Cheating and Plagiarism in Online School

Spotting this type of cheating can be difficult, but there are a few things teachers can do if they suspect it happening.

• If you suspect a paper is from an essay bank, use software such as SafeAssign to search out passages or keywords and see if they exist elsewhere.
• If you suspect a student got someone else to write the paper, compare previous work with the essay. Does the vocabulary, syntax, and grammar match other work they’ve turned in?
• If you suspect students are getting someone else to take their exams, look at how their grades throughout the semester compare to current grades.

In some cases, the cheating is so blatant that stopping it is as easy as showing the student your evidence and letting them know that you will not tolerate it moving forward. But in many instances, it can be hard to know with absolute certainty whether or not the student is engaged in this type of behavior. When this happens, it’s best to try alternating your methods of giving exams or assigning papers. Consider including an oral exam in addition to the written component so that students must answer questions face-to-face. In the case of exams, consider breaking them into smaller components that are written during class time.

• Compare questionable work to other work done in the class to see if you notice any differences.
• Create several versions of the test so students can’t share answers between them.
• Ask students to sign an anti-cheating pledge.

• ProctorU
  This service provides online proctoring during exams to help detect and prevent cheating and ensure students take the tests themselves.
• SafeAssign
  Teachers can upload student papers to SafeAssign, which then compares it against other papers to check for overlap and originality.
• BioSig ID
  A biometric gesture password, each BioSig ID is unique to the learner. In addition to a biometric password, the software checks how the student uses their mouse or stylus and compares it each time they log-in to establish identity.

Plagiarism can take several different forms. The most blatant includes copying and pasting the words of someone else without putting quotations around it or attributing it to the author. Another type involves taking several different sources, cobbling them together, and passing them off as a new thought. Sometimes the plagiarism is blatant. For instance, teachers may be able to tell that the writing in a certain part of a paper doesn’t match the style in the rest of it. But other times students may reword some text just enough to sound like their voice. This still constitutes stealing the ideas of another person.

Many students, especially early in their academic careers, may not fully understand the various forms of plagiarism. While these learners must still be held accountable, it’s also important for schools to educate students on proper attribution methods. Any first-year writing class should include a section on the various types of plagiarism and how to avoid them. If a teacher suspects that a student knowingly engaged in plagiarism, a discussion is merited. The teacher should ask the student about the facts surrounding the incident and then make a decision how to proceed, such as docking their grade or making them rewrite the paper.

• Compare previous written work to questionable passages; does it match in style and grammar?
• Provide an in-class seminar at the start of the semester on how to avoid plagiarism.
• Clearly outline to students the penalties of both intentional and unintentional plagiarism.

• Turnitin
  This software allows educators to copy+paste segments of student papers that are then compared against millions of published articles, books, and websites.
• PapersOwl
  A free service that allows users to insert a text passage and see if it comes up in any published work.
• DupliChecker
  Users can copy+paste or upload full documents to check whether they appear elsewhere.

Spotting the use of outside sources can be difficult as teachers cannot physically observe every student in their online class as they take an exam. If a student’s GPA for the class suddenly rises dramatically but their written work does not improve, this could be a sign of outside source use. Some companies now provide online test proctoring via webcam that allows for each student to be closely monitored during the exam. These services also provide for live authentication to ensure the person sitting in front of the screen matches the student’s photo identification.

Consider having students take exams at local, in-person proctoring centers or ask that a witness be present during the exam who signs a statement saying that no cheating took place. Another option is to create questions that can’t be easily looked up, such as those that require them to synthesize information or write an opinion using class materials. Creating a restricted testing window can also help, as students with limited time to take a test may feel too flustered to try to look up information. Lastly, consider creating exams where students can only see one question at a time and cannot go back to a question after answering it.

• Post clear instructions on what materials can and cannot be used during an exam.
• Require that all cellphones be turned off during the test.
• Review cheating policies before each exam to remind students of the rules and consequences.

• Proctortrack
  This software uses AI and trained proctors to help ensure students cannot cheat on tests.
• OnVUE
  Designed by Pearson, this technology allows for secure, monitored test-taking.
• Honorlock
  Designed by students for students, Honorlock offers on-demand proctoring at affordable rates.

It can be difficult to spot this type of cheating until after it happens, as students typically don’t use a cheat sheet. As with other types of exam cheating, students who suddenly do well on a test (after struggling on previous ones) may be cause for concern. It’s often easier to catch students who are taking photos or jotting down notes about the exam. If you see a student on their cellphone, this could be cause for concern. Similarly, if you notice the lighting on their screen changing, they could be taking screenshots. These are the types of behaviors an online proctor can easily catch but may be more difficult when monitoring a whole class as a single teacher.

