Studies have shown that when the stakes are higher, humans are more likely to cheat. Lower the incentive to cheat in your course by providing many low-stakes opportunities for students to show what they are learning. Don’t make everything ride on just a few exams.

These low-stakes assessments could be weekly quizzes, in-class minute response paper, reading checks, etc.

Students who are intrinsically motivated are less likely to cheat than those who are only motivated by grades.

Help foster intrinsic motivation by making connections between your course material and students’ lives. Help them see why what they are learning matters. For example, have them research current events related to course material or write short reflections on how a certain principle is relevant to them now or in the future. For more ideas on fostering intrinsic motivation, see chapter 4 of Cheating Lessons.

Have conversations about academic honesty and make sure your students know this is relevant in your course. Have students pledge their exams and assignments.

1. Priming (reminding students immediately before an exam/assignment about academic integrity) has been shown to be effective in reducing cheating.
2. Communicate to students what your specific expectations are. Can they work together on homework? Are exams open-book? Define academic integrity in your course.
3. If cheating does occur, do your best to address it. Students need to understand that consequences still apply to cheating even in an online environment.

Make sure the questions require the students to think critically and apply skills from the course--solve problems, make connections between lectures and readings, etc.--and not simply be knowledge-based questions that can be easily googled. 

Keeping an exam open for several hours or multiple days increases the likelihood that students will share their answers with one another or have sufficient time to crowd-source answers from the internet.

• Make reasonable accommodations for students in other time zones who may not be able to attend the single time frame, such as offering an alternate testing window for them.

Cheating increases when students don’t feel capable of completing assignments or tests on their own. Make sure they have access to the resources they need to succeed (office hours, accessible TAs, peer support, clear instructor expectations, adequate opportunities to practice new skills, etc.). Low-stakes assessments will also help you to gauge student understanding and be able to rectify any knowledge gaps before exams.

Lang, James M. (2013). Cheating Lessons: Learning from Academic Dishonesty. Harvard University Press. 

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