SOUTH AFRICA
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Study reveals deep concerns over cheating, learning quality

Plagiarism and dishonesty during tests, exams and assessments were prevalent during emergency remote teaching and learning during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown at South Africa’s universities.

This was revealed in a study of 24 universities by the Council on Higher Education (CHE), which is tasked with the promotion of quality assurance in higher education; Universities South Africa (USAf), a membership organisation representing 26 public institutions; and the University of the Free State in South Africa.

Titled, CHE-USAf-UFS Staff Experience of and Perspectives on Teaching and Learning and its Future, the study reveals there were concerns about a lack of academic integrity and the quality of learning taking place.

Furthermore, there were “frustrations with a lack of relational engagement with students and many students’ inability to participate in their studies and feeling unsupported and overwhelmed.”

The report concedes that the COVID-19 pandemic meant the move of the higher education sector to emergency remote teaching and learning – for which very few institutions, staff or students were prepared.

“This resulted in rapid pedagogical adaptations pertaining to content, outcomes, assessments and modes of teaching.”

What was the study about?

The study focused on staff experiences during the pandemic, the future of teaching and learning; and academic leaders and-or managers reflecting on their experiences, their staffs’ experiences, and how the institution could best support them as the country heads towards a ‘new normal’.

About 1,850 academic staff completed the survey, which represents 3.4% of the sector. Some of the respondents’ comments on cheating are listed below:

“The blatant cheating with no remorse is incredibly disappointing, devastating in fact. I have learned to develop assessments which make cheating more difficult and now refer cheating for disciplinary. We use Turnitin [which supports plagiarism detection] but students try to cheat that, too. Recently, text from a different student’s assignment was embedded as an image in the assignment so as not to be detected.”

“I am very … concerned about academic dishonesty in online assessments. I do not have the capacity to police assessments. And even if I find dishonesty, the legal department is overwhelmed and … students run circles around them. Specifically, the advantaged, white students who can afford legal advice.”


The report indicates that there were arguments that the compromised integrity of assessments has a negative influence on learning and “that the adapted curriculum, students’ lack of self-discipline, and major challenges with connectivity all inhibit deeper engagement with academic work”.

One participant said:

“As we know, assessment drives learning and I’m not convinced that, for my undergraduate students, deep learning took place, mainly because of the challenges in proper, appropriate assessment methods – student dishonesty was a big issue with online testing.”

The remote teaching experiences of academic staff entailed increased workloads, balancing home and work life during the national lockdowns, concerns about students’ ability to participate in their studies, and at times “feeling overwhelmed and unsupported”.

The study pointed out that, while it seems that most institutions provided a range of guiding and training opportunities, there has been less focus on the well-being of staff, and “less engagement with such support when made available”.

Were there any advantages?

Conversely, many university teachers and leaders or managers noted how technology has enabled them to learn new skills, be more creative in teaching and learning practices, and reflect on what aspects of these they would want to integrate into their teaching and learning practices, beyond lockdown.

Key findings on the remote teaching and learning experiences of academic staff include:

• Some 7% (or 119 respondents) were not provided with desktop computers, laptops, smartphones or tablets to use during remote teaching and learning;

• About 70% of respondents’ access to the internet off-campus is completely self-funded, with 25% sharing financial responsibility with their institutions, and 5% indicating that their institutions are funding their off-campus internet access;

• Students’ lack of participation and engagement caused great frustration among academic staff, as they were fully aware of their students’ challenges with connectivity, devices, and the cost of data;

• Comments on the quality of teaching and learning in general during the remote response differed, with many feeling confident that the quality is sufficient or even better, considering the circumstances, while others feel that there has been a significant decline in quality; and

• More than half the academic staff indicated that they were experiencing burnout.



Figure 1: Access to devices through institutions

Changes in teaching and learning

In terms of the future of teaching and learning, the majority of respondents are in favour of a more blended teaching and learning environment in the future. Findings include:

• Almost all respondents agree that devices and data for staff are necessary;

• Almost 90% of respondents believe that students are more likely to skip contact sessions when recorded lectures are available. However, providing students with recordings of lectures or presentations is viewed as one of the most popular forms of technology that teachers will keep, as this allows classroom spaces to be used differently.

• About 66% of university teachers and 71% of academic leaders or managers indicate that measures to ensure the quality of assessments would be very important, and 61% of respondents feel that an assessment protocol system is imperative for a successful blended teaching and learning environment. This indicates the need for alternative methods of assuring quality in assessments.

• Some quality measures that respondents considered include quality assurance guidelines or policies, and peer review procedures.

• Many respondents commented on the pricelessness of face-to-face learning experiences, while acknowledging the potential of technology to enhance teaching and learning practices.

• Some positive experiences respondents have had during remote teaching and learning might become permanent features in the ‘new normal’. This includes collaborative relationships, being more considerate of the challenges their students face and the inequalities that plague many of them as well as using blended teaching and learning techniques or resources.

• Training needs or support structures that will assist a more blended teaching and learning environment include helping all staff to understand teaching and learning within blended environments and how technology can be used to enhance these processes. See the table below:



Figure 2: Respondents’ concerns regarding remote teaching and learning

Findings related to academic leaders and managers include:

• Feeling out-of-touch with their staff, experiencing frustrations with staff and the institution, and feeling a loss of control;

• Some positive experiences that are likely to become part of future operations include more efficient meetings when online, better records of administrative processes and teaching and learning practices; and

• New digital skills that have been learned include the use of more technology in daily operational processes, and the move towards more flexible working environments.

Uniform institutional approaches needed

The study recommends creating an enabling environment for blended teaching and learning and enhancing quality assurance. “Both of these have a set of implications for the sector.”

This entails recognising the importance of resources and infrastructure.

“A blended teaching and learning environment cannot be successful if all students and staff do not have access to reliable devices, network, internet connectivity and adequate data to access resources,” said the report.

Meanwhile, the integration of pedagogy and technology needs to be reimagined.

“Communities of practice are needed to develop a body of knowledge on best practices in blended teaching and learning, as well as the philosophy of teaching and learning in more technology-enabled spaces.”

Providing staff with relevant training and development opportunities and finding ways to encourage participation in them are important.

In terms of fast-tracking sharing on safeguarding academic integrity, the report indicated that it is important to create opportunities and platforms to share solutions for these challenges to ensure the quality of teaching and learning.

There is a need for national and institutional guidance to ensure quality. “Many of the challenges experienced by respondents could be addressed by a uniform approach to quality in blended teaching and learning.

“This should include a collective, conceptual understanding of different forms of technology-enhanced teaching and learning practices, what the best practices are for each of these and which assessment methods work best.”

There is a call for enabling digital skills and the ethical use of digital resources. “The ability to ethically engage with digital resources is a grave concern of academic staff. Students also indicated the need to know how to ethically engage with learning materials.”

In terms of reconsidering recognition for quality teaching and learning, the study said the development of a blended teaching and learning environment that will enable institutions and staff to compete as global teaching and learning providers will require scholarship and considerable investment of staff time.

The report indicates that, undoubtedly, a ‘new normal’ will include more technology in teaching and learning practices. However, concerns about quality, academic integrity, and the potential of technology to widen existing inequalities are valid and need to be addressed before the ‘new normal’ can begin.

But first, consideration needs to be given around how “technology can enhance education for all, not just some”.