Return to full graphic version
GSI Teaching & Resource Center
University of California, Berkeley
Quick links:
[Conferences, Workshops, Seminars & Institutes] [Teaching Guide] [Consultations/Observations] [Grants] [Awards]
[Language Proficiency Program] [Faculty Working with GSIs] [About the Center] [Calendar] [FAQs] [Contact Us] [Home Page]
Academic Dishonesty: Additional Solutions
In addition to the more indirect strategies discussed on the previous page, there are some direct strategies that GSIs and faculty have traditionally employed to prevent dishonesty. These strategies tend to work best with that small group of students who are deliberately dishonest in cases where they calculate the odds of getting caught to be relatively small.
Papers
Discussing academic honesty serves dual functions: it demystifies academic dishonesty by allowing students to ask questions and clear up worries about accidental dishonesty, and it applies peer pressure on students not to plagiarize. Two issues that should be discussed are:
- Unacceptable practices and their definitions, to make sure that students understand the issues.
- The problem of academic dishonesty. Give them some anonymous examples, explaining how the cases were detected and what disciplinary measures were applied. Also, make available a copy of Academic Honesty--A Guide for Students [rtf]*, the student handbook published by the Office of Student Life.
Many dishonest practices use electronic resources. Students often feel that GSIs and faculty are less likely to catch such dishonesty because they have not yet "caught up with the information age." Students are often unaware of how easy it is to detect papers that have been downloaded or copied and pasted from the Web. Make students aware of your knowledge of online sources and the practice of copying from them:
- Discuss the existence of search engines such as plagiarism.org and Eve, which are designed to detect passages cut and pasted from the Web or bought from paper mills. This information can also be helpful to students who are worried about accidentally plagiarizing when working with electronic resources. Some engines allow students to submit their own papers free of charge. (See the section on detecting plagiarism for more details and the addresses of some useful websites.)
- Have all written work submitted directly to an online anti-plagiarism site. This procedure is easy to implement as students simply submit their paper directly to the website. This option requires departmental cooperation as some of the sites charge for their services.
Traditionally, instructors have also employed the following sorts of strategies:
- Require students to submit a copy of their rough notes or a draft of their paper either before the paper is due, or with the paper itself. Alternatively, require that students keep a copy of such notes and be prepared to produce them upon request.
- Break assignments into stages. Require students to submit a thesis statement, then a first draft, then a final draft. Grade or comment on the assignment at each stage and require that the next submission reflect comments made on the previous one. (A fortunate side-effect is that you will be likely to receive better papers if students follow these steps.)
- Create specific and meaningful paper topics and assignments, and do not repeat them from year to year.
- Allow students to choose their own topics only in close consultation with you.
- If it is not possible to vary assignments significantly, keep copies of 'A' papers submitted in past years.
- Require students to include a bibliography with their papers.
- Relate paper topics to local or topical issues, or ask students to discuss a personal experience in relationship to a topic.
Exams
Teachers have also traditionally used the following strategies to deter academic dishonesty in exams and tests:
- Pay attention to how students are seated. Do not allow students to sit beside one another if possible. Ideally, there should be one or two seats between each student and no student should sit directly behind another student. Watch for groups of friends sitting together, and students sitting at the back of the room or in hard-to-observe corners.
- Check students' identification cards. Students may try to get others who are better versed in the subject to take the exam or test in their place. Advise students that you are going to do this in advance.
- If possible, have more than one person proctoring the exam, with at least one person watching to see if students are trying to read others' work.
- Ask students to clear the memory on their calculators, put mobile phones away, store bags under the seats (not on the floor beside them or on the seat), ask students to remove baseball caps.
- Take note of how long students are absent if they leave the room, or, if there are enough proctors, send someone with them.
- If blue books are used, collect empty blue books at the beginning of the exam and redistribute them to different students, or ask students to leave certain pages blank, or 'X' out particular pages, etc.
- Collect exams from students rather than allowing them to rush to hand them in at the end. Make a record of who turns their exam in at the time that you collect them.
*Outside links open in a new window.[return]
Dealing with Academic Dishonesty Links:
Teaching Resources Links:
- Creating Ground Rules for Discussion Sections
- Using Group Work in Discussion Sections
- Strategies for Variety in the Classroom
- Developing Critical Reading Skills
- How to Teach Lab Sections
- Award-winning Teaching Ideas (Teaching Effectiveness Award Essays)
- Theories of Learning
- Dealing with and Preventing Academic Dishonesty
- Grading Students' Written Work
- Understanding & Using Instructional Technology
- Five Ways to Improve Your Teaching
- How to Write a Letter of Recommendation
- Campus Resources
- FAQs
[ SITE MAP ] [ GRADUATE DIVISION ] [ TEACHING RESOURCES PAGE ] [ UC BERKELEY ]