Helping to equip and encourage students to exhibit integrity and ethics in their coursework continues to be an increasingly complex proposition. Fostering academic integrity in today’s dynamic learning environments – whether in-person, remote, or hybrid – requires thoughtful consideration of the complex factors influencing students’ choices and behaviors. The widespread adoption of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools (e.g. ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot and other large language models) and the lasting impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have fundamentally changed how we approach teaching, learning, and assessment. These changes demand that we evolve our educational practices to align with contemporary challenges and opportunities for student growth.
Various pressures can increase the likelihood of academic dishonesty, particularly when:
- Students have expanded access to digital tools and resources
- There’s a perception that AI use or other forms of assistance are commonplace
- Students face increased academic, personal, or financial stresses
- Traditional assessment methods don’t align with real-world problem-solving
- Students encounter readily available AI tools and contract cheating services
- There’s diminished connection to learning objectives or reduced confidence in abilities
It’s important to recognize that any student, regardless of their academic standing, may face situations where they feel tempted to compromise their academic integrity or otherwise take shortcuts which compromise their opportunities for growth.
It is also essential to be cautious in over-inflating your confidence levels regarding your ability to discern whether something has been written by AI. The cautionary tale shared in Bloomberg about AI Detectors Falsely [Accusing] Students of Cheating reminds us how small error rates in these kinds of approaches add up to some inequitable results.
By partnering with Teaching + Learning and other colleagues within your school or college, you can create an environment that promotes authentic learning and academic honesty across all teaching modalities while thoughtfully incorporating appropriate AI tools and technologies.
In this series of articles, we offer recommendations for, how to increase the likelihood that students will make choices that align with academic integrity, and how to have your teaching approaches further shape those decisions.
Emphasize Relationships and Belonging
Communicate Standards and Expectations Clearly
Select Relevant Assignment Types
How to Approach a Student Suspected of Cheating
The content above draws inspiration from the University of California San Diego Academic Integrity website. They also provide a Reinforcing Academic Integrity in the Age of AI: A Guide for Instructors, which offers additional recommendations for how to craft a GenAI policy for your courses.