Academic Integrity

From Brock University Teaching Wiki

Academic Integrity is a core value of the academic mission of Brock University, and is defined as the pursuit of knowledge and scholarship through the provision of academic programs and a learning environment of the highest quality. It is in the interest of the University’s academic mission that every student adheres to the highest standards of scholarly integrity. As such, academic dishonesty is taken seriously: engaging in behaviours that are in breach of, or otherwise seek to abuse the University's academic policy will not be tolerated.

http://www.brocku.ca/academicintegrity/faculty

Contents 1 Best Practices for Faculties 1.1 Administrative 1.2 Curriculum 1.3 Assessment 2 Further reading

[edit] Best Practices for Faculties

[edit] Administrative

Clear policy and consistent policy (process) administration.

E.g., Faculty of Applied Health Sciences and Social Sciences.

Establish working Academic Integrity Committees. Membership should include:

• Associate Dean (as Chair)
• Academic Integrity Officer
• Dept. Chairs
• Faculty
• Undergraduate and Graduate Student Representative.
• Faculties should meet (once each term) to share information regarding Academic Integrity issues.

Course Syllabi could include:

• An Academic Integrity statement.
• Clear unambiguous assignment expectations.
• Expectations regarding group work and collaboration.
• Contact information for instructor, teaching assistants, lab demonstrators, or anyone else that the student may need to communicate with as function of participating in the course.

Instructors should:

• Clearly state their expectations with regard to coursework.
• Provide a supportive interpersonal approach to discussion.
• Provide feedback in a manner that is timely, and relevant for improvement of performance.
• Challenge students to present ideas creatively within the conventions of their academic discipline.

[edit] Curriculum

• Should include Academic Integrity concepts.
• Should consider how content relates to the learning outcomes, instructional strategies and assessment protocols.
• Promotes Critical Thinking
• Encourages students to think about ideas and language in different ways.
• Challenges students to understand the role of ideas and language in defining people, society, theory, etc.
• Challenges students to question assumptions.

[edit] Assessment

Clearly defined expectations regarding group work assignments (e.g., guidelines for record keeping and accountability). Think about what students are doing and why they are doing it. Consider revision (of essay assignments) as an assessment tool.

[edit] Further reading

• Cox (2003) Academic Integrity: Cheating 101 – a literature review. The News About Teaching and Learning at Memorial

Baldwin (2001) Practical Plagiarism Prevention. The University of Manitoba Newsletter

Cheating: The Analysis Continues. The Teaching Professor

(2001) Academic Integrity. Reflections and Directions Teaching and Learning at the University of Guelph

Dawson (2005) Cheating Can We Be Part of The Solution? The Teaching Professor

Johnson (2005) Cheating: Are We part Of The Problem? The Teaching Professor

Smith (2005) Plagiarism Technology: A Primer on Prevention and Detection. The University Of Manitoba Newsletter

Istl (2005) Preventing Plagiarism. Centre for Flexible Learning Newsletter

Johnson (1999) Preclude Cheating: A Response. University of Phoenix

Pyke (1999) How Do I Know Joe Wrote It? University of Tennessee

Modified Honor Codes and Academic Intergrity. The Teaching Professor

TDC News: A Publication of the U of R Teaching Development Centre

Butterfield, McCabe, Trevino ( 1999) Academic Integrity in Honor Code and Non-Honor Code Environments. Journal of Higher Education

Butterfield, McCabe, Trevino (1999) Dishonesty in Academic Environments. Journal of Higher Education

(2003) Plagiarism FAQ. http://Turnitin.com

Appleton & Carroll (2001) Plagiarism A Good Practice Guide. Oxford Brookes University

Taylor (2003) Academic Integrity: Teaching What We Value. University of Manitoba

Harris (2002) Faculty and Administrative Strategies for Dealing With Plagiarism. Brock University

Harris (2002) Educating your students about Plagiarism. Brock University

Academic Honesty Cheating, Plagiarism and Fraud. University Of Manitoba