Academic Integrity

1
Academic Integrity

• Mary Ann Krisman-Scott, RN, PhD

2
Extent of the Problem

• More than 75 of college students admit cheating
  one or more times
• About 25 report more than three incidents
• 80 of those surveyed profess to thinking that
  cheating is not justified
• 50 of high school students report cheating on an
  exam or quiz

3
Influences on Academic Integrity

• Cultural values
• Winning at any cost
• Individual over community
• Achievement measured concretely
• Competition
• Excessive significance placed on scores and grades

4
Influences on Academic Integrity

• Expectations and standards poorly defined and
  badly communicated
• Dishonest behavior not clearly defined
• Large classes taught by teaching assistnats
• Perception that academic integrity is not
  important to faculty
• Lack of constructive institutional responses

5
Faculty Influences

• May resist addressing issue for fear of appearing
  mistrustful and negative
• Concern for appearing to be monitors or watchdogs
• Dont want the time investment for a system which
  is often burdensome
• Feel a lack of support from administration

6
Institutional Policies

• Honor code schools
• Honor pledges
• Unproctored exams
• Student run honor boards
• Requirement to report violations
• Automatic repurcussions

7
Institutional Policies

• Students should be informed privately
• All witness must be informed that the matter is
  confidential
• Consult only school officials who are directly
  involved

8
Prevention

• Address academic integrity in the syllabus
• Address academic integrity in the first class
• Emphasize and answer questions about assignments,
  research
• Clarify the degree to which collaboration is
  permissible
• Specify whether papers must be entirely new work

9
Prevention

• Educate students about plagiarism
• Particularize the importance and relevance of
  integrity and ethics to your discipline
• Reasonable seating for exams
• Choose and train proctors
• Photocopy graded exams before returning to student

10
Prevention

• Change and create new paper topics regularly
• Photocopy papers
• Require and review drafts, outlines, and research
  notes
• Familiarize yourself with internet paper mills
• Familiarize yourself with softwear designed to
  aid in the detection of plagiarism.

11
Guidelines

• Remove any notes or other items student is using
• Save anything you confiscate
• Make a note of what you have seen and what you
  have done
• Instruct students to move apart, change seats

12
Guidelines

• Reiterate your expectations, rules and otential
  consequences
• Permit the student to complete the examination

13
Detecting Plagiarism

• Writing style fluctuates inexplicably
• The paper looks too professional
• Paper differs significantly from previous work
• Work is more sophisticated than you would expect
• Paper or parts of it sound familiar
• Paper is written on a topic that is off the
  subject matter

14
Acting on Plagiarism

• Consult
• Address the student
• Decide what to do next
• Grades