Assessments that Promote Integrity

The strongest way to deter academic integrity violations is a well-designed assessment. Proctoring cannot prevent students from making bad decisions under stress and pressured environments. Proctors also do not ask students to think critically, reflect on their learning, and demonstrate their skills to the best of their ability. A well-designed assessment will probe students to use their acquired knowledge, apply their understanding, and use their analytical skills to find a solution.

Characteristics of a well-designed assessment: 

• Perspective: Assignments that require students to read, interpret, and respond to scenarios, a unique problem set, or provide a different perspective
• Random Question Pool: Randomized sets of questions, so that information sharing is insufficient to document every possible combination of questions
• Scaffolded: Assignments that build on existing work and demonstrate improvement over time
• Choice: Questions that allow students to choose between several options
• Authentic: Questions that allow students to reflect on their process, a personal challenge, or an interest in a specific topic
• Creative: Assignments that allow students to express themselves using video, a teaching method, original artwork, oral presentation
• Integrity Reminders: A requirement to sign academic integrity pledges, which remind students of the implications of cheating
• Timed: Either in the form of a strict time limit (e.g. Quizzes) or tight submission windows (e.g. Quizzes or Assignments)