NCTA

Workshop: The Integrity Blueprint

Overview

In July 2025, I co-facilitated The Integrity Blueprint at the National College Testing Association (NCTA) Conference. This was a hands-on workshop designed to help higher education leaders and testing professionals rethink digital exam integrity. Together with my colleague, I led participants through an interactive exploration of how thoughtful design and analytics can strengthen trust in digital examinations.

The session brought together educators, assessment directors, and technologists for a shared goal: to redefine what integrity means in the modern testing landscape.

The Concept

Academic integrity is often treated as a compliance issue that is monitored and enforced after exams. Our workshop challenged that view by introducing the The Integrity Blueprint, a design framework built around three stages: Before, During, and After the Assessment.

Each stage connects pedagogy, technology, and data to build integrity into the exam design process itself.
Our aim was to show that integrity can be designed in stages and is much more effective when built into the entire assessment cycle.

The Experience

For about 90 minutes, participants engaged in an interactive session that blended discussion, simulation, and data visualization.

We walked attendees through numerical simulations that modeled how exam variables—like randomization and question design—impact integrity outcomes. Using advanced assessment tools, participants saw firsthand how design decisions affect fairness, security, and student experience.

Breakout discussions gave attendees the chance to apply the Integrity Blueprint to their own contexts, transforming abstract ideas into actionable strategies.

The Impact

The session sparked new client conversations and follow-up requests for institutional demos, reinforcing the growing demand for integrity frameworks that balance innovation with fairness.

Key takeaways included:

Viewing integrity as a design principle, not a policing mechanism
Applying data analytics to inform secure, student-centered exams
Recognizing that trust and transparency are core to sustainable assessment practices

"Great, insightful, and refreshingly practical! A session that redefines integrity through design.”

-NCTA attendee

Reflection

This experience reaffirmed my belief that integrity and innovation must evolve together. When educators use digital exam tools effectively and build in integrity throughout the entire exam process, we move closer to systems that are secure and equitable.

The Integrity Blueprint workshop reminded me that the most impactful learning moments happen when people see complex problems reframed with clarity and purpose.