Academic Honesty in the Digital Age

Mick PurcellEdunbridge International Schoolmickpurcell@gmail.com

slides: slideshare.net/Edubridge

backchannel: todaysmeet.com/TAISI

#taisi14

This paper investigates academic honesty in the digital age, and offers constructive advice, including tips, skills and policy guidelines, for international educators. Schools must focus on the promotion academic honesty rather than the punishment of academic dishonesty. Research shows that the single most important factor in promoting a school culture of academic honesty is the attitude of the students. If students value academic integrity, then their peers are less likely to cheat or plagiarize. Students must be taught explicitly to value academic honesty and how to practice academic honesty in the digital age.

Practical tips are given about how to create a culture of academic honesty in the digital age. Students and teachers should discuss and include academic honesty in their Essential Agreements from a young age. Teachers must learn precisely how to cite, write bibliographies, use the internet effectively, give references within presentations, or acknowledge a work of art. Strategies for integrating academic honesty into the curriculum are presented with examples or vignettes of successful methods, including Academic Honesty in the Primary Years. The best online tools are presented. Practical strategies are suggested for students, teachers, parents, teacher-librarians, and administrators. There are tips about how to write a school’s Academic Honesty policy by involving the school community to reflect the school’s mission.

There is a brief discussion of the importance of academic honesty as the bedrock of academic institutions in free societies, and the links between academic honesty, Ways of Knowing, the Learner Profile, and international-mindedness.

Primary Objectives:

● Learn about AH issues facing educators and schools

● Identify common mistakes made by students, teachers, and schools

● Thoughtful conversation about the IB Position on Academic Honesty

The most important learning:

● Support students, and focus on promoting academic honesty instead of punishing academic dishonesty

● Move from academic honesty to educational integrity and relate AH to mission, school values, ethics, etc.

● Begin young with student involvement

● Train teachers: skills and issues in the Digital Age

Structure of this talk

1. a survey of the academic discourse about educational integrity, and some results from research in the field

2. how this discourse can and should be applied to international schools, and international schools in particular

3. some practical tips for international educators about addressing academic integrity at your school

school leaders:

AH, EI, issues, etc.

stakeholders:

academic honesty policy

students: tips, tools, procedures, how to cite, etc,including the critical thinking and research skjills

The importance of including sources first

● Get students to think about how their ideas are influenced by the ideas of others

● Referencing requires “thinking, writing, and signaling”:○ inquirers, reflective, communicators, principled, etc.

"Acadmic Honesty." Online Curriculum Centre. International Baccalaureate Organization, 2012. Web. 31 Jan. 2014.

"APFEI | Asia Pacific Forum on Educational Integrity." APFEI, 2013. Web. 31 Jan. 2014.

Carroll, Jude. "Academic honesty in the IB." IB position papers. International Baccalaureate Organization, 21 Feb, 2013. Web. 31 Jan. 2014.

Crace, John. "Jude Carroll: Original Thinker." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 26 Apr. 2005. Web. 16 Mar. 2014.

Davis, Stephen F., Patrick F. Drinan, and Tricia Bertram Gallant. Cheating in School: What We Know and What We Can Do. Chichester, U.K.: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009. Print.

Garza, Celina. Academic Honesty Workshop. Proc. of IBAP Regional Conference 2014, Singapore, International Baccalaureate Organization, 2014.

“ICAI | The International Center for Academic Integrity.” ICAI, 2014. Web. 15 Mar 2014.

Josephson, Michael. "CHARACTER COUNTS!" Josephson Institute of Ethics, 20 Nov. 2012. Web. 15 Mar. 2014.

Nicolson, Malcolm, Personal Interview, 28 Aug, 2013.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Dir. Rupert Wyatt. Perf. James Franco, Andy Serkis, Freida Pinto. 20th Century Fox, 2011.

“SEE | The School for Ethical Education.” SEE, 2014. Wed 09 Mar 2014.

Skaar, Havard, and Hugo Hammer. "Why Students Plagiarise from the Internet."International Journal for Educational Integrity. APFEI, Dec. 2013. Web. 31 Jan. 2014.

