CD-ROM DEVELOPED TO REDUCE CLASSROOM CHEATING
MUNCIE, Ind. -- A new CD-ROM produced by Ball State University is the long-awaited response to help alleviate the growing problem of cheating among college students.
The Multimedia Integrity Teaching Tool (MITT) was created as a response to calls for a proactive, educational program that teaches the value of integrity to college-level students as well as the disadvantages of dishonesty, said Patricia Keith-Spiegel, director of the Center for the Teaching of Integrity, who led a team to create the CD-ROM program.
She said that cheating is a major problem facing the teaching profession today with an estimated 72 percent of college students engaged, according to a national survey, in a serious form of dishonesty at least once in college. The same study found that 28 percent of college students cheat repeatedly.
"Faculty are fed up with it to a point where about 20 percent admit having ignored strong evidence of academic dishonesty," Keith-Spiegel said. "The most often cited reasons include a concern that the evidence was not airtight, overwhelming stress and anger, an unwillingness to endure an arduous formal hearing, and concerns about retaliation."
MITT is designed to be part of a sanction for first offenders, similar to the defensive driving school concept for a first traffic violation. It is not intended to take the place of a disciplinary action, but an instructor might consider giving a somewhat lighter penalty if the student agrees to take the program.
MITT is an interactive, computerized integrity seminar consisting of 39 individual integrity lessons using decision-making, case examples, and informational content. Colorful graphics, animation, music, sound effects, and video clips are incorporated.
After a student is caught cheating, he or she must complete the CD-ROM program, which takes up to 8 hours (a shorter version takes 3 hours to complete). Each lesson ends with a quiz, which must be passed before the student can move to the next segment.
"I liken this project to education detention," Keith-Spiegel said. "After a student is caught it takes them about eight hours to complete. The goal is to make them think about their actions and gain some new perspectives that will cause them to make different choices next time."
Ball State is selling the CD-ROM package, which includes three compact discs, a student workbook and faculty handbook. It should be available for distribution later this summer.
The MITT development process began in 1995 with a grant from the Fund for the Improvement in Post-secondary Education of the U.S. Department of Education. Concerned that the program would be seen by students as "preaching" by middle-aged college faculty, undergraduate students were involved in every step, Keith-Spiegel said.
Students created lesson plans and about 200 student focus groups were run to assess acceptance and learning goals. More than 100 students appear in the CD-ROM's video clips. Students did most of the graphic art work, video production and multimedia development under the direction of Gil Michelini, a team leader at the Ball State Teleplex.
More information about MITT, including a demo, may be found at http://www.teleplex.bsu.edu/mitt on the World Wide Web.
- 30 - (NOTE TO EDITORS: For more information, contact Keith-Spiegel at [email protected] or (765) 285-8197.
For more stories visit the Ball State University News Center at http://newscenter.bsu.edu on the World Wide Web.) Marc Ransford 2-4-99
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