ACADEMIC INTEGRITY

From: http://www.academicintegrity.org/icai/images/poster_byu_04.gif

AGENDA

1. Define academic integrity

2. Consider relevance for students

3. Discuss case studies

4. Reflection

OBJECTIVESAt the end of this session, participants will be able to:

O Define academic integrityO Understand its importance for the academy and

society at largeO Understand different institutional policies and

procedures for addressing academic integrity issues

O Anticipate issues with prospective international students and guide them accordingly

Defining academic integrity

“Academic Integrity can be defined by honest academic work where (1) the ideas and the writing of others are properly cited; (2) students submit their own work for tests and assignments without unauthorized assistance; (3) students do not provide unauthorized assistance to others; and (4) students report their research or accomplishments accurately.”

http://www.ethicsed.org/programs/integrity-works/ai_definitions.htm

Georgetown College Policy:The Honor System

Georgetown College is “an innovative community of scholars developing ethical scholars committed to our heritage of Christian discernment.” In a truly academic community, honor must be expected. Honor is an ideal that is evident in the lives of ethical scholars. Primarily, the function of the Georgetown College Honor System is to educate and instill a common purpose within the campus student community. The Honor System is an educational tool to assist the process of teaching morality and ethics. The Honor System helps create an environment that will assist in the development of the whole person by insisting upon honorable traits and behavior. Further, the process assists in the establishment of precedent, consistency and fairness with regard to questions of academic integrity. An effective honor system requires students and faculty to understand and abide by the system’s expectations.

From: http://www.georgetowncollege.edu/catalog/academic-policies/

Georgetown College Policy:The Honor System

The strength of the Honor System is in the creation of an atmosphere in which students can act with individual responsibility. This includes the personal decision to act honorably and not to tolerate others who choose to violate the conditions of the Honor System. Therefore, an important aspect of the College’s Honor System is that all students must report violations of the Honor System by their peers. Faculty and Staff must also understand the spirit of the system and do everything possible to abide by the guidelines.

From: http://www.georgetowncollege.edu/catalog/academic-policies/

Georgetown College Policy: The Honor System

All students must sign an understanding of the Honor System. Record of this understanding is kept on file in the Office of the Vice President for Student Life/Dean of Students. For a full discussion of the Honor System—including infractions, procedures, sanctions, and the role of the Honors Council—see the current edition of the Georgetown College Student Handbook available at http://www.georgetowncollege.edu/studentlife/student-handbook/.

From: http://www.georgetowncollege.edu/catalog/academic-policies/

Why does academic integrity matter?

For students:

For colleges:

For professionals:

Case StudiesFor each situation, ask yourselves these questions and be prepared to justify your

responses:

O What could or should the student(s) do?

O What parties might be involved in the cases, and what actions might they take?

O What are some short- and long-term consequences for the student(s)?

O How might different institutional policies affect the outcomes for all parties involved?

Case Study #1

One evening after eating dinner in the cafeteria, Julia returns to her dorm room to find that her roommate has been copying her answers to a homework assignment for their Japanese language class.

Case Study #2

Hasim must write a paper about some aspect of his culture that is different from American culture. He remembers a paper that he wrote for a different class last semester and decides to submit the same paper for the current assignment also.

Case Study #3During her first few weeks as an undergraduate student, Serafina has difficulty adjusting to the time differences, workload and many social activities offered. As such, she accidentally oversleeps the morning of her first Sociology exam. She explains the situation to her professor, who schedules a time for her to make up the exam. In the meantime, a student who lives across the hall has already taken the exam and received her graded paper. The busy professor does not have time to alter the exam, so he gives Serafina the exact same test that her friend took. While she was studying, Serafina memorized the exam and her friend’s responses. For the short answer test items for which her friend received full credit, Serafina decides to write down the same responses as those of her friend.

Case Study #4

Professor Gomes teaches at a small institution with a low international student population. There are few resources for those students with lower levels of English proficiency (but who meet the school’s TOEFL requirements for admission), so he allows students to use dictionaries and smartphone apps to help them formulate answers. On one recent quiz, he notices that Marcelina appears to be doing an internet search rather than using assistive translation.

Case Study #5

Priscilla is a very engaged student who decides to write her capstone research paper about violence against women on college campuses. The project requires her to interview three subjects to obtain personal stories. Priscilla does two interviews and is satisfied that the women’s stories support her argument; however, some information given by the third subject seems to contradict her thesis. Priscilla includes the third informant in her project but alters and omits some words to fit her own thesis.

Case Study #6

Max buys a computer from Alice, who did not completely delete her old files saved to the hard drive. Max finds notes for a paper that Alice wrote 2 years ago when she took the same Art History class, although it was with a different professor. He doesn’t see the harm in using her notes and research for his own project, and he ultimately decides to include the information in the text of his paper.

Case Study #7

Mae Ling is an exceptionally bright Teaching Assistant whose insights into Computational Physics are innovative and worthy of serious further study and eventual publication. She shares some of her ideas with her mentor, the Physics Department Chair. About three months later, she discovers that her mentor has published an article using her ideas, and that this professor has been nominated for a major award as a result of the publication.

Works Cited

“Definitions for Academic Integrity.” The School for Ethical Education. Web. 18 April 2013.http://www.ethicsed.org/programs/integrity-works/ai_definitions.htm.

“Academic Policies and Regulations.” Georgetown College Catalog 2012-2013. Web. 19 April 2013. http://www.georgetowncollege.edu/catalog/academic-policies/