Stephens, Jason M and Nicholson, Heather, Cases of Incongruity: Exploring the Divide between Adolescents' Beliefs and Behavior Related to Academic Dishonesty, Educational Studies, v34 n4 p361-376, Oct 2008.

Works Cited

Asia Pacific Forum for Educational Integrity

Cheating in School: What We Know and What We Can Doby Davis, Drinan, and Bertrand Gallant

The School for Ethical Education

The International Center for Academic Integrity

blogs.ibo.orgJude Carroll

occ.ibo.orgAcademic Honesty Policy

In the past 15 or 20 years, we see an emerging academic discipline:

Educational Psychologists and others are studying academic integrity, cheating or dishonesty, educational ethics, etc.

Some questions they ask:

Is plagiarism or cheating a significant problem?

The IBO’s position paper states (without evidence):

“Almost all learners behave honestly but a few do not.” (Carroll, 2012, p.1).

How can we measure whether students are copying from the internet, plagiarizing, etc?

● Alfie Kohn suggests a revolutionary new method . . . .

Josephson Institute (2012) interviews more than 20,000 High School students every two years:

○ 32% of students self-report copying and pasting from the internet for a school assignment;

○ 51% of students self-report cheating on a test.

Håvard Skaar and Hugo Hammer from Oslo and Akershus University College, Norway (2013)

● investigate secondary school students' plagiarism of internet sources in essay writing:

○ 75% of students reported plagiarising from online

sources;

○ plagiarism accounted for 25% of the total amount of text.

There are many similar studies. There is an overwhelming consensus that:

● cheating or academic misconduct is a significant problem;

● the issues involving cheating or dishonesty (including the methods) are more complex because of the internet;

● there is currently a disconnect in the attitudes between educators and students.

Håvard Skaar and Hugo Hammer from Oslo and Akershus University College, Norway (2013)

● ask: what factors correlate to incidence of plagiarism?

○ grades (better grades, less plagiarism)○ explicit education about plagiarism and methods of

citation (more education, less plagiarism)○ bibliography (papers with a proper bibliography are

significantly less likely to contain plagiarism)

● no significant correlation for gender

As educators, two of these three factors are within our control:Explicitly teaching students about academic honesty, methods of citation, and ESPECIALLY about how to write a proper bibliography (in timetabled lessons) is likely to reduce the frequency of plagiarism.

What causes students to cheat?

Jason M. Stephens (2008), Associate Professor of Educational Psychology at UConn, has classified the reasons into four categories:

● under-interested● under pressure● unable● unrepentant

How deeply rooted is the problem?

the problem is deep-rooted:

From ACADEMIC HONESTY to EDUCATIONAL INTEGRITY

Naughties (00s):

Academic Honesty

A few students plagiarized

Plagiarism was deliberate

Using plagiarism-detection systems

Focus on text

Blame on students

Reactive punishments

Addressed to the individual

Honesty is assumed as the norm

Tens (2010s)

Educational Integrity

Many students are plagiarizing

Plagiarism is often unintentional

The systems must be scrutinized

Art, images, collusion, etc.

Blame on teachers and schools

Proactive lessons

Addressed to the School Community

Honesty is consciously developed

The past ten years:From Academic Honesty to Educational Integrity

Educational Integrity

Does a school honor its contracts and commitments?

Do kids cheat or bully on the playground?

Are teachers hired with honest promises?

Does the school have policies to reduce conflict of interests?

Are promotions and interviews conducted ethically?

Is the school’s budget transparent?

Do teachers cut and paste images from the web into their PPTs?

