Building a Culture of Academic Integrity in the Student Environment Case of Vinnytsia National Technical University (Ukraine)

Iryna Drach,Olena Slobodianiuk

doi:10.4236/ce.2020.118105

Abstract

Since Ukraine has declared its intention to reform higher education aligned with the European standards, it has been stated that quality assurance of education in the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) is one of the main conditions for trust, mobility, motivation, compatibility and attractiveness of higher education. One of the key components for the internal quality assurance system in the higher education institutions (HEI) is the establishment of the system of academic integrity at the institutional level allowing creation of a zero environment of tolerance to violations of academic integrity and ethics of academic relations; this justifies the relevance of the article. The aim of the article is to analyze Vinnytsia National Technical University (VNTU) experience in implementing the project “Building a culture of academic integrity in the student environment”. The project has been implemented within the framework of the Ukraine Higher Education Leadership Development Programme. To achieve this aim, methods of analysis, synthesis, comparison and systematization of a set of actions contributing to the project implementation have been used. The outcomes of the project have been described and it has been established that the implementation of policies and mechanisms to ensure academic integrity in teaching, learning and research needs to be shifted from penalty for violation of academic integrity to planning and implementing explanatory and educational activities. Steps for further development of the culture of academic integrity in VNTU have been outlined.

Highlights

The late 20th and early 21st centuries are known for their radical transformations of the higher education system. “[...] Change of the forces influencing modern higher education around the world have led to increasing and strengthening factors affecting it” (Becher & Trowler, 2001), namely: a radical increase in the number of student population; economization of academic area leads to an increase in the impact of applicants and students’ demands and needs concerning the content and practical orientation of programs and courses; globalization leading to a focus on global economic trends, rapid development of new information and communication technologies, creation of an international knowledge network, use of English as the dominant language in disseminating scientific information (Altbach, Reisberg, & Rumbley, 2009)
According to the results of a sociological survey on Vinnytsia National Technical University (VNTU) students’ awareness of the need to follow the principles of academic integrity and the inadmissibility of fraud (September 2017), the motivation of a large part of students is aimed at formal attributes of higher education
The results of the survey allowed concluding that existing regulatory framework (Code of Ethics of VNTU; Regulations on the detection and prevention of academic plagiarism in VNTU) is a necessary but insufficient condition for implementing the principles of academic integrity in student environment

Summary

Introduction

The late 20th and early 21st centuries are known for their radical transformations of the higher education system. “[...] Change of the forces influencing modern higher education around the world have led to increasing and strengthening factors affecting it” (Becher & Trowler, 2001), namely: a radical increase in the number of student population; economization of academic area leads to an increase in the impact of applicants and students’ demands and needs concerning the content and practical orientation of programs and courses; globalization leading to a focus on global economic trends, rapid development of new information and communication technologies, creation of an international knowledge network, use of English as the dominant language in disseminating scientific information (Altbach, Reisberg, & Rumbley, 2009). “[...] Change of the forces influencing modern higher education around the world have led to increasing and strengthening factors affecting it” (Becher & Trowler, 2001), namely: a radical increase in the number of student population; economization of academic area leads to an increase in the impact of applicants and students’ demands and needs concerning the content and practical orientation of programs and courses; globalization leading to a focus on global economic trends, rapid development of new information and communication technologies, creation of an international knowledge network, use of English as the dominant language in disseminating scientific information (Altbach, Reisberg, & Rumbley, 2009). A problem of quality assurance and enhancement of higher education has been actualized through the intensive transformation processes. “Concern for quality should become an imperative for the behavior of all those caring of the academic world” (Hrynevych, 2014: p. 12)

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