Enhancing Academic Integrity in Your Classroom

Many students violate academic integrity when they focus on the grade or product rather than on learning. To counter this:

• Link class assignments with expected learning or class goals
• Allow students to submit drafts
• Ensure that assessments are fair measurements of expected learning

Students are temporary visitors in the academy, so they may not understand rules of scholarship and why they exist.

Especially in this generation, students have been in an educational environment that favors collaboration and using any "resources" (including the Internet) necessary to complete academic assignments. To enhance academic integrity for these students:

• Articulate the assumptions of your discipline and explain the rules of scholarship. For example, tell students that Wikipedia is not always accurate, and that take-home exams are independent assignments.
• Include scholarship rules in your class syllabus. See tips for including academic integrity in your syllabus.
• Set expectations for each assignment. Learn more about setting assignment policies and expectations.
• State your policies and practices for regrading requests. See suggested regrading policies.

To uphold academic integrity in the classroom, take steps to reduce opportunities for cheating:

• Learn how to use Turnitin software to prevent and fairly evaluate student copying and plagiarism.
• Prevent cheating in exams by taking these precautions.
• Always report suspected cheating. Students won't cheat if they know that a professor reports it. Learn what to do if you suspect academic misconduct in your class.