Honesty Pledges - also known as Honor Codes or Statements - can be leveraged as an active learning strategy for discussions with students about what it means to work with honesty, honor, and integrity in academic, community, and professional settings.
This resource, adapted to the UMN context, is based on samples originally created for faculty at the University of Rochester.
Honor Pledge Samples
- Exams: "I affirm that I will not give or receive any unauthorized help on this exam, and that all work will be my own."
- Graded Assignments: "I affirm that I have not given or received any unauthorized help on this assignment, and that this work is my own."
- Group Projects: "I accept responsibility for my role in ensuring the integrity of the work submitted by the group in which I participated." (Refer to Group Project Guidelines for more information)
- Graded Assignments: "I affirm that I have not given or received any unauthorized help on this assignment, and that this work is my own."
Two additional steps are commonly advocated for in research about honor pledges:
- Set up an interactive discussion with students about honor, honesty, integrity at multiple points in a semester (eg, an early introduction, and as a renewed focus as students begin a new major assignment or should be starting their preparation for a major exam)
- Link the signing of codes to an active learning experience, for example a short writing linked to Classroom Activities/Assessment Techniques (CATs), such as those noted in the Center for Educational Innovation’s Classroom Assessment/Activities Techniques - CATs Guide.
Two Possible Prompts for Active Learning
Graded Assignments: A prompt using the 3-2-1 Classroom Activity strategy
Resource: a Google slidedeck with examples for using the 3-2-1 classroom activities/assessment technique.
Prompt: Drawing on our discussion of originality, integrity, and developing course assignment work within an academic or professional or public context, write out your responses to the following prompts:
- Provide 3 characteristics of integrity expectations for our major course assignments.
- Explain 2 ways that I’ll respond as your teacher to integrity breaches.
- Describe 1 strategy or resource you can call on when you’re facing an assignment difficulty or tending to a stressful situation while working on assignments.
Exams: A prompt using the Think-Peer-Share (TPS) strategy
Resources: TPS for Students infographic, and Reconsidering the Share of TPS research article.
Prompt: Drawing on our discussion of originality and integrity in preparing for a major exam, complete the following tasks:
- As individuals, review the syllabus for information about preparing for and completing course quizzes and exams, noting (1) when and where it’s appropriate to work with peers, tutors or TAs, and teachers, and (2) what advice and resources we offer for getting support as you prepare for exams. Bring these notes to our next class session.
- During class you’ll talk in trios to compare your responses, then as a full group we’ll draw up a Top 10 list of Exam Preparation Practices. Following this activity you’ll each sign an affirmation pledging your support of these 10 items as our shared academic integrity practices.