on critical thinking, especially those that must be presented in an original, course specific format can be a good safeguard against cheating.
Ms. Crider
I disagree with the statement “We should not be concerned about students cheating in an online environmentâ€. It is true that a student my cheat in traditional classes. However, I believe that all learning platforms are subject to individuals who may cheat.
In my experience as an instructor, I have seen cheating in on-ground and online classes. I believe we need to be aware of the possibility and address it immediately if we suspect a student of cheating.
Debra
Kathy,
Good point. We need to make sure the students know we are monitoring.
Shelly Crider
Ajani,
Exactly and helps them prepare for a good job.
Shelly Crider
Debra,
Cheating does rear its ugly head everywhere!
Shelly Crider
