Breaches Of Academic Integrity Research Articles

A teamwork framework for preventing breaches of academic integrity and improving students’ collaborative skills in the AI era

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools have become a major challenge in the education sector in terms of the way that students use and manage them. This study examines the development, implementation, and evaluation of a teamwork framework by using academic integrity standards and formative feedback to minimise the use of generative AI tools in the Business Project Management (BPM) unit and promote students' learning skills through teamwork and self/peer evaluation. This teamwork assessment was designed to transform students into independent learners by improving their cultural awareness, self-confidence, teamwork, communication, leadership, as well as personal and interpersonal skills. The study's objectives are to determine whether a teamwork framework can help to maintain academic integrity and transform BPM students into independent learners and leaders in the era of generative AI, and to determine whether lecturers' formative feedback enhances students' skills in teamwork assessment. This research comprises an empirical study of 408 local and international BPM students from different cultural backgrounds. A mixed-methods approach was used to collect data and achieve a broader perspective of the research topic. BPM students reported their satisfaction with this type of assessment since it helped them acquire skills such as intercultural effectiveness and teamwork. Following the implementation of the teamwork framework, the number of instances of academic misconduct and requests for extensions have decreased dramatically, while the assessment's average marks increased by 10 %. A set of recommendations is offered that will ensure the successful implementation of the proposed framework for teamwork assessment and self/peer evaluation. This study was limited to the Business Project Management unit, but in 2024, the same study will be conducted involving other postgraduate units at Curtin University with a future rollout in other universities to compare how students perceive teamwork assessment.

Clues to fostering a program culture of academic integrity: findings from a multidimensional regression model

Using multivariate regression, we identified situational, personal and contextual variables correlated with business students’ self-reported rates of academic misconduct. The most influential predictors of increasing academic misconduct were: higher estimates of peers’ academic misconduct, increasingly negative perceptions of the program’s academic integrity culture, and rating questionable academic behaviours less seriously. Individual priorities, personal characteristics and social support were less influential. We then analyzed our quantitative results in light of our deep understanding of the broader context to derive richer insights from the interplay of our independent variables. Importantly, our results indicate that program-led proactive messaging designed to foster a culture of academic integrity can effectively buffer tendencies towards academic dishonesty. Absent ongoing messaging, however, increasing academic pressures may erode those initial benefits. Moreover, repercussions of major academic integrity breaches can be long lasting, suggesting an even greater need for fostering a culture of academic integrity a priori. Finally, we recommend a public health practice of identifying positive deviants – individuals who thrive in challenging environments – and then in an effort to change a peer support system that fosters academic misconduct into one that discourages it, engaging with those individuals to understand why and how they resist the status quo.

Is it OK if I cheat? Implementation of, and student response to, iterative change in an undergraduate medical degree high stakes OSCE due to issues of academic integrity

Purpose of article This paper explores issues pertinent to teaching and assessment of clinical skills at the early stages of medical training, aimed at preventing academic integrity breaches. The drivers for change, the changes themselves, and student perceptions of those changes are described. Methods Iterative changes to a summative high stakes Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) assessment in an undergraduate medical degree were undertaken in response to perceived/known breaches of assessment security. Initial strategies focused on implementing best practice teaching and assessment design principles, in association with increased examination security. Results These changes failed to prevent alleged sharing of examination content between students. A subsequent iteration saw a more radical deviation from classic OSCE assessment design, with students being assessed on equivalent competencies, not identical items (OSCE stations). This more recent approach was broadly acceptable to students, and did not result in breaches of academic integrity that were detectable. Conclusions Ever increasing degrees of assessment security need not be the response to breaches of academic integrity. Use of non-identical OSCE items across a cohort, underpinned by constructive alignment of teaching and assessment may mitigate the incentives to breach academic integrity, though face validity is not universal.

