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UNLV policies and processes related to academic misconduct apply to students learning online as well as those in traditional on campus face-to-face classes. Students in online or hybrid classes are responsible for knowing and abiding by those university policies and processes.

We recommend that online instructors familiarize themselves with the university's academic integrity policies and resources.

Student Authentication

Student authentication is the verification of student identity without compromising academic integrity or resulting in financial fraud at the institution. It is federal law to make sure the person registered is taking the course and taking it alone. Student authentication is a concern for both face-to-face and online courses. Students' rights to privacy need to be protected.

Best practices:

  • Let students know at the start of the semester that there will be high-stakes exams that require proctoring and how that proctoring will be handled.
  • Include exam and proctoring information in your syllabus. All proctored exams must be listed as required on the syllabus.
  • Consider pedagogical strategies as alternatives to high-stakes testing.
  • Use anti-plagiarism software to verify the originality of your students' written work.
  • Address academic integrity in your course syllabus. Explain the subtleties in academic dishonesty, such as plagiarism, fabrication, and facilitation, as well as the policies and consequences.
  • Work with the university library to provide plagiarism, citation, and bibliography resources for students to refer to and use.
  • Ensure that students are able to access course assignments in a safe, password-protected environment such as WebCampus.

Pedagogical Strategies

The following are examples of pedagogical strategies that may be implemented to reduce cheating in your course. If you are working with the Office of Online Education to develop a new online course, your course development team may have suggestions for other pedagogical strategies that are appropriate for your specific subject matter and course.

Testing

  • Use different test formats.
  • Randomize your multiple choice answer questions.
  • Use question pools for your multiple choice quiz or exam.
  • Set a limited time for assessments and exams.

Authentic assessments

  • Create assessments that assess students' learning using Bloom's Taxonomy higher-order thinking skills.
  • Give students complex or unique assignments that will produce individualized responses or analysis.
  • Include formal and informal written assignments throughout the course.
  • Provide opportunities for hands-on learning.
  • Ask students to connect learning to their personal experience.

Active learning techniques

  • Ask students to discuss what they are learning, write about it, practice it, and relate it to their experiences or apply it to their lives.
  • Provide opportunities for regular and substantive interaction with you and among your students in discussions.

Online Proctored Exams

The online exam proctoring solution supported by UNLV Office of Information Technology is Respondus Monitor, which must be used in conjunction with Respondus Lockdown Browser.

Procedures

Per UNLV’s Identity Verification in Online Courses Policy, all online graded assignments and assessments should be hosted in WebCampus or another UNLV-managed platform that requires ACE login credentials for access.

Students must be advised of any additional required identity verification procedures in the course syllabus. Such procedures may include capturing an image of the student’s Rebel Card or government-issued ID, Okta, or text verification. Security Keys and Biometric Authentication cannot be used with Respondus Monitor. Contact the OIT Helpdesk for assistance.

Students must also be advised of any technical requirements for online exam proctoring. Example syllabus language for technical requirements can be found in the Respondus Tools Syllabus Guide.

Some online proctoring platforms provide an optional visual scan of the testing environment to ensure that test-takers do not have unauthorized assistance in the testing area. Due to legal privacy concerns, instructors cannot require a visual scan of the room in which the student is taking an exam unless ALL of the following conditions are satisfied:

  1. A disclosure of the requirement was made to students at the time of course registration in MyUNLV in the form of a class note.
  2. The syllabus includes alternatives for students who do not wish to have a scan performed of a room in their home. Such alternatives may include:
    1. The option to take the exam at a public library or other public facility that provides computer and internet access that meet the testing requirements.
    2. The option to take the exam in a UNLV computer lab or another UNLV facility that meets the testing requirements.
    3. The option to take an alternative assessment of equal rigor, that assesses the same learning outcomes, but does not require proctoring.
  3. The required scan includes only the room in which the student is taking the exam.

Anti-Plagiarism Software: Turnitin & iThenicate

Anti-plagiarism software compares submitted papers against databases of documents, books, publications, and internet content to look for similarities. Some software is focused on the originality of the content, while others also check for missed citations and other mistakes that could be characterized as plagiarism.

UNLV currently provides two third-party anti-plagiarism software tools: Turnitin, which is available via WebCampus, and iThenticate, which is available to full-time graduate faculty, all doctoral students, and advanced master's students (those who have completed 15+ graduate credits in their degree program).

The Office of Instructional Technology provides information about using Turnitin.

The Graduate College provides information about iThenticate.

Information on Turnitin Information on iThenticate

Additional Resources