Academic Integrity and Taking Exams Online

Academic Integrity

It is dishonest to deceive a faculty member or any other college official regarding your academic work or the academic work of other students. Students are expected to submit materials that are their own and include attributions for any ideas or language that are not their own.

Dishonest academic conduct includes but is not limited to:

Cheating
Plagiarism
Obtaining unfair advantage
Falsification of records and official documents

Cheating

Cheating is the unauthorized use or attempted use of material, information, notes, study aids, devices, or communication during an academic exercise. Examples include:

Use of unauthorized notes or material during an exam.
Exchanging information with another student during an exam.
Having another student take an exam for you or vice versa.
Having someone help you during an online exam.
Tampering with an exam after it has been returned, then claiming that the instructor made a grading error.
Submitting as your own work a paper written by someone else.
Collaborating on a solo take-home exam.
Undisclosed submission of the same paper for different courses.
Unauthorized collaboration on a take home assignment or examination.
Unauthorized use during an examination of any electronic devices such as cell phones, computers, or other technologies to retrieve or send information.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is presenting another person's ideas, research, or writing as your own. Examples include:

Copying another person's actual words or images without the use of quotation marks and footnotes attributing the words to their source.
Presenting another person's ideas or theories in your own words without acknowledging the source.
Failing to acknowledge collaborators on homework and lab assignments.
Internet plagiarism, which includes submitting term papers or parts of term papers downloaded from the web, paraphrasing or copying information from the internet without citing the source, or "cutting and pasting" from various internet sources without proper attribution.

Rules to avoid plagiarism:

Place any direct phrase from a source in quotation marks and note the source either as a footnote at the bottom of the page or an endnote at the end of the paper.
When paraphrasing an idea or citing data and other information that is not common knowledge from a source, footnote or endnote the source.
When reading or doing research, write down your own ideas so that you don't inadvertently cite others' ideas as your own.

Obtaining Unfair Advantage

Obtaining unfair advantage is any action by a student that gives him or her an unfair advantage over another student or through which a student attempts to gain an unfair advantage over another student in academic work. Examples include:

Stealing or in any other way gaining advance access to exam contents.
Depriving other students of access to library resources by stealing, destroying, mutilating, or hiding them.
Retaining, using, or circulating exam materials that indicate that they must be returned at the end of the exam.

Falsification of Records and Official Documents

Examples include:

Forging signatures of authorization.
Falsifying information on an official record.
Falsifying information on an official document such as a grade report, letter of permission, drop/add form, ID card, or other college document.

Academic Integrity in Open-Book Tests and Online Courses

Online exams can be given as "open-book" and "open-notes" tests during which you will be able to consult texts, other readings, notes. and sometimes the Internet. The exam rules may be contained in the syllabus or other communication from your professor. When in doubt, ask your professor what is allowed during the exam. The rules about collaborative work in specific online courses should be ascertained as well.

Consequences of Academic Dishonesty

The consequences of academic dishonesty can be a failing grade on the exam or a failing grade for the course. An F for a course that is given for academic dishonesty is not subject to the Brooklyn College F replacement policy.

Questions About Academic Integrity

If you have any questions about academic integrity in any class you should talk with your professor.

Taking Exams Online

Tech Check

Make sure you have the technology to take the exam

Use a computer or laptop, not a mobile device.
Check that you have the power source required for your computer or that your battery is fully charged if you are using a laptop that is not plugged in.
Make sure your Internet connection is working.
Firefox works best with Blackboard.
Test the link or software you will need to access the exam.
Make sure you know the password if one is needed to access the test site.
Log on before the exam starts to ensure tech functionality.

Additional Tech

You may have to know how to convert photos to pdfs. Some faculty require that answers be photographed and uploaded as an assignment or sent as e-mail. Check with your professor before the exam so you can practice doing this.

Pre-Test Checklist

Make Sure You Know the Test Rules

Some or all of the test rules may be in the syllabus or communicated by the faculty via Blackboard. These include the allotted time, when and for how long the exam will be available in Blackboard, whether you can log out and then log back in again during the exam, whether you can return to a previous question or be unable to modify or change a given answer after its submission.

Test Format

Ask your professor any questions you have about the exam prior to the exam: the test format and whether you have to show the work through which you reached your answer.

Contact Information for Your Professor

Have a way to contact your professor via phone or e-mail in case of a technical problem that prevents you from taking or completing the exam. If possible, take a screen shot of the error message if any.

Open-Book Tests

Make sure you have all your materials for an open book test organized, annotated, highlighted, and on your desk before you click the start button. For math and science tests, make sure you have key formulas and facts listed clearly for immediate reference.

Don't think that open-book exams are easier than closed-book exams. To the contrary, open-book exams are typically harder because instead of requiring memorization they challenge you to analyze, synthesize, and otherwise deal intelligently with the material you studied. In addition, such tests are almost always timed, which will not allow you sufficient time to search for the information to answer every question unless you have studied it thoroughly. Relying too heavily on texts and notes will not leave you sufficient time to complete all the questions.

Taking the Test

Quiet

Show up for the exam and take it in a quiet place. It is easy to forget an online examination that can be taken at home. Make sure that you take it where you will not be distracted or interrupted. Turn off all notifications from IM, phone, or e-mail, and inform roommates or family that you will be taking an exam.

Wait for the Page to Load

Allow the page to load completely before answering exam questions. If you begin scrolling or answering questions before the page loads fully Blackboard may not load all the questions and you will not answer those questions.

Close All Other Pages

Do not open windows or programs other than those you need for your exam to avoid unnecessary distractions.

Don't Leave the Test Screen

If your instructor allows Internet use, open a second browser to conduct your search. Do not use the same tab or browser that you are using for your test because that may cause you to lose all your work.

Save! Save! Save!

Save your answers as you go through the exam. If the test rules allow you to return to a previous question click save again after making changes to the previous question.

Check Your Answers

Check your answers during the exam and even after the exam to make sure the professor did not make a grading mistake.

Submit! Submit! Submit!

Be sure you hit the submit button at the end of the exam and wait for confirmation of submission. Take a screenshot confirming you completed the exam. If you did not receive confirmation of submission go back to the link to the exam and Blackboard should tell you that the exam has been completed or will give you feedback about the exam. Blackboard may automatically submit the exam at the end of the allotted exam time.

Academic Integrity and Taking Exams Online