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‘The ‘new plagiarism’, academic dishonesty and the development of critical thinking skills

Mike Hart

Professor of Business and InformaticsUniversity College WinchesterWinchester, UK

Roz GrahamSenior Lecturer in MarketingUniversity College WinchesterWinchester, UK

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Winchester Cathedral

King Alfred’s statue

Hampshire, England.

[Winchester is the ancient capital of Anglo-Saxon England]

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Introduction

2 interrelated trends:

• Massification of higher education (e.g. from the UK, 4% (1962).. 40%(2004)..50% projected(2010)

• Explosive growth of web-related delivery (particularly through VLEs)

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Definition of plagiarism

‘Someone else’s work should be passed off, either intentionally or unintentionally, as one’s own in order to gain some benefit’

(Carroll, 2002)

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Prevalence of plagiarism – United States

23% in 1941 survey (Drake) admitted some form of cheating behaviour

75% in 1964 study (Bowers), 5000 students in 99 universities reported academic dishonesty

90% claimed in 2002 (Jensen et. al.)

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Prevalence of plagiarism – United Kingdom

Behaviour Percentage reporting behaviour Paraphrasing material from another source without acknowledging the author 54Inventing data 48Allowing coursework to be copied by another student 46Copying material for coursework from a book or other publication without acknowledging the source 42

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Prevalence of plagiarism – United Kingdom

Behaviour Percentage reporting behaviourCopying another student’s coursework with their knowledge 36Doing another student’s coursework for them 16Copying from a neighbour during an exam without them realising 13 Source: Newstead, Franklyn-Stokes and Armstead (1996)

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Recent UK Survey, 2002(Dorking, Northumbria Univ)

Proportion thinking cheating is ‘common’ (i.e. more than 10% cases)

Source: Dordoy(2002)

Staff(n=155)[%]

Stud. (n=140)[%]

Copying a few paragraphs from a book/internet uncited

70.9 73.9

Copying most of an assignment from some source

14.7 24.3

Downloading a whole essay from a cheat site on the internet

3.4 11.2

Buying an essay from a ghost-writing service

1.7 11.1

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Recent UK Survey, 2002(Dorking, Northumbria Univ)

Proportion thinking cheating is ‘common’ (i.e. more than 10% cases)

Source: Dordoy(2002)

Staff(n=155)[%]

Stud. (n=140)[%]

Cheating in an exam 3.7 21.1

Making up data for a project or lab class 19.8 60.2

Working with another student on work meant to be individual

61.8 76.6

Passing off others’ ideas/images/designs as your own

45.2 76.6

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Prevalence of plagiarism – Pollinger (2004)

75% had never plagiarized 47% did not believe was a problem at their college 1% (only) had obtained essays from the internet BUT… 3% Detection rate 21% believe that detection was not strictly enforced 26% did not believe anti-plagiarism policies were very effective

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Now a moral panic?

JISC (Joint Information Systems Committee) conclude:

‘Plagiarism in student work is not a new phenomenon… but the incidence of this type of behaviour is set to increase dramatically ’

(JISC, 2004)

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Can the rise in plagiarism be explained?

Perceptions of common causes…Source: Dordoy(2002)

Students(n=140)[%]

Staff(n=155)[%]

Wanting to get a better grade 59 36

Laziness/bad time management

54 42

Easy access to material through the internet

40 35

Not understanding the rules 29 40

It happens unconsciously 29 30

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Pressures to plagiarise..

Less commitment to the learning process (i.e. increasing instrumental approach) Increasing deployment of coursework as a means of assessment (approximately 50%) Less effective time-management More time spent in part-time employment Massification of higher education Previous school/college experience

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Reasons for plagiarism Insufficient stress on the importance of referencing e.g. Harvard Feelings of inadequacy (and inability to produce ‘flowing’ academic prose) Collaboration and collusion – boundaries difficult to draw Assignment activities not updated by tutors Seeming ready access to web-based material

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Policies for combating plagiarism - Assessment

Change the nature of assessment from year to year Call for evaluation and self-reflection Test critical thinking skills Teach students in groupwork to distinguish between collaboration and collusion Write work under supervised conditions Append photocopies of some sources

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Policies for combating plagiarism – Citation skills

Teach technical skills of referencing Indicate boundaries of acceptable and unacceptable practice Reinforce at critical intervals Indicate worthy membership of the academic community Try to give positive rather than negative messages

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Policies for combating plagiarism – Contracts…

Students observe an ‘Honour Code’ Sign ‘Declaration of Academic Integrity’ Can the tutor track the work of a student over several assignments? Have graduated sanctions Use technology (e.g. Turnitin software) only as a last resource

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Declaration of Academic Integrity

Please complete and attach to each assignment. Assignments received without this form will not be graded. 

Declaration of Academic Integrity I confirm that this work is original and that if any passage(s) or diagram(s) have been copied from academic books, papers, the Web or other sources, these are clearly identified by the use of quotation marks and the references are fully cited. I certify that, other than where indicated, the work attached is solely my own work and does not breach the College Regulations (which I have read) regarding plagiarism. I agree that I will make a copy of my work available in electronic form so that further investigations can be made regarding its authenticity, should this prove to be necessary.  Name (Block letters).............................................................................. Student Number.......................................................... Signed....................................................................... Date........................................................................... Submitted for: Module Code.....................  Module Title........................................................................................... Tutor……………………………………………………………………...

 

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Lessons for e-learning:examine processes

Students be requested to examine their own learning style Use technology to log the total amount of time spent on an assignment (e.g. through Word ‘Statistics’)

Teach time management skills (explicitly at first)

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Lessons for e-learning:critical thinking skills

Shorten assignments indicating that descriptive material will lower a grade

Write original thoughts in ‘green ink’ (!)

Explicitly adopt critical thinking skills e.g. - using skills of logic - critiquing skills - reward imagination and flair, intellectual bravery

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Conclusions

Do we have to be pessimistic concerning the effects of new technologies? Is enforcing an academic world-view justified when access to materials (e.g. music) is common-place? Standards of integrity are still important in a knowledge-based economy Outright cheating is still comparatively rare!

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And finally….

Any questions?