Redefining Cheating on Written Exams

Abstract

Educators who recognize the value of authentic written exams for promoting student critical thinking may struggle with concerns about cheating. In this article, we explore how educators may use open-web take-home exams to help students develop integrity and evidence-based practice skills. Lang's theory is used to explore why students may cheat. We discuss the importance of caring assessment practices by drawing on critical caring pedagogy and universal design for learning. Throughout the discussion, we illustrate how authentic questions and instruction that is focused on dialogue, collaboration, and resource use may reduce cheating possibilities while improving student learning.

Building Training Methodology: Preparing Invigilators for Active, In-person, Exam Management

“…There also appears to be debate in the literature as to the ongoing merit of creating and administering invigilated versus non-invigilated exams while institutions continue to wrestle with student cheating behaviour (Harris et al, 2019). Killam et al (2021) suggest educators in nursing can start by incorporating slight changes in their assessment strategies based on critical care pedagogy (CCP) and universal design for learning (UDL) with the aim of reducing cheating by bridging the gap between theory and practice, e.g., talking to students about why academic integrity is important and establishing trusting relationships. From there, educators can craft meaningful and measurable learning outcomes that support students, promote critical thought, and build knowledge and mastery (Killam et al, 2021).…”

“…Killam et al (2021) suggest educators in nursing can start by incorporating slight changes in their assessment strategies based on critical care pedagogy (CCP) and universal design for learning (UDL) with the aim of reducing cheating by bridging the gap between theory and practice, e.g., talking to students about why academic integrity is important and establishing trusting relationships. From there, educators can craft meaningful and measurable learning outcomes that support students, promote critical thought, and build knowledge and mastery (Killam et al, 2021). However, there remains a question as to whether the implementation of authentic assessment is feasible due to its "resource intensive nature" (Birks et al, 2020, p. 13).…”

Co-création apprenants-éducateurs : un argument en faveur de l’amélioration de l’évaluation authentique dans la formation en soins infirmiers

“…critiqued traditional exams in depth, identifying that overuse of traditional exams in nursing education may lead to learner oppression and fail to prepare graduates with cognitive skills needed for safe client care. They recommended using take-home exams, asking questions that are contextualized in present-day real-world contexts, developing questions that stimulate dialogue, inviting collaboration on exams, planning for diversity, and providing learners with feedback on correct and incorrect options as strategies to make testing more authentic and less vulnerable to cheating Killam, Luctkar-Flude, et al, 2022).…”

“…Assignment authenticity also relies on the integration of higher-order thinking skills to the degree needed by professionals (Ashford-Rowe et al, 2014;Gulikers et al, 2004;Villarroel et al, 2018;Wiggins, 1989). Bloom's taxonomy is widely used as a pedagogic tool for the development of nursing competence (Killam, Luctkar-Flude, et al, 2022) in the cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domain. Created in 1956, it categorizes the cognitive complexity of a task across six levels, which increase in complexity towards higher order thinking; these levels include: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation (Anderson et al, 2001).…”

“…When the focus of both learners and educators is shifted to be on learning instead of grades both parties are liberated to engage in more authentic two-way evaluation of one another's performance (Chinn & Falk-Rafael, 2018). If learners value grades more than learning they are more likely to cheat and less likely to learn (Killam, Luctkar-Flude, et al, 2022). Through clearly articulating that learning is the most important goal of assignments, collaboratively aligning scoring criteria with learning goals, and reassuring learners that "good" grades will follow once learning occurs, learners have anecdotally refocused on learning.…”