Collect evidence of learning at multiple points throughout an assignment or project. Break larger projects into stages submitted over time, ask students to document their decision-making, or have them explain their problem-solving through think-alouds or video or audio walkthroughs. These approaches provide a fuller picture of how students are developing their understanding and ideas than a single summative assessment.

Connect assignments to meaningful real-world applications, students’ interests, or their future goals and careers. Provide choices within assignment parameters so students can pursue questions, topics, or approaches that are relevant to them

Give students opportunities to apply their learning in authentic contexts. Examples include field observations, client or community interviews, workplace case studies, local data collection, or designing artifacts rooted in a particular environment or community, such as a city park redesign blueprint.

Follow up on students’ written work with oral Q&A sessions in which students explain their thinking. Oral assessments can take place after written work is submitted to better gauge understanding, or they can be used as standalone assessments in person or via video. Oral elements may be particularly relevant for courses in which oral skills are part of the learning objectives or relevant to a related career field.

Performance goals and grading pressures are consistently associated with higher levels of academic dishonesty. Reduce grading pressure through strategies such as low-stakes assessments, process-focused feedback, and flexible deadlines. Use iterative assessment structures that allow students to revise and improve their work through drafts, prototypes, multiple submissions, and peer feedback rather than relying exclusively on a few high-stakes assessments.

Students who feel disconnected from their instructor or perceive grading practices as unfair have been found to report higher levels of academic dishonesty (Stearns, 2001). Use feedback and interaction as opportunities to build relationships with students, communicate that their work matters, and demonstrate that you value their effort and learning.

Ask students to identify what they found difficult, explain why they chose a particular strategy, assess their confidence in a conclusion, describe how their thinking changed after feedback, or identify what they still do not understand. These activities help students develop awareness of themselves as learners while providing opportunities to demonstrate aspects of their thinking that cannot be fully captured by a final product alone.

Not possible or appropriate for all course types. Use in-class activities for lower-stakes formative learning and, when appropriate, larger assessments such as papers or exams. This can make inappropriate AI use more difficult, but it also has trade-offs. Timed or in-person assessments may be less inclusive for neurodivergent students and students with performance anxiety, and they may not work well for assignments that require sustained engagement with material over an extended period.

Instead of asking for solely written work, integrate audio or visual components, such as a two-minute video version of an essay explained as explained a sixth grader. Multimodal assignments offer multiple ways to demonstrate understanding while also allowing students to develop secondary skills and use their creativity.