I disagree. Cheating is as much of an issue in online courses as traditional ones. These days the mechanics of turning in assignments and testing are pretty much the same anyway, so it is straightforward to do initial diagnostics like screening papers through Turnitin, watch for patterns of the same groups of people receiving the same grade on exams, etc.
As online educators we need to be especially vigilant about ensuring that our assessment procedures are sound. IMHO the market has not accepted that online courses are as valuable as traditional in-person ones.
Cheating is cheating...
It is a lot easier in the online format, so we take extreme care in ensuring students understand why it is important to submit their own work.
I believe you can structure the assignments/tests so that cheating is not really a possibility. As educators we want to challenge students so they are answering questions at a higher level of Bloom's taxonomy. Analysis, Synthesis, and Evaluation don't really lend themselves to "cheating."
Sheila,
I like how you say you coach the student.....many students don't thing they need taught how to cite, but coaching seems like a helpful step!
Shelly Crider
I think cheating should be considered the same also. It is easier to find information while no one is looking. Having tools that check for plagerism are very helpful when it comes to scanning student papers. There are also tools that will lock your web browser once you enter the testing area to prevent you from being able to navigate the web during the allocated testing time.
Hello all,
As an instructor who teaches both on-ground and online courses, I am definitely concerned when a student cheats. Cheating demonstrates academic dishonesty, and it should not be taken lightly or condoned whether in an online class or an on-ground class. Sometimes, it may be difficult to detect cheating in a traditional class, but it is a lot easier to detect in an online class, thanks to Turnitin.com.
However, there can be unintentional cheating if the student doesn't cite the sources or cites them incorrectly due to lack of knowledge of APA rules for citations. In that case, as an instructor, I coach the student about plagiarism and the importance of giving credit to sources.
Sheila Rogers
Ginger,
Students need to know that we instructors know about cheating and that we fight against it.
Shelly Crider
Chris,
You are right....at some point in time cheating comes back and bites the student in the behind!!
Shelly Crider
Peter,
We also need to enforce the fact that cheating is certainly not accepted in any real job!
Shelly Crider
Ester,
It hurts my head to think that there is so much cheating going on. We as instructors do need to get our students motivated enough to be proud of their own work.
Shelly Crider
Cheating is a detriment to learning regardless of the learning environment. Even in "ground" learning environments, technology is pervasive, and thus, the ease with which students may be able to cheat is essentially the same. In some ways, the advent of technological advances, while making cheating arguably easier for a learning, has made "catching" a cheater easier. Programs such as Turnitin provide instructors, online and on the ground, with a first line of defense against cheating.
If an online student cheats, its typically difficult to prove depending on the assignment type. Ultimatly, if the student decided to cheat, he or she will eventually be asked to do proceeding assignment that will test thier knowledge of the materail they cheated on.. in other words, It will eventually come back to haunt them.
I disagree. I think that students often think it's easier to cheat in an online environment and it's our job to make certain that they understand that cheating will not be tolerated or allowed.
Hello Shelly,
I disagree with the statement and I think that we should be just as concerned about cheating in online courses as we are in ground courses. In my experience I have found that students tend to cheat more in online courses and the cheating is wide ranging. For example, I have had students use other students work/discussion posts as their own throughout an entire quarter. It also seems that students sometimes feel more comfortable copying and pasting directly from the internet for homework assignments, term papers, and discussion posts without any citation and sometimes without any clear reference for how it relates to the course materials. I have had students google terms and post web definition for terms that are much more highly technical and/or use language that we have never covered in course. In order to combat some of this in my courses, I have now laid out what plagiarism is (in simple terms), how to cite material, when to cite (for example, citations are not allowed in discussion posts and discussion posts are framed as though they are only what the student thinks), and what will be flagged and not graded if submitted. Our institution does not use any of the online plagiarism sites but periodically I will do my own search online of information if it seems off based on the students previous work.
lindsey,
Nor do we know if they are the actual person submitting the work!
Shelly Crider
Gary,
Cheating will always be around, but we can certainly minimize it just as you say.
Shelly Crider
Julie,
At some point in time you will have to demonstrate what you have learned......
Shelly Crider
We should not be concerned about students cheating in an online environment; they may cheat in traditional classes as well. Do you agree or disagree? Explain your answer.
I disagree; cheating should be considered the same and treated the same. I always tell my students that ultimately, the person who is cheated the most is the cheater. I tell them: “You are paying a lot of money to go to college, and the end result of a college education should be more than a piece of paper. Yes, that degree holds meaning and can open doors for you, but the reason for this is because the degree represents the education and knowledge that you have acquired to earn it. Don’t cheat yourself out of this education and knowledge.â€
We need to be very concerned about students cheating in an online environment because this issue is at the heart of academic integrity, which is something that universities need to maintain and enforce.
Cheating online can occur when students copy each others online discussions, assignments or group projects. For this reason, cheating online can devalue a degree and in some cases, it might be easier to cheat online than in a traditional class.
Fortunately, there are tools today such as Turn-It-In that can help to determine if a student has cheated when submitting online written assignments.
I disagree with the following statement: we should not be concerned about students cheating in an online environment, they may cheat in traditional classes as well. We should be very concerned! I believe it is much easier for students to cheat in the online environment since they have access to their textbooks, the internet and more. Plus we are not able to see them face to face during their assignments and other assessment.