Gary Pavela (ICAI, 2014) has identified 4 stages of Institutional Development

Stage One: "Primitive"no policy or procedures (or minimalist)

Stage Two: "Radar Screen"early efforts: public debate and concerns

Stage Three: "Mature"policies and procedures known and supported

Stage Four: "Honor Code"heuristic: awareness as an institution

Task:

Academic Honesty Checklistfor international schools

For each descriptor, mark it:

3 = Absolutely 2 = Mostly 1 = Partially 0 = Not at all

Our school has an Academic Honesty Committee

Our school has a clearly articulated Academic Honesty policy

Our Academic Honesty policy is transparent and easily available

Our Academic Honesty policy clearly outlines the rights and responsibilities of younger students, older students, teachers, and school leaders

Staff training time is set aside for Academic Honesty

Lessons are set aside for students to learn Academic Honesty

Students and teachers are taught the technology tools for AH in the Digital Age, such as online bibliographies, plagiarism detection services, search engines, image editing, etc.

Our Academic Honesty policy emphasizes prevention over punishment

Our policy goes relates academic honesty to greater issues of honesty, such as the Learner Profile attributes

Our Academic Honesty policy clearly defines the procedures for a suspected case of dishonesty

There is a committee or a panel of judges to adjudicate cases of suspected dishonesty

There is a process in place for the review and revision of the Academic Honesty policy, either every year or every other year

Our teachers are well aware of our AH policy and they actively support it

Our students are well aware of our AH policy and they actively support it

Our parents are well aware of our AH policy and they actively support it

What evidence is there?

“We investigate hundreds of cases of academic dishonesty each year, and in the majority of cases the problem is that the student was not intending to cheat, but that they were never taught properly in terms of ATL skills. For example, the student was poorly taught how to cite, how to write a bibliography, how to reference a work of art, etc.”

Malcolm Nicolson (2013), Head of Development for the IBDP

a story

a task

which age group is closest to your heart?primary years?middle years?high school years?

divide into groups of 3 - 4, based on the answer

develop three important methods for teaching (academic) honesty to students in our schools

WRITE each point in 140 characters or less

contribute those 1 - 4 points to: todaysmeet.com/TAISI ORtwitter #taisi14

Summary of IB Position Paper(Jude Carroll, 2012)

● Support learners ○ most important lesson: students need help in this area

● Policies and procedures need to be especially clear○ to teachers, too, if plagiarism or collusion is suspected

● Learners need to develop specific skills○ technology and timetabled lessons

● Schools should provide detailed guidance to learners○ MLA, useful sites, etc.

● Create a local academic honesty policy○ involve teachers and parents

In the Primary Years

● Essential Agreements○ most important lesson: students need help in this area

● Relate to Learner Profile

● Involve Parents

● Age Appropriate Measures○ promote understanding, not fear

● Teacher training and Modeling

In the Middle Years

● 21st century Skills○ Research Skills, Bibliography, Citations, etc.○ Thinking Skills: is this really your idea?○ Communication Skills○ Social Skills

● Early Awareness and Understanding of Consequences, with increasing stakes

● Specific tasks and lessons, including task-specific clarifications that include referencing in the rubric

● Paraphrasing and active discussions of spiraling complexity

● More teacher training and Technology Tools

Twelve Skills for Teachers and Students

1. Writing a Bibliography using the school’s suggested format2. Writing Citations onto Images3. Explaining Sources in a Presentation4. Using Headings in a Word Processor5. Using the Research Tool in Google Docs or the References

Tab in Microsoft Word6. Paraphrasing and Summarizing7. Using the Creative Commons Search Engine8. Using “Reverse Image Search” in Google9. Distinguishing between Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary

sources10. Publishing a document with an Open Source License, such as

cc-by-sa 3.011. Parenthetical Citations, including Page number12. Mastering unusual citations, such as films, interviews, lectures,

class discussions, etc.

In the High School

● Very clear assignments

● Focus on process

● Very clear procedures and definitions, including technical terms: collusion, malpractice, etc.

● Guarded use of plagiarism detection services○ teach students to submit

● Scoratic discussions, e.g.: What is Art?

● Signed pledge

● Clear processes, including specific roles of teachers, librarian, EE Coordinator, Program Coordinator, etc.

