Rethinking Cheating on Written Exams

The current ANS featured article is titled “Redefining Cheating on Written Exams: A Shift Toward Authentic Assessment to Promote Universal Design for Learning in the Context of Critical Caring Pedagogy” authored by Laura A. Killam, MScN, RN; Marian Luctkar-Flude, PhD, RN, CCSNE; Sara Brune, MA, RN; and Pilar Camargo-Plazas, PhD, RN. Please visit the ANS website to download this article at no cost while it is featured, and share our comments about this article here! Laura Killam shared this message about their work:

Nurse educators have a responsibility to prepare students for ethical and safe client care, which is why significant efforts are put into preserving the academic integrity in assessments. We believe that authentic open-book take-home exams are a tool that can be structured and delivered in a way that minimizes cheating possibilities. This article explores how to enact Critical Caring Pedagogy by role modeling integrity during value-based dialogue. In addition we discuss why students may cheat and how educators can design their exams in a way that prevents cheating possibilities (see Figure). We hope that this discussion stimulates discussion and debate around how to create (nearly) cheat-proof authentic exams.

A Student-Centered Approach to Authentic Written Exams