Fall 2020 was the start of a new era in academic accommodations. For exams and quizzes administered remotely, how can we help students maintain their academic integrity?

If you have the time, consider whether you need the exam. Is there another way to assess the learning outcomes of your class? A connected learning project where students can learn by doing the work of the field in a collaborative, engaging manner?

If the exam remains essential, consider asking students to restate their own personal code and abide by it as part of an exam itself. Lasell Professor Betsy-Leondar-Wright suggests adding an essay question to the exam that requires students to reflect on the implications of their own honor. You can download a copy of this Honor Pledge Exam Question, or read the text below:

THE HONOR PLEDGE

Usually a final exam has a proctor, a person who watches students to prevent cheating. Because we’re online, this is a self-proctored exam.

I know some students may feel tempted to cheat, since this exam is such a big part of your grade, and it’s just human to be tempted. But I trust that you can handle the responsibility for keeping yourself from that temptation.

Please type out all these sentences, filling in the blanks. (Please do not cut and paste, because I want you to think about each sentence as you type it). I will only grade exams in which this Honor Pledge is completed beforehand.

“I, __________ (your name), swear that I will compose my exam answers fresh during this two-hour exam period, only from my own mind, based on what I learned in this SOC101 course.

I promise that I am using no resources - no books, notes or links - to write my answers, and that no other person is helping me as I do this exam.

I understand Lasell’s Academic Integrity policy. I know that the minimum penalty for cheating on a graded assignment is failing the course, and sometimes academic probation or suspension. I pledge to abide by the Lasell policy. I will live up to the trust that you, Professor Leondar-Wright, have placed in me.

I learned my moral values from _________________________ (fill in one or more sources, such as my religion, my parents, my sibling, my teacher, my coach, a book, a friend whose values I admire – please be specific). And I promise I will be true to what I learned from them about honesty, as I do this exam.

Signed,

_________________________ (your full name)”

Managing the Exam Portal

You might also set a time limit and set the time span the exam is available. Even though an online exam is effectively open-book, setting a time limit ensures that students do need to study extensively ahead of time. And setting an availability time span of a week gives students flexibility about when to start.