Issues of Academic Integrity in Online Courses and Exams Part 2

Tips for Maintaining Academic Integrity on Tests/Exams

If you can't afford the more costly Exam Integrity softwares such as Respondus Lockdown Browser or ExamSoft, there are typically some options that come with the testing section of most LMS.

• One Item at a Time: This is an option that only allows students to see one question at a time. This means they can't copy and paste the entire screen into one document and send it to a friend.
• Loop-hole: This doesn't stop students from copying and pasting each question into a document one at a time, however it does make it a little more annoying for them.
• Prohibit Backtracking: This is an option that prevents students from going back to a question they answered previously.
• Require a password: For the exam a password is required and can be changed each day/hour or however often you like - this prevents students from accessing the exam until they contact you for the password
• Exam Availability: You can also limit the availability of the Exam to a specific time period. I typically only keep an exam available for a 24 hour period of time. This limits the amount of time students can access the exam.
• Set a Time Limit - Setting a time limit to the exam limits the amount of time students have to do things like look up their answers in a textbook or over the internet.

There are various other options that might also be available such as "Force Completion" which will automatically submit a student's exam once the time limit has been reached and preventing a student from having multiple attempts on an exam.

More important than all of these tips is to instill in your students a sense of integrity and trustworthiness. This is especially important in a field such as nursing which is repeatedly reported as the most trusted profession. I am so disappointed when I catch a student cheating. Not only is it disheartening, but I also fear for the type of nurse that student will become.

What are some strategies you use to enhance academic integrity in your online courses? Share your thoughts in The Online Educator Facebook group.