Students Against Academic Misconduct (SAAM)

This paper presents a comprehensive and coordinated partnership between students and faculty in response to academic integrity breaches at the School of Business and Law (SBL). We highlight the widespread nature of academic misconduct among university students, particularly emphasising the prevalence of cheating among business students. Additionally, the paper addresses the impact of institutional practices on academic integrity breaches. Considering the Higher Education Standards Framework (HESF) requirements, the SBL aims to reduce academic integrity breaches by implementing a coordinated students-as-partners approach. We propose that a mobile learning theory can be applied to reducing academic integrity breaches, focusing on contract cheating allegations. By sharing our experiences, we hope to inform and inspire a coordinated institutional approach to uphold academic integrity and combat misconduct effectively.

Academic Integrity and Student Mental Well-Being: A Rapid Review

Despite concerns arising from academic integrity practitioners, researchers, and stakeholders about the relationship between academic integrity (or violations of academic integrity) and student mental well-being (or distress), there is a lack of literature synthesizing available evidence. Particularly, it is unclear about when student mental well-being may be of concern during procedures that concern breaches of academic integrity. Our rapid review identified and analysed scholarly sources (n = 46) to understand the relationship between academic integrity and mental well-being among postsecondary students. Five themes emerged: a) negativity bias; b) inconsistency of definitions; c) paradigmatic tensions; d) focus on external stressors; and e) focus on mental health prior to a critical incident. We propose several calls to action and implications for practice. There is a need to better understand the impact of an alleged or actual academic integrity violation on students’ mental well-being. Practitioners should integrate supports for students’ mental well-being in processes and procedures that uphold academic integrity.

Plagiarism in Higher Education: Navigating a Perfect Storm

Student plagiarism is the reproduction of material from sources such as journal articles or books, without adequate acknowledgement of the source. It can be a deliberate, intentional act, and is considered a breach of academic integrity. The increasing ubiquity of internet use within higher education and shift to remote learning practices has heightened academic concerns over the prevalence of online plagiarism and ‘cyber-cheating’. Academic integrity now requires a system-wide involvement in understanding, defining, and addressing academic integrity. In this perspective article, we present a possible perfect storm scenario for growth in the incidence of breaches of academic integrity through plagiarism. We suggest this perfect storm culminates from: increasing internet use in higher education; the necessity for remote learning environments during and following the COVID-19 pandemic; and students feeling increasingly disconnected from their institution. Further, we suggest a vision of how the establishment of an ‘Academic Integrity Unit’ may be a means to navigate through such a storm.

Do academic integrity policies within foundation studies programmes adopt an educative perspective for supporting students?

ABSTRACT Academic integrity lies ‘at the core of the reputation of Australia’s world class higher education sector’ (Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA), 2020). This pilot study analyses the dominant approach (punitive or educative) of academic integrity policies by selected institutions within the Australian state of Victoria who offer a Foundation Studies Programme (FSP). This pilot study indicates a punitive approach is most commonly adopted. There is a scarcity of research within this field. An increasing prevalence of academic integrity breaches has been reported in the Australian and global education sector. It is therefore of paramount importance that we focus on supporting learners to understand and act with academic integrity. A literature review of qualitative data enabled patterns, or ‘themes’, to be identified. A deductive thematic analysis was conducted at the semantic (explicit) level to compare the approach taken at different institutions.

Integrity hour and the mental health continuum

Supporting academic integrity across the institution is an involved process that includes integrating proactive education, designing effective learning spaces, identifying potential academic integrity breaches, and finding resolutions to support student learning. Through published literature as well as anecdotal experiences, we know that upholding the spectrum of academic integrity can take a toll on everyone – including students, instructors, administrators, and support staff. Rapid transitions and isolation brought on by responses to COVID-19 have only intensified this challenge. Using the Integrity Hour model developed by Dr. Sarah Elaine Eaton at the University of Calgary, RRC Polytech has established a community of practice to support staff and grow the institutional culture of academic integrity. In this session, participants will learn more about the Integrity Hour community at RRC Polytech and how the mental health continuum resource has been used to support group discussion. This session will include a demonstration of the Integrity Hour process with an invitation to participate in a circle discussion.