Focus on ProcessRecommendation for Research Papers

● community involvement, including teachers● the IB definitions of plagiarism, collusion and the duplication of work● appropriate reference to the IB learner profile● guidance on the distinction between legitimate collaboration and

unacceptable collusion● information on what action will be taken by the IB if a candidate is

suspected of malpractice and subsequently found guilty● an extract from the provisions of the Regulations relating to

malpractice.● a link should lead the reader to the IBO AH policy

● clearly defined processes: step-by-step: what will happen if academic misconduct is suspected?

● teachers must know what to do if they suspect plagiarism● up to the school, but be clear: missed deadlines? rewrites? etc.● clearly defined roles and responsibilities

● e.g. who will check the turnitin report? what to do if there is a problem?

● rights of the student: due process and an appeals process● which referencing style

IB Category 3 Workshop:Academic Honesty

● Recommended for someone from your school● Lots of information about:

○ how the IB investigates Academic Misconduct○ what is considered plagiarism○ the “Naughty List”○ the legal team in Geneva and paper mills

● Celina Garza, Academic Honesty Manager, Cardiff● increasing transparency from the IB● how to write your Academic Honesty Policy

IB Cases of Academic Misconduct, source: IB Workshop on Academic Honesty

Common Mistakes by Students

● copy and paste● overdependence on the internet● not citing unusual sources, such as lecture notes● not understanding “collusion”● thinking about “not getting caught”● doing Bibliography last minute● saying mentally “I will cite that later”● not using the Bibliography Database and other Word Processor

tools● thinking a URL is a reference● inflating their Bibliographies, or not proofreading them

Common Mistakes by Teachers and Librarians

● focus on punishing dishonesty instead of promoting honesty

● assuming children understand right and wrong● oversimplifying the complexity of citing in the digital age● the same mistakes students make, especially thinking

about “not getting caught”● not using the tools properly● not enough professional development in this area● overdependence on turnitin● misreading turnitin

● Absolutely! International schools, with vigilance, and discussions like these, create best pre-Univ preparation on this issue.

For example, the IB publishes statistics on AH:

● Of 142,00 candidates, we still have only 1200 cases -- that includes cases that were dismissed or “not guilty”.

Is there any good news?

Final words

● Please support students and be compassionate towards young learners

● Academic Honesty addresses issues of how we construct knowledge

● Understanding referencing, construction of knowledge, intellectual property, copyright law, etc. is complicated

The Sydney Opera House does not allow photographers to use its image. This photo is from a Picasa site which seems to belong to someone named Zakia Karmal. I assume she is the girl in the photograph, but maybe not -- maybe she is the photographer, or the person who owns the camera, or the person who owns the boat, or the person who hired the boat and the photographer. Copyright law is complicated. As long as she is not using the photograph for “commercial purposes,” SOH won’t sue her , but if her photograph gets a million hits, and she becomes famous . . . .

Writer Sheila Skillman and her Family

scskillman.com

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Activity 1:

In your groups of six:

Take the handout, a “term paper” by a student named Orlov.

For each of the 15 arrows, determine whether the student is correct, or incorrect, and give a reason.

Enter your decision and your reason into the Google Doc:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1c-TYw9DMv0mBj9Vj0v7GpyjDCIlA_9o4JoX08084Sx8/viewform

Secondary Objectives:

● Tips about specific skills to promote Academic Honesty for teachers and students

● Distinguish between citations, references, Bibliography, Works Cited, etc.

● Conversation about Wikipedia● Gain skills in common applications, such as Microsoft Word

or Google Docs

Scott Adams: Dilbertwww.dilbert.com

Activities

1. Learn how to use Headings, Contents, the Bibliography Database and referencing tools in Microsoft Word

2. Learn how to write a citation directly onto a jpeg using a web-based photo-editor

3. Learn how to correct common errors when using MLA to write in-text citations

4. Learn how to use the CC search engine and similar tools to find resources in the public domain

5. Learn how to embed an image directly into your presentation without downloading or fussing with image files

We may also discuss:

1. Setting up a Google Accounts for Education account for your school2. Setting up a diigo or Pocket account for your school

Adams, Scott. Dilbert and the Way of the Weasel. New York: Harper,2002. Print.

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Wikipedia

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