Academic Integrity

Statement on Academic Integrity

Academic integrity is the foundation of the development and acquisition of knowledge and is based on values of honesty, trust, responsibility, and respect. Academic integrity in teaching, learning and research is fundamental to our mission and an expectation of the Durham College community. Acts that undermine academic integrity contradict our core values, erode educational inquiry and diminish the quality of our scholarship and reputation.

Research integrity, ethics, and principles of conduct are key to academic integrity. Members of our campus community are required to abide by our institutional code of conduct and promote academic integrity in upholding Durham College’s reputation of excellence.

Academic Integrity Faculty Resources

The Academic Integrity Working Group has developed faculty resources that can be found on ICE. Faculty resources include a decision flowchart, email templates and conversation tips. The decision flowchart is based on DC's policy and procedure. Information about file sharing sites can also be found on ICE.

Academic Integrity and Online Learning*

Upholding academic integrity requires a partnered approach. Students, academic staff, and administrators all have inter-related roles and responsibilities. On this page, you will find guidance about your role as an educator for upholding academic integrity.

Approaching academic integrity in the online environment

Influencing factors and strategies

Guidance for assessment design

Keep the focus on promoting learning and not on avoiding cheating

There is ample research to support that there is not necessarily more cheating in remote courses. However, the nature of the cheating can change. There might be more use of unauthorized materials or unauthorized third parties. As educators, our role includes assessing in ways that are appropriate and fair for the learning environment.

What to avoid:

Academic Integrity and DC Connect

DC Connect has multiple features to help mitigate academic misconduct. Yet, for courses that are put online last-minute some additional considerations need to be reflected in how you set up online quizzes. See the CTL’s DC Connect Quizzes resource pages for instructions as to how to implement these features.

More tips for online quizzes

  • Create a practice quiz with the same settings as the actual quiz to provide an opportunity for students to experience the technology and process. This will help reduce their anxiety about seeing the technology for the first time as a graded test.
  • Communicate that graded assessments will have time limits so that students are aware.
  • Have a back-up plan as some students might experience technology or internet troubles. Back-up plans include having students write a paper or complete another project. You can also release the quiz again or a different quiz to select students using the Special Access option.
  • Use frequent low-stakes quizzes.
  • When creating a new quiz, preview the test to identify any errors
  • Explicitly state academic integrity expectations, such as graded tests must be done individually.

DC Connect Class Progress

In your DC Connect course, under the My Tools menu, you will find Class Progress. Class Progress is a feature that shows you student activity in the D2L course such as content viewed, discussion posts, assignment submission and D2L login history.

*The content on this webpage is adapted from the Taylor Institute of Teaching and Learning, University of Calgary

Additional Resources:

(please visit the links below and let us know your thoughts on using some of this content)

This resource from University of Waterloo is also CC4.0 (you may use/remix with attribution): https://uwaterloo.ca/centre-for-teaching-excellence/teaching-resources/teaching-tips/planning-courses/course-design/encouraging-academic-integrity-online