Hopefully you all are feeling refreshed from the Thanksgiving break and are ready to finish this semester strong! Classes end this week, which means final exams are about to begin.
We have 23% of our Fall 2022 courses already switched from Sakai to Canvas this semester, our first term that Canvas became available to all instructors at UNC. With finals about to begin, many instructors opt to give a final assessment of their students’ learning through online exams. For those of you teaching in Canvas, you may want to add the Honor Pledge to your assessments.
UNC Student Conduct: The Honor System
All students are required to complete the Honor System Module before arriving at Carolina. Visit UNC Student Affairs: Student Conduct to learn more about the University’s Honor System and to find several resources for instructors to use in their courses, including a statement of Honor to include in the syllabus.
As you design your final exams, include an Honor Pledge statement that students must confirm to begin their assessments. Here is a brief statement you may use but modify it to fit your course needs:
Honor Pledge: I will neither give nor receive aid on this assessment.
Adding the Honor Pledge in Canvas
Canvas currently does not have a built-in option on adding a statement on academic integrity that students must agree to before they can begin their quiz. Here are different Canvas options to consider as a workaround. The first two options don’t require instructors review that students agreed to the Honor Pledge because students would not be able to access the final exam unless they agreed to the Honor Pledge statement.
Option 1: Add Required Honor Pledge Page to Modules (Recommended)
You can use the Modules tool to add a required item that students must complete before they get access to the assessment. This method can also be used if your final assessment is created through the Assignments tool instead of Quizzes.
First you should create a Page that will display the Honor Pledge statement. A new Page can be created directly through Modules.
- In the Modules tool, click the +Module button
- Enter a name for your module and click Add Module
- Within the module, click the + icon to add a new item
- Select to add a Page, Create Page, enter a new Page Name, and Add item
- Click the + icon to add another item
- Select to add a Quiz (or Assignment), choose your exam, and click Add Item
Your Honor Pledge and final exam have now been added to the Module. Next you want to set the requirements.
- Edit the module by clicking the 3-dot icon in the top right (next to the + icon) > Edit
- Click the Add requirement link
- Select “Students must complete all of these requirements” AND check “Students must move through requirements in sequential order”
- Switch the Honor Pledge Page to “mark as done”
- With this option, students are required to take action to confirm they agree to the Honor Pledge
- Click the Add requirement link
- Add the exam and set the action to “submit the assignment” (or “view the item” to simply get access)
- Update Module
Last step is to publish the Module to students. Click the hollow circle with a slash through it in the top right of the module to turn it green. Confirm the circles turn green for all items in the Module as well, and you’re all set!
Option 2: Require Perfect Score on Honor Pledge Quiz in Modules
This option follows a similar Module structure as Option 1 however requires more steps. In lieu of creating a Page with the Honor Pledge statement, you can create a separate quiz where students must agree to abide by the Honor Pledge. Create a quiz with one True/False or Multiple Choice question worth 1 point or a value that works for you. You can select to not count this assignment towards the final grade, but the quiz itself needs to be worth more than 0 points to set the required item in Modules.
Once your Honor Pledge quiz and final exam are ready, create your Module following the above steps in Option 1. Instead of selecting a Page though, add your Honor Pledge quiz and set the required action of students to “score at least” 1 point (or the value you assigned to the Honor Pledge quiz). Follow all other steps in Option 1.
Option 3: Add Honor Pledge Question to Quiz
You can simply add a question at the beginning of your quiz to have students agree to the Honor Pledge. If this is a timed assessment, consider that students will need a little extra time to read through the statement and agree. Students may also choose to ignore the Honor Pledge question and simply go through the exam since there is no way to require students answer a specific question before answering the rest of the questions. It’s possible you may need to go back and review students’ responses. You might consider adding a point value to the question to encourage students to agree, though it is part of the Student Honor Code.
Option 4: Create Honor Pledge Quiz at Start of Term
All students are required to abide by the Student Honor Code. If you simply want your students to agree to the Honor Pledge once, you might consider giving only one Honor Pledge quiz at the start of the semester instead of adding it at the start of every assessment. You could even consider having students submit an assignment reflecting on the importance of the Honor Code.
You have many options and can use a combination of any of these to fit your course needs. If you have any questions, 24/7 chat and phone support is available through the Help menu within Canvas. Good luck with finals!