Cutting the vicious circle: Addressing the inconsistency in teachers’ approaches to academic integrity breaches

Dysfunctional educational system has been identified as one of the causes of academic dishonesty in Eastern Europe. This case study combines quantitative self-reported data and qualitative data from students and teachers with hard data from the disciplinary committee, collected at one Czech university. We analyse cases and types of breaches, identify characteristics of students that incline them toward cheating and investigate some of the reasons why. Our research confirms that the inconsistent approach of teachers is a contributing factor to students’ propensity to violate academic integrity rules and identifies reasons for such behaviour. Teachers play a key role in prevention, it is their duty to report cases of suspected misconduct, but they need tools to improve the culture of academic integrity. The contribution of this paper is to provide an inspiration for policy makers how to tackle the inconsistency of teachers’ approaches to student misconduct.

Contract Cheating in Canada: National Policy Analysis Project Update and Results for 2021

Join us for an in-depth look at how contract cheating is addressed in Canadian higher education policies. In this session we share results synthesized from 80 publicly-funded universities and colleges across Canada, where English is the primary language of instruction. Our results show why Canada is lagging behind in terms of addressing contract cheating pro-actively through policy and procedures. We offer concrete recommendations for improving the ways that Canadian schools can address contract cheating and other breaches of academic integrity through policy and procedures. In this study, regional teams assembled to collect and analyze academic integrity policies from 80 publicly-funded universities and colleges across Canada where English is the primary language of instruction (Western Canadian universities, n = 24; Ontario universities, n = 21; Atlantic Canadian universities, n = 13; Ontario colleges, n = 22). Although the entire study is not yet complete, we now have full or preliminary results to share from 9 Canadian provinces (BC, AB, SK, MB, ON, NB, NS, PE, and NL). In this session we offer the most comprehensive synthesis of the project to date. In our presentation we provide an overview of the project as a whole, show how we have conducted the study (i.e., method), and present our findings at both a regional and national level. Based on our findings, we offer evidence-based recommendations for policy reform for academic integrity in Canadian higher education, concluding with a call to action for policy makers and administrators to take a stronger stance against contract cheating. For more information on this project visit https://osf.io/n9kwt/.

E-proctoring Gone Wrong

The 2020-2021 academic year saw an unprecedented rise in the use of e-proctoring, for the facilitation of online exams. With that also came unprecedented challenges and issues. This presentation will be a survey of some of the issues and questions regarding the use of e-proctoring. Some issues that will be addressed include accessibility issues and the use of artificial intelligence and its ethical problems. The presentation will then focus on the question of academic integrity, and more specifically how academic integrity breaches were handled by various institutions across North America. The presentation will showcase how e-proctoring introduced a new host of problems in the area of academic integrity adjudication and a discussion will follow on considerations for the future of e-proctoring and the maintenance of academic integrity in academia.

Clues to Fostering a Program Culture of Academic Integrity: Findings from a Multidimensional Model

Drawing on the responses from a survey of 852 undergraduates in a business program in Canada we identified situational, personality and contextual variables correlated with business students’ self-reported rates of academic integrity violations. The most influential predictors of increasing rates were: greater estimates of peers’ violations, increasingly negative perceptions of the program’s academic integrity culture, and rating questionable academic behaviours less seriously. Individual priorities, personal characteristics and social support were less influential. We then analyzed our quantitative results in light of our deep understanding of the broader context in which the students were located to derive richer insights from the interplay of our independent variables. Importantly, our results indicated that program-led proactive messaging designed to foster a culture of academic integrity could effectively buffer tendencies towards academic dishonesty. Absent ongoing messaging, however, increasing academic pressures may have eroded those initial benefits. Moreover, we identified how repercussions of major academic integrity breaches could be long lasting suggesting an even greater need for fostering academic integrity culture a priori. Based on our results we recommended a public health practice of identifying positive deviants – individuals who thrive in hostile environments – and then, in an effort to change a peer support system that fostered increasing rates of violations into one that does the opposite, engaging with those individuals to understand why and how they resisted the status quo.

