Mathematics and academic integrity: institutional support at a Canadian college

Abstract

Academic integrity at our small Canadian college is informed by several key frameworks and centred around teaching, learning, and proactive education. Mathematics assessments were quickly moved through various learning environments over the past year, showing that some assessment design strategies were no longer feasible if they instead centred on potential academic misconduct. Other strategies commonly used in text-based fields, however, seem to have the potential for improving both academic integrity and learning in mathematics courses. While there are some legitimate uses for digital mathematics tools and apps in STEM fields and mathematics courses, students may use them, along with ‘homework help’ sites, for cognitive offloading. Connection to future careers at the assessment, course, program, and institutional levels will help students contextualize the importance of academic integrity. From the perspectives of students studying mathematics, wellness may be affected by the reactive or punitive use of academic misconduct identification methods such as e-proctoring. Instructional practices focused on increasing student self-efficacy and reducing mathematics anxiety may also help students to learn with integrity.