Most assignments focus solely on the assessment product or artefact. This may unwillingly invite students to resort to inappropriate behaviours such as contract cheating, plagiarism or outsourcing. Assessing the process of producing the artefact can increase engagement, enhance authenticity, and encourage academic integrity (Bower et al., 2024). It may also support students towards developing academic self-regulatory skills. Refocusing the assessment to also emphasis the process, supports an academic environment that enhances motivation for learning, and reducing the incentive for misconduct behaviours (Rundle et al., 2023).

An existing group assignment was scaffolded by introducing an early milestone submission, three weeks prior to the due date. The milestone included a group log of activities, a working document demonstrating their research to date, and a storyboard of their figure development. Feedback was provided with time for students to incorporate improvements to their research processes before their final submission.

Approximately 70% of students reporting having conversations with their group members about academic integrity before commencing work on the assignment. When reflecting on their contributions and learnings, students acknowledged the benefits of obtaining early feedback on their research processes, using the feedback to further develop their skills in teamwork, literature searches, paraphrasing and attribution.