Academic integrity in first-year nursing students: An intergrative review

Introduction: Studies relating specifically to first-year nursing students’ breaches of academic integrity are not readily identified within the literature. While work has, over the years reported on breaches in academic integrity, it has done so with many disciplines and varied student cohorts. Nevertheless, those that specifically relate to first-year nursing students are sparse. First-year undergraduate nursing students are generally included with the entire student nurse cohort, and not necessarily identified independently. Therefore, the integrative review aimed to discover how or if the incidence of plagiarism/cheating, specifically within first-year undergraduate nursing students, was addressed.Methods: An integrative review of the literature, incorporating quantitative and qualitative literature was undertaken between January 2021 – April 2021 using electronic data bases.Results: Ten studies met the inclusion criteria. From the review, six main themes were extrapolated, (1) blurred boundaries of caring; (2) navigating the ethical highway; (3) factors influencing academic misconduct (4) early intervention (5) academic integrity policies and procedures and (6) inconsistencies amongst academics.Conclusions: The integrative review has identified a shortfall in research relating to how academic integrity has been addressed in first-year nursing students.

Exam cheating and academic integrity breaches during the COVID-19 pandemic: An analysis of internet search activity in Spain

Academic institutions worldwide have had to adapt their methods of teaching and assessment due to COVID-19. In many Spanish universities exams moved online, affording students with opportunities to breach academic integrity that were not previously available to them. This paper uses the emerging research method of search engine data analysis to investigate the extent of requests for exam cheating information in Spain in the time period surrounding adjustments for the pandemic. The Internet data analytics technique is one that the paper proposes should be used more widely as an academic integrity research method.For this study, search engine activity data on exam cheating in Spain was collected and analysed for the five-year period between 2016 and 2020 inclusive. The data suggests that students are searching for information about ways to cheat in exams, including how to create cheat sheets. Most strikingly, the results show a significant increase in requests for information on cheating on online exams during the COVID-19 timeframe and the Spanish lockdown period. Based on the findings, academic institutions in other regions should be wary about the opportunities that their students have to commit exam fraud.

Exploring Rogeting: Implications for academic integrity

Poor paraphrasing can be a sign of underdeveloped writing skills that can lead to plagiarism. One example of poor paraphrasing is Rogeting, which is the substitution of words with their synonyms using Roget’s thesaurus or other digital synonym providers. In this position paper, we discuss Rogeting as a form of poor paraphrasing that may lead to academic integrity breaches, such as plagiarism. We discuss methods of identifying Rogeted text, concluding with practical recommendations for educators about how to better support student writers so they can avoid Rogeting in favour of developing their writing skills.

Why should we care about academic integrity in nursing students?

Integrity, honesty, and respect are essential values for nursing students. Yet, in recent years the rise of breaches in academic integrity has become alarming. The era of increasing advances in the capabilities of smart technologies may be facilitating rather than deterring students from academic integrity breaches in their work and assessments. This issue raises questions for nurse academics on how they can best ensure that nursing students align their behavior with the expected nursing’s professional values, both during their study years and beyond. This discussion paper aims to examine contributing factors leading to breaches of academic integrity amongst nursing students and determine why we as nurse academics need to both remain alert to these factors, and vigilant about identifying and managing such breaches. Existing factors that may influence academic dishonesty are discussed concerning students; nurse academics; curriculum design; and the apparently growing cultural shift in ethical reasoning. With increased insight into these influencing factors, nurse academics need to take responsibility and prepare students to take on the highest standard of moral values to ensure safe and effective patient outcomes. We need to become more aware of and understand nursing students’ perspectives and adequately prepare our soon-to-become nurse graduates. We are charged with supporting, guiding, and teaching our students to develop skills within a culture of integrity. Ensuring an integrity activity smorgasbord in our practice can counteract the increased risk of academic dishonesty in our undergraduate nursing programs.

