Promoting Academic Integrity through Authentic Assessments

Facilitator: James M. Lang, Ph.D.

When students engage in academically dishonest behaviors, they may be responding to subtle pressures in the learning environment that interfere with deep learning and nudge them toward cheating. Hence if we can gain a better understanding of the reasons for academically dishonest behavior, we can use that knowledge to improve our course design, teaching practices, and communication with students. One of the recommended strategies for reducing cheating through better learning has been the use of authentic assessments (i.e., assessments that break from the traditional model of quizzes and tests)—and a growing body of research has especially looked at the role that authentic assessments can play in medical education. In this workshop, participants will learn what the research tells us about the prevalence of cheating in higher education today, about the different forms that authentic assessments can take in medical education, and how those authentic assessments can help reduce cheating in their courses. The session will include a presentation and time for questions and discussion.

Bio: James M. Lang was a Professor of English and the founding Director of the D’Amour Center for Teaching Excellence at Assumption University in Worcester, MA. In spring 2021, he retired from Assumption to focus his attention on teaching and writing. He is the author of six books, the most recent of which are Distracted: Why Students Can’t Focus and What You Can Do About It (Basic Books, 2020), Small Teaching: Everyday Lessons from the Science of Learning (Jossey-Bass, 2016), and Cheating Lessons: Learning from Academic Dishonesty (Harvard University Press, 2013). Lang writes a monthly column on teaching and learning for The Chronicle of Higher Education; his work has been appearing in the Chronicle since 1999. He edits a series of books on teaching and learning in higher education for West Virginia University Press; he co-edited the second book in the series, Teaching the Literature Survey Course: New Strategies for College Faculty (2018). He has conducted workshops on teaching for faculty at more than a hundred colleges or universities in the US and abroad, and consulted for the United Nations on the development of teaching materials in ethics and integrity for college faculty. He has a BA in English and Philosophy from the University of Notre Dame, an MA in English from St. Louis University, and a Ph.D. in English from Northwestern University. You can follow him on Twitter at @LangOnCourse or learn more at http://jamesmlang.com.

Location: 

Online Zoom 

Date & Time: 

Friday, March 25, 2022 – 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm 

Register in advance for this meeting:

https://nova.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYsduGsrDMjEtYUzd6-7qu-nxpILqzCLDBQ

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