Many ways of stopping this type of cheating exist, including varying your questions for each class period. Even if you don’t change the actual questions, change the order in which they appear. It’s also a good idea to rework your exam questions each semester. If your learning management system allows, create the test in such a way that only one question appears on the screen at any time, making it difficult to take pictures of every question. Setting stringent limits on time can also make it more difficult for students to compare the questions given to them by another learner.

• Randomize the order of your questions.
• Create a pool of questions and put different ones on each exam.
• Make it clear that no pictures or notes are to be taken during the test.

• Testmoz
  This tool allows you to create customizable tests where questions can be randomized or available as one question per screen.
• ClassMarker
  This web-based service allows for online testing that can be customized through a variety of different settings.
• QuizBean
  Teachers can select from a spectrum of tools and features, including a randomizer and a quiz bank.

When dealing with falsified or fabricated sources in an essay or other written assignment, professors can typically spot these quite easily. Given that they’ve dedicated years to their subject, they are very familiar with existing scholarship. Checking citations can also typically uncover issues of fabrication; sources that cannot be verified are cause for concern. Students may either create a fake citation or cite material that doesn’t actually match with the data they used in the assignment. Paying close attention to matched citations is important for catching fabrication and falsification.

As with other forms of cheating, it’s important to set expectations and rules early on. Make sure that students know you will be checking each citation and will ask for clarification or proof of a claim made if the citation doesn’t match up. Professors should also underscore the deep spectrum of knowledge they possess and make students aware that they will know if something doesn’t look right. Another option is to create a peer review process whereby students swap papers and check each other’s work for accuracy and proper citations.

• Provide a handout on what fabrication and falsification entails.
• When conducting labs and collecting data, have students work in pairs to avoid fabrication.
• Run material through a plagiarism checker to see if a number or data set has been changed but the surrounding text remains the same.

• Fabrication or Falsification Handout
  Northern Illinois University offers this tutorial to help educate students on what is meant by fabrication.

When faced with a cheating situation, teachers should first ensure they have the backing of administration. A good next step is to simply ask the student if there is anything they would like to tell you. Set a deadline, such as by the end of the day. If they don’t reach out, follow-up by letting them know you noticed something strange about their last quiz or test and want to chat about it. Set up a meeting time and ask questions about the content. This can help you ascertain whether they’re familiar with related course material or seem clueless.

Getting students to admit that they cheated is always better as it allows for a teachable moment. If the student says that they did cheat, this is your opportunity to help them reflect on why they did and come up with some ways to keep it from happening again. The consequence should match the level of egregiousness and can range from dropping a letter grade to extra assignments to suggesting suspension. Thank them for their honesty and let them know that while you don’t tolerate this type of behavior, you’re there if they need extra help or support.

After a teacher reports an incidence of cheating, the school may or may not proceed with a more formal process. Some institutions hold academic disciplinary hearings to help better understand the surrounding circumstances. The policies surrounding sanctions vary by institution but may include:

• Academic sanctions such as refusing to accept dishonest work for credit, assigning a failing grade, disallowing a student from graduating, rejecting a thesis or dissertation, or recommending that a degree conferred be revoked.
• Additional sanctions including disciplinary probation, prohibition on involvement in school clubs or activities, disciplinary suspension, disciplinary dismissal, required letter of apology, or a rehabilitative program referral.

When creating punishments for plagiarism, it’s important for teachers to identify whether it was intentional or unintentional. In some cases, students may use an idea or a quote and forget attribution, or they don’t understand that using someone else’s work without properly citing it is considered plagiarism. In these cases, the teacher may ask them to redo the work and/or go back through the assignment and add proper citations where needed.

In the case of clearly intentional plagiarism, ways of handling the situation and punishments are often similar to cheating. Students knew they improperly used another person’s work and should be penalized as such.

School-mandated consequences for unintentional plagiarism depend on the individual institution. Most honor codes and academic dishonesty policies make clear that responsibility rests on the student, regardless of whether or not they intentionally plagiarized. That being said, some first-time offenders may receive a lighter punishment if they prove apologetic and sincere in their forgetfulness and/or ignorance.

If dealing with intentional plagiarism, consequences frequently mirror those outlined for students caught cheating.