AI & Academic Integrity

How To

1. Acknowledge the limits of detecting and accusing students of cheating.
   Regardless of students’ access to AI tools, cheating has been and continues to be endemic. The fact that AI detection tools are not foolproof (Fleckenstein et al., 2023) and can be gamed by students (Dougall, 2024) means accusations of cheating will continue to be difficult to prove, time-consuming, and require the teacher to carry the burden of accusatory proof.

2. Minimize conditions where cheating is most likely to occur.
   Students are more likely to cheat when they face unrealistic expectations to achieve, believe they are anonymous, lack the time to produce quality results, and when teachers emphasize performance goals rather than learning goals.

3. Emphasize integrity by focusing on transparency, explainability, and relationships.
   Inquiry about cheating begins with the question “Did the student actually do the work?” Inquiry about integrity begins with the question “Does this work accurately represent the student’s skills and understandings?” Teachers can help learners support claims about the integrity of their work by consistently asking them to show evidence of transparency and explainability (Frontier, 2025).

4. Use strategies that support integrity, maximize learning, and minimize cheating.
   4.1 Align expectations with opportunities to learn. The greater the alignment between stated teaching priorities and students’ learning opportunities, the better students can pursue rigorous and realistic goals.
   4.2 Affirm students at the starting line. When students believe their teachers care about them and know their current abilities, they are more likely to act with integrity.
   4.3 Create clear boundaries for what resources can and cannot be used for formative and summative work.
   4.4 Acknowledge progress at checkpoints. Checkpoints along the route aren’t punitive. They ensure participants are on track toward a successful finish.
   4.5 Provide consistent expectations for acknowledging sources and outside help.
   4.6 Consistently seek evidence of transparency and explainability.
   4.7 Frame integrity as the basis of your partnership for effective teaching and learning.