The Effectiveness of Student Authentication and Student Authenticity in
Online Learning at Community Colleges
Mitra Hoshiar
Los Angeles Pierce College
Introduction


Authentication and authenticity are integral to academic honesty
criteria policies of every community college.
To Protect the integrity of online educational system:
--Authentication: educational institutions to authenticate
students (the process at institutional level)
--Authenticity: faculty members need to be aware of the
existence of substitute course takers and the importance
of online course design to uphold the quality of online
education (the quality at classroom level)
Introduction
The Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 (Federal Legislation)
mandates that institutions offering online courses include language in
their policies that define how students enrolled in online classes are
identified.
This study will:
1) Identify institutional responses (existing policies and practices,
professional development and training, and technology support
services) to regulations enacted as part of the reauthorization of
the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008.
2) Examine the level of faculty awareness of these federal regulations
based on “importance” ratings and “satisfaction” ratings.
Research Questions
1) Is there a significant difference between faculty
“importance” ratings and “satisfaction” ratings of
--Institutional policies and practices
--Professional development and training
--Technology support services
regarding student authentication and authenticity in online
learning?
Research Questions
2) To what extent are online faculty members aware of the
importance of student authentication and authenticity in
online learning?
3) How well does the combination of faculty background
characteristics, institutional policies and practices,
professional development and training, and technology
support services predict faculty awareness of the
importance of student authentication and authenticity in
online learning?
Theoretical/Conceptual Framework
1) Albert Bandura’s (1991) theoretical framework of Social
Cognitive Theory (the role of faculty in encouraging and
deterring deviant behavior, i.e. academic dishonesty)
2) James Rest's (1986) theoretical framework of Moral
Development Model (moral sensitivity, moral judgment,
moral focus, and moral character)
Institutional
Policies and
Practices
Effectiveness of
Student
Authentication
and Student
Authenticity
Technology
Support Services
mm
Faculty
Awareness of
Student
Authentication
and Student
Authenticity
Professional
Development
and Training
Literature Review
It is important for cyber educators to realize the
importance of authentication and authenticity. If
the institution has a weak authentication method, the
chances of security breaches increase” (Baggio &
Belderrain, 2011, p. 214)
Literature Review
Even if the reasons for cheating in online classes are
the same as the reasons for cheating in onsite
classes, for example, ignorance of class policies,
compensation for poor planning and time
management skills, poor study skills, competition
from classmates, and aggressive parents, faculty
and administrators have to be creative and
innovative to protect the integrity of courses
conducted in an online setting (Lagier & McEfee,
2011).
Literature Review
The relationship between the adoption of more
updated student identity verification techniques and
the perceptions of faculty regarding improvements
in academic honesty and institutional creditability
should be studied more comprehensively, despite
the fact that, no system will fully eliminate the issue
of student dishonesty (Schaefer, Barta, & Pavone,
2009).
Literature Review
The results of McNabb and Olmstead (2009)
suggested “levels and types of academic dishonesty
are similar in an online environment to that found oncampus, and that successful efforts to encourage
integrity are similar regardless of whether the course
is online or on-campus” (p. 218).
Results
Descriptive Statistics: Summarizes the participants’ demographic characteristics
Results
Reliability: Measures the consistency of the survey instrument
This study fell within the range of .75 to .92, which is moderate to good
reliability across all the domains.
Results
Results
Professional
Development
and Training
Technology
Support
Services
Faculty
Awareness
Institutional
Effectiveness of
Student
Authentication
and Authenticity
Institutional
Policies and
Practices
Demographic
Characteristics
Discussion and Conclusion
This study provides evidence that:
 Institutional policies and procedures, professional
development and training, and technology support
services are fundamental to the effectiveness of student
authentication and authenticity in online learning.
 There were significant gaps between what were
considered by faculty as important in the three areas and
what were in place in reality. In other words, there is a
lack of adequacy in the three key areas at community
colleges.
Discussion and Conclusion


Community college faculty in general were fairly
aware of the importance of the student authentication
and authenticity
Professional development and training, and
institutional policies and procedures had a positive
effect on the increase of faculty’s awareness.
Discussion and Conclusion

Implications for Policy and Practice
Promoting Academic Honesty (culture of trust, honesty, fairness,
responsibility, and respect)
 Course Design to Promote Academic Honesty (change their
online course assignments)
 Promoting Ethical Responsibilities (use of a code of ethical
conduct)
 Developing Adequate Policies and Practices (based on federal,
state, and local regulations, develop clear policy, inform
campus community, and practice from the top down )

Questions?
Contact Information: Mitra Hoshiar, Ed.D.
hoshiam@piercecollege.edu