Is it really Phil at the other end of the internet? I think that as an online teacher you can get a feel (or a phil) for how a student speaks, acts and expresses themselves just as you do in a face to face environment, especially if you carry out continuous assessment (be it formative or summative) rather than just one big assignment at the end. Also, as mentioned in the comments, it is really just as easy for a face to face student to hand in someone else's essay, so this is not a problem unique to e-learning. I agree with Phillips & Lowe (2003), James, McInnis & Devlin (2002) and McDowel & Brown (2001) who see this issue as an opportunity to rethink current assessment methods and develop more effective ways of measuring student learning. However, if you really must assess online using traditional closed book style exams, it is possible according to Talia Carbis, who is currently doing so using webcams and Skype. Also, there is software that will 'lockdown' a browser during a test, plagiarism detection tools that compare student work to thousands of electronic resources and test engines that will randomise questions in any way you like, making it difficult to share answers. For as many ways that technology can make cheating easier, there is a way that technology can make it harder too.
Surely the aim should be to discourage and prevent cheating rather than just detect and subvert it. Assessment strategies such as reflective writing, group assignments, peer assessment, submission of drafts and more generally ensuring tasks are relevant and authentic are some of the ways to minimise cheating (McDowell & Brown, 2001). We also need to explicitly teach and discuss issues relating to online research and academic writing and the importance of using existing literature (and all sorts of online material) correctly through referencing.
Best practice in online learning means using pedagogies that take advantage of the natural use of the online environment. Online assessment tasks need to reflect the same processes and modes used in the learning (Phillips & Lowe, 2003). Putting students who have utilised the internet, multimedia and collaborative technologies throughout their learning in an assessment situation such as an invigilated exam is not an appropriate measuring tool and promotes surface learning (Phillips & Lowe, 2003). Why not use the social and collaborative nature of the internet as part of the assessment? In this course, everybody blogs, everybody comments, everybody links to new relevant material, it is more akin to professional practice and is no longer just a dialogue between teacher and student. I think it would be fairly difficult to cheat in this course. Other ideas for innovative effective online assessment include using wikis, scenario based learning, and many more. The increasing adoption of online learning across all education sectors is an opportunity to rethink assessment, make it more effective and authentic and make cheating unworkable.
References
Carbis, T. 2010, eLearning Australia, Blog, 6 Jan 2010 Supervising an exam via Skype
http://elearningaustralia.net.au/2010/01/supervising-an-exam-via-skype
James, R, McInnis, C, Devlin, M. 2002, Assessing Learning in Australian Universities, Centre for the study of higher education, http://www.cshe.unimelb.edu.au/assessinglearning/docs/AssessingLearning.pdf
McDowell, L, Brown, S. 2001, Assessing students: cheating and plagiarism,The Higher Education Academy, http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/York/documents/resources/resourcedatabase/id430_cheating_and_plagiarism.pdf
Moore, C. 2009, 'How to save the world with elearning scenarios', adapted from presentations at Australian Flexible Learning Framework events, http://www.slideshare.net/CathyMoore/how-to-save-the-world-with-elearning-scenarios
Phillips, R, Lowe, K. 2003, 'Issues Associated with the Equivalence of Traditional and Online Assessment', In Interact, Integrate, Impact: Proceedings of the 20th Annual Conference of the Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education, http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.83.7863&rep=rep1&type=pdf
Snelling C, Karanicolas, S. 2008 'Why wikis work: Assessing group work in an on-line environment', In Proceedings of Australian Technology Network Assessment Conference, http://www.ojs.unisa.edu.au/index.php/atna/article/view/298/276
Links
Respondus Lockdown Browser
Turnitin Plagiarism Prevention and Detection Tool
Moodle Quiz Module
ALTC project Transforming Assessment
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A forum is a good tool, esp in English. Students will read the passage / text and post a thought-out answer as they know that it is an 'open' environment. Also, if they do get help from an elder for grammar, spelling, sentence structure etc- aren’t they still learning? Doesn't it show that they care? (Im not talking about an exam here) Andrea
ReplyDeleteIt all comes down to what is classified as cheating and to what extent this is possible using an online environment. I still believe it is far easier for a student to pass their work off as someone elses if that student cannot be physically 'seen'. Yes, there are measures in place to prevent this, but asking a student to perform a skill or write an assessment in the presence of the teacher is a guaranteed way of ensuring authenticity.
ReplyDeleteI agree, Dayle
ReplyDeleteAssessment in online environments is a challenge and needs to be rethought. We are always hearing about assessment for, as and of learning, but then NAPLAN comes along and reinforces the sterotypical test situation.
For the students at my school who, like the students you mention, are not used to this exam situation,it was a challenge and sometimes confronting experience this week. They are used to open ended tasks, peer assessment and informal assessment that informs their learning. It's a worry if online learning continues to use forms of assessment that were designed for a traditional face-to-face situation.
I think assessment methods are changing. They must become more authentic and meaningful because assessment is what drives the learning. Maybe it is easier for a student to hand in work that is not their's if they can't be seen, but is that really a common occurance? I think far more common types of 'cheating' are the subtle forms of plagiarism and patch writing we see when students cut and paste chunks of text together in their writing. These issues need an educative approach coupled with detection tools to be properly addressed.
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