Key messages to take away

So as you continue your education and your communication about academic integrity within your institution and your classroom, some of the key takeaways that I want you to learn and remember is that in the discussion of academic integrity, we don’t necessarily have to be discussing students shouldn’t cheat. But we need to be transitioning that to the idea of authentic learning and making sure our institutions focus on their students, and making sure they are learning the material that we need them to learn and want them to learn.

When an educator looks through the lens of authentic learning, three items really come up. First, the educator examines his or her assessment strategies to determine if they are assessing what they really need or want to assess. And also look to see if there’s a better way to assess our students to demonstrate their mastery of the subject.

Second, the educator has the opportunity to adjust their classroom interaction to deter students from being academically dishonest, which includes building that community and reducing stress, which is often those high-stake assessments. The more stress a student is under often leads to poor choices. So if we can reduce that, then our students will be more successful in our classrooms.

And lastly, the educator is able to explain to the students the value of the information being taught, which allows students to also take ownership in their learning of the material. So when our students really focus on learning the material and being that authentic learner, they automatically deter from academic misconduct.

Thank you for taking part in this course. I hope that the information I provided is beneficial to you in your classroom and at your institution. I encourage you to continue the conversation about academic integrity on your institution, but also on the discussion boards, through the OneHE platform. I look forward to reading some of those and maybe being able to connect with you through that platform, thank you.