Abstract
IntroductionThis case study describes the process faculty at a large research university undertook to build a stand-alone online academic integrity course for first-year and transfer students. Because academic integrity is decentralized at the institution, building a more systematic program had to come from the bottom-up (faculty developed) rather than from the top down (institutionally mandated).Case descriptionUsing the learning management system, faculty and e-learning designers collaborated to build the course. Incorporating nuanced scenarios for six different types of misconduct (consistent with the University’s Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities & Conduct), a pre- and post-test, and assessments for each scenario, the course provides experience in recognizing and avoiding academic misconduct.Discussion and evaluationAs a stand-alone course, the faculty who created it maintain control over content and are able to analyze student performance across the institution. In the ten months since its launch, the course has been eagerly adopted by faculty (n = 1853 students have completed the course) and post-test scores indicate students are learning from the course.ConclusionsAfter the successful launch of the student course, the next step, already underway, is the launch of learning modules for faculty and teaching assistants.
Highlights
This case study describes the process faculty at a large research university undertook to build a stand-alone online academic integrity course for first-year and transfer students
The community of practice consulted with other campus bodies, including the office of student conduct and the faculty council to ensure this was an area of importance for the university
During the pre-test, students are assessed on their understanding of the six types of misconduct as well as how to find university information on the policies and procedures dealing with academic behavior
Summary
Academic dishonesty is a recognized problem in higher education with a long history, dating back to Bowers’ (1964) work in the 60s. The community of practice consulted with other campus bodies, including the office of student conduct and the faculty council to ensure this was an area of importance for the university This group collaborated with e-learning design consultants in the university’s information technology unit to develop and build the course. During the pre-test, students are assessed on their understanding of the six types of misconduct as well as how to find university information on the policies and procedures dealing with academic behavior. At the end of the course, students complete a seventeen-question post-test (identical to the pre-test), which assesses their knowledge on the types of academic misconduct, what happens if they are involved with academic misconduct, and how to avoid academic misconduct in the future This is a timed, multiple choice quiz, where various scenarios are given and must be identified (see Appendix). Open-ended Open-ended Open-ended List of the six types of misconduct (choose multiple) Open-ended
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