Quick Guide | Centre for Teaching Excellence

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Academic Integrity

Quick Guide

Preventing academic integrity infractions is an ongoing effort throughout your course that’s not just limited to the first day of class. You can:

Prepare your students
Design and structure assignments to prevent infractions
Use Turnitin as a learning tool

Reach out the Centre for Teaching Excellence for assistance.

1. PREPARE YOUR STUDENTS

Using eLearn	Using the course syllabus	With activities during the semester
Include links to the CapU Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure on your eLearn page.	Use the CapU course syllabus template (includes a statement on academic integrity)	Include a discussion on academic integrity during one of your classes. A suggested script is available here. Or use the video “Betting on Integrity”
Include links to recommended citation resources such as the Library Citation Guides	When reviewing the course syllabus, start a conversation about academic integrity. A suggested script is available here.	Require students to complete the Academic Integrity learning module on eLearn as a 4^th hour activity or pre-course requirement Require students to complete the APA Practice Tutorial/MLA Practice Tutorial as a 4^th hour activity or pre-course requirement
Include a link to the video “Betting on Integrity” to educate students on the risks of compromising their integrity
Include links to available support resources on your course eLearn page: · Writing Centre · Student Affairs · English Language Support · Learning Support Services		Book a Library class for an in-class or fourth-hour activity on research skills, using citations, etc. An example is available here.
		Have students sign an Academic Integrity Pledge
		Prepare students to work in groups.
		Model the behaviour you want students to adopt, e.g. including references/sources on your PPT slides, handouts, etc.
		Include an academic integrity workshop for your class as a 4^thhour or in-class activity. Contact Student Success, ELS or CTE.

2. DESIGN AND STRUCTURE ASSIGNMENTS TO PREVENT INFRACTIONS

Design	Grading	eLearn
For ideas on alternative assessments to reduce academic integrity infractions, try the Alternative Assessment Toolkit. the Toolkit is intended to help protect academic integrity by facilitating the implementation of assessments that accurately represent student achievement while minimizing student stress.	Ensure that the assignment’s marks are related to concepts/content that have been taught during the class.	Make the rubric available on eLearn . This can make expectations clearer thus reducing anxiety and the temptation to cheat.
Provide clear instructions. When students understand what is required, they are less likely to cheat/plagiarise. An example is available here. A template is available here.
Explain the purpose and the relevance of the assignment, e.g., relate to the Learning Outcomes, other assignment in the course, future courses in the program, future careers, etc. When students understand why they will need to do an assignment they are less likely to cheat.	Offer the opportunity to redo an assignment. You can set limitations such as timeframe for completing a redo, which assignments can be resubmitted and guidelines for regrading. This can reduce the stress of a high-stakes assignment thus reducing the temptation to cheat. An example is provided here.	Require that students accept the Submission statement, i.e. a statement where students promise the work is their own and which they must agree to before submitting their work (Assignment settings)
Include current topic/s in assignment requirements or quizzes to deter the sue of paper mills, homework websites or self-plagiarism.	For group projects, a portion of the grade can be allocated to “group documentation”, e.g. meeting agendas, meeting minutes, interview notes, etc… This encourages the group to undertake the project as a team, rewards the team effort rather than just the outcome, reduces anxiety related to a high-stakes assignment.	Use the Choice Activity to include an academic integrity pledge. You can require that students complete the pledge to be able to access an Assignment or Quiz. An example is provided here.
Break a larger assignment into smaller submissions (scaffold), e.g. outline, rough draft, annotated bibliography, final paper. This makes it more difficult to engage in academic misconduct, eliminates anxiety related to high-stakes assignments and provides the instructor with an opportunity to monitor papers/ progress for academic integrity concerns. An example is provided here.	Grade the process or course concept application as well as the “correct answer”. Reduces anxiety for high-stakes assignments.	Use the Quiz settings to reduce the possibility of cheating.
In the Assignment guidelines, include links to recommended citation resources such as the Library Citation Guides		In the Assignment guidelines, include links to recommended citation resources such as the Library Citation Guides
Provide students with an academic integrity checklist. An example is available here. Require the completed checklist to be included with the student’s submission.	Deduct grades if the completed checklist is not included with the student’s submission.
For group projects, do not assume that students know how to work in a group. Build time into the course to prepare them, i.e. if group work is important to the learning outcomes and is being graded, students need to be adequately prepared. See Best Practices here.	For group projects, include an individual reflection assignment with a separate grade. Students are less likely to cheat if they’re aware that their project grade is not solely based on the group work. It can be harder to cheat on a reflection assignment. A reflection assignment can help to identify cheating/ plagiarism. An example is provided here.
For a group project, include mandatory tutorial meeting/s with the instructor. This will allow students to provide feedback on the process and for the instructor to gauge the group’s progress and provide an intervention, if necessary, thus reducing anxiety related to high-stakes assignments.		Use eLearn options to set-up project tutorial appointments – Choice, Scheduler
Ensure that the timing for assignment or exam is fair and appropriate, e.g. confer with colleagues, test on yourself. If students have adequate time to complete an assignment, they are less likely to cheat/plagiarise.
Provide groups with a collaboration space in MS Teams or eLearn so work can be tracked. This can be helpful if there is a suspicion of academic misconduct.
For group presentations, rather than students presenting their slides, use the PPT for a Q&A style session to determine depth of knowledge, e.g. start with their conclusion and ask them to explain how they arrived at their conclusion.
For group projects, assign group members to groups to avoid the same people always working together.		Assign groups randomly in eLearn.
The assignments given to multiple sections should be as different as possible to ensure that students don’t use each other’s submissions, e.g. different topic selection.
For in-person exams, follow the exam procedures.

3. USE TURNITIN AS A LEARNING TOOL

If Turnitin is used appropriately (relevant settings, including orientation for students, etc.), it can:

Improve students’ writing – students can see what plagiarism looks like and know what to avoid
Reduce the likelihood of accidental plagiarism – students can address their errors before the submission deadline
Increase your efficiency – provides an efficient way of identifying possible plagiarised content in a student’s submission for an Assignment, Forum or Workshop activity
Save you time – reduces the need to search for/google possible content matches

To achieve these benefits, CapU encourages faculty to allow students to view the Similarity Report prior to the date of submission.

Learn more here: https://cte.capilanou.ca/teach/academic-integrity/turnitin/

Case study: Using Turnitin as a Learning Tool at the University of Waterloo (ON)

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Detecting Academic Integrity Violations
Responding to Academic Integrity Violation
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Capilano University is named after Chief Joe Capilano, an important leader of the Squamish (Sḵwx̱wú7mesh) Nation of the Coast Salish people. We respectfully acknowledge that our campuses are located on the unceded sovereign Indigenous Nations of Lil’wat, xʷməθkʷəy̓əm(Musqueam), Shíshálh (Sechelt), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh(Squamish) and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh).