“Sometimes, new communication technologies that make cheating easier can also be used to combat the problem. For example, while the Internet opens a world of opportunity for students to plagiarize, it also can be used to detect and hinder the practice with programs such as turnitin.com. Future research on mobile phone use for cheating should be open to ways the technology can effectively be used to prevent as well as support it” (Campbell, 2006, p.13). Here lies the conundrum for educators who must weigh the benefits of technology with its nefarious underbelly.
Waters (2013) suggests five key strategies for reducing or eliminating cheat:
· Prohibit mobile devices in the room
· Proctoring vigilance
· Communicate clear rules
· Promote ethical digital literacy behaviours
· Articulate differences between research and search
Combined, these strategies are a good starting point to address cheating. Other researchers like Nyamawe & Mtonyole (2014) investigate using sophisticated electronic monitoring devices to jam mobile phone reception. Their system has proven effective for reducing communications or retrieval of online materials, but not inhibiting students who have stored information on their devices. “Increased availability of cheating technology means that the cheating threats of on-campus exams vs. remote exams – previously assumed to be quite different – are gradually converging” (Vegendla & Sindre, 2019, p. 61). Vegendla & Sindre went as far as promoting the usage of continuous biometric authentication during online examinations to mitigate cheating.
The motivation of students to cheat was at the core of research by Peytcheva-Forsyth et al. (2018). Through a quantitative analysis of the perceptions of students and teachers related to cheating, they discovered that students often cheat because technology makes it easy to do so.
“23% of students who said that they do not cheat, believe that the internet facilitates the plagiarism and cheating, whereas only 1/5th of the actual perpetrators (the students who admit that they cheat) support this belief. It leads to the conclusion that internet technologies are not the most important but only one of the factors that influence cheating in assessment” (Peytcheva-Forsyth et al., 2018, p.7).
Perhaps another solution to curb cheating is to embrace a different type of assessment. Mazur (2012) promotes moving away from the status-quo of teaching and assessment, and embracing technology to develop “authentic assessment.” Lisa Neilsen in her blog “The Innovative Educator” says educators need to start by moving away from assessing students’ knowledge of “what” to the knowledge of “where” in essence developing what she called “meaningful learning” that incorporates technology.
“There appears to be an over-focus on punishing the symptoms (cheating), rather than the cause (lack of awareness and confidence in what assessment tasks require)” (Velliaris, 2019, p.35). Velliaris is a big proponent of integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) into assessment practices. Tools that randomize questions within tests along with combinations of assessment modalities (interactive discussions, quizzes, and projects) appear successful in limiting cheating.
There is at least one other, non-technical, method to eliminate cheating. Establishing a culture of equity, transparency and ethical behaviours in the classroom has been shown to reduce or eliminate cheating. “By proactively changing the narrative around cheating such that there is a belief that all students see it as a distasteful behavior, professors may be able to prevent it to a greater extent, especially in those with an interdependent self-construal” (Brodowsky et al, 2020, p. 34).
Technology has made cheating more accessible to students willing to take risks. A connected mobile device whether a phone, watch, glasses or headphones can provide infinite possibilities for students’ intent on being academically dishonest. While technologies like jammers can limit the connectivity or effectiveness of mobile devices, and AI-generated assessment tools can make cheating more challenging, ultimately it is up to institutions and educators to champion academic integrity while offering new approaches to assessment that potentially incorporate more meaningful learning outcomes.
THE PROBLEM
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