PROMOTING ACADEMIC INTEGRITY IN THE CLASSROOM

Agenda

I. The Problem of Academic DishonestyII.New Understandings of Academic IntegrityIII.Confronting Common Areas of AI Confusion in the

ClassroomIV.Using Technology to Identify Plagiarism and CheatingV.What to Do If You Suspect Academic DishonestyVI.Resources at Trent

ACADEMIC DISHONESTY AS A MAJOR EDUCATIONAL CHALLENGE

HOW BIG IS THIS PROBLEM?

What percentage of high school students self-report cheating on at least one assignment?

What percentage of university students self-report cheating on at least one assignment or exam?

What percentage of university students consider copying from the internet to be plagiarism?

ACADEMIC DISHONESTY AT THE HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL

▪73% of students cheat on at least one written assignment in high school.

▪62% of high school students copy from written sources without citing.

▪57% of high school students copy from web sources without citing.

▪50% of students use false or fabricated lab data. (Hughes & McCabe, 2006)

ACADEMIC DISHONESTY AT THE UNIVERSITY LEVEL

2010 study of 14,000 undergraduates:

▪Cheating on some form on assignments and exams: 61%

▪Copying a few sentences or more on assignments they handed in: 40%

▪Students who believed that copying from the web was an act of serious cheating:29%

(Gabriel, 2010)

NEW UNDERSTANDINGS OF THE PROBLEM OF ACADEMIC DISHONESTY

THE MOVEMENT FOR ACADEMIC INTEGRITY

▪Academic Integrity is “more than the absence of misconduct, but rather ‘a commitment, even in the face of adversity, to five fundamental values: honesty, trust, fairness, respect, and responsibility.’” (Hughes & McCabe, 2006, p.51)

▪Shift from a sole focus on catching cheating (turn-it-in.com) to a broader attempt to understand the factors that enable cheating and educate students about the value of academic integrity.

The “Teaching and Learning Approach”“The essence of this strategy is the reframing of the main practical question from ‘how do we stop students from cheating,’ to ‘how do we ensure students are learning’” (Bertram-Gallant, 2008, p. 87).

▪ increased attention to learning will lead to decreased need for cheating

▪ reduce class size▪ less focus on memorization and facts - more on

application and analysis ▪ more supports for students▪ more explanation of why academic integrity matters to

individual faculty

SUPPORT A CULTURE OF INTEGRITY▪Talk to your students about why academic integrity

matters to you.

▪Be clear with students about areas of common confusion:

▪Group Work

▪Collaboration

▪Online quizzes and tests

▪ Involve students in the writing process

DESIGNING ASSESSMENTS TO PROMOTE AIResearch suggests that professors can promote AI by

using assessments that “involve choice, challenge, control, and collaboration” (Donald as cited in Bertram-Gallant, 2008, p. 89).

Boyne, M., Glassco, D. and Scharfe, E. 2003. "Strategies to discourage plagiarism." Instructional Development Centre Workshop, Trent University, January 20.

CONFRONTING COMMON AREAS OF STUDENT CONFUSION ABOUT ACADEMIC INTEGRITY

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY AT TRENT

▪Academic Integrity Policy and web site

▪Online documentation guide created

▪Academic Integrity Module

▪Academic Skills Instruction

▪And you!

USING SOURCES AND RESEARCH

▪The concept of synthesising sources is often new to students.

▪Some students have never researched beyond the internet

Many students do not understand what is “theirs” in an essay and to realize that they

need to use sources to build their own argument.

TAKING NOTES ON SOURCES▪Many students do not take notes on sources before they

begin writing an essay.

▪At worst this means they cut-and-paste passages into their essay, and at best it means that they write their essay while looking directly at the source.

THIS CAUSES THEM TO BE TOO CLOSE TO THEIR SOURCES.

STRATEGIES

▪Explain your methods for research, notetaking, and organizing your notes.

▪Require that students keep/hand in notes on sources.

▪Make sure that they understand what you mean when you assign them to write a “paper” or a “lab”

PARAPHRASING

Many students mistakenly believe that they only need to change a few words in a sentence to synonyms in order to avoid plagiarism.

Some students lack the critical skills to “put it in their own words” This leads to:

▪A lack of synthesis ▪Copying sentence structure and a majority of the

words in a sentence, i.e. plagiarism

INSTRUCTION IDEAS

▪Teach and model proper paraphrasing

▪Have students practice paraphrasing in class. Try strategies such as:

▪say what you think the passage says out loud and record it.

▪Try starting the sentence, with “The author’s main point is…” or “This illustrates my argument because…”

▪ Insist on less quoting in papers to give students practice with paraphrasing.

Quotations

The concept of quotation marks appears to be confusing to many students. They do not understand when and why they need to use quotation marks. They also have trouble understanding when and how to use quotations in their writing. This leads to:

▪ Sentences with copied words and a citation but no quotation marks (plagiarism)

▪ A paper that is made up almost entirely of quotations

Instructional Strategies

▪ Point out how authors use and explain quotations within course readings

▪ Teach the art of quotation:▪ when to quote▪ how to give context for the quotation▪ how to punctuate a quotation▪ how to analyse the language in a quotation

CONFUSION OVER REFERENCING SOURCES

▪ Uncertainty about what to cite and how to cite it.

▪ Confusion over the need for a works cited/ references/bibliography

STRATEGY

▪Be clear with students about what referencing style you require/prefer.

▪Point out references within course readings.

▪Promote the ASC’s Online Documentation Guide.

▪Use our sticky notes!

USING TECHNOLOGY TO IDENTIFY PLAGIARISM AND CHEATING

Plagiarism Detection Technologies

▪ SafeAssign - What it is▪ SafeAssign - How it works▪ Setting up SafeAssign ▪ Grading SafeAssign ▪ Using Direct Submit▪ The downfalls of SafeAssign

What is SafeAssign

SafeAssign is a Blackboard proprietary application that’s integrated with the Learn platform to provide seamless plagiarism detection for submitted assignments.

Demo!

Setting up SafeAssign

Demo!

Grading a SafeAssign!

Demo!

Using DirectSubmit!

The Downfalls of SafeAssign

▪ Processing time▪ Browser

Compatibility ▪ Off-site▪ Computers

WHAT TO DO IF YOU IDENTIFY CHEATING OR PLAGIARISM

TRENT’S ACADEMIC INTEGRITY POLICYTrent’s Academic Integrity Page has a complete explanation of Trent’s AI Policy and Procedure including:

▪Trent’s Undergraduate Academic Integrity Policy▪Trent’s Exam Procedures

▪An outline of the steps for integrity cases

▪Recommended email templates for each step of the process

RESOURCES AT TRENT

RESOURCES

▪Trent’s Academic Integrity Page: www.trentu.ca/academicintegrity

▪Academic Skills Centre

▪Academic Integrity at Trent MLS Module