Academic integrity in the Muslim world: a conceptual map of challenges of culture

The literature suggests that a whole-institution culture of academic integrity is needed in order to prevent academic integrity breaches. It is also suggested that the national cultures and individual backgrounds of academic staff and students can impact on their propensity to breach academic integrity policies and on their uptake of initiatives aimed at enhancing academic culture. Much research has been conducted on academic integrity related to culture in the western world including the behaviours of international students, and some work has been conducted in various Asian contexts. However, little is known about how national culture and religion affect academic integrity in eastern countries with a Muslim majority. This paper presents a synthesis of the literature related to academic integrity and culture in regions where Muslims are the majority. An integrative literature review was carried out. Keywords were used to search and to collect academic integrity related research published from 2010 to 2020. The literature reviewed revealed that academics in countries with a Muslim majority faced challenges related to their local cultures, which included social and religious perceptions and practices. However, they were also able to draw upon some national and religious practices that supported and enhanced academic integrity. This paper concludes with recommendations for incorporating these positive cultural factors into an academic integrity framework for policy and practice appropriate for Muslim contexts.

Clues to Fostering a Program Culture of Academic Integrity: Findings from a Multidimensional Model

Using zero-inflated negative binomial regression we identified situational, personality and contextual variables correlated with business students’ self-reported rates of academic integrity violations. The most influential predictors of increasing rates were: greater estimates of peers’ violations, increasingly negative perceptions of the program’s academic integrity culture, and rating questionable academic behaviours less seriously. Individual priorities, personal characteristics and social support were less influential. We then analyzed our quantitative results in light of our deep understanding of the broader context to derive richer insights from the interplay of our independent variables. Importantly, our results indicate that program-led proactive messaging designed to foster a culture of academic integrity can effectively buffer tendencies towards academic dishonesty. Absent ongoing messaging, however, increasing academic pressures may erode those initial benefits. Moreover, repercussions of major academic integrity breaches can be long lasting suggesting an even greater need for fostering academic integrity culture a priori. Finally, we recommend a public health practice of identifying positive deviants – individuals who thrive in hostile environments – and then in an effort to change a peer support system that fosters increasing rates of violations into one that does the opposite, engaging with those individuals to understand why and how they resist the status quo.

Individualized Excel-Based Exams to Prevent Students from Cheating

The COVID19 pandemic has brought a disruption on education, especially on how courses are delivered in higher education. Higher education providers are forced to go online, irrespective of the IT infrastructure’s availability and the capability of lecturers in delivering online courses. While online learning is perceived as an opportunity for academic integrity breaches, academicians need to ensure that processes are in place to avoid students cheating, especially during the exam. This paper presents an innovative approach based on Excel spreadsheet that allows lecturers to develop individualised exam questions. The method and/or accounting policy, as well as the accounting figures in the exams are automatically tailored based on students’ identification numbers. This program also allows automatic markings for such exams. This type of exam is not perceived complicated by students; but relatively reduce the opportunity to cheat. Hence, it is suggested to be used in the future online exam environment to increase the objectivity of the exam and reliability in exam marking.

Is this in my contract?: How part-time contract faculty face barriers to reporting academic integrity breaches

A holistic approach to academic integrity in higher education requires a concerted and integrated effort of all stakeholders across campus, yet the tiered faculty system of most institutions may be at odds with comprehensive approaches. This paper explores how part-time contract faculty (also known as “sessionals” in Canada) face barriers to reporting student breaches of academic integrity. Drawing on scholarly literature, as well as my experiences as a sessional instructor, I explore this topic. In particular, I note that the time commitment and emotional investment involved in reporting transgressions according to institutional protocol can be especially burdensome for part-time instructors. I conclude with recommendations to better support sessional instructors to foster academic integrity.