1. Language, Culture and Academic Honesty
Mara Bordignon
Seneca Libraries

2. Outline Causes Support (Resources) Strategies Exercises March, 2011
©Seneca Libraries, Mara Bordignon

3. Learning Outcomes
Identify causes associated with academic honesty and plagiarism
Locate and properly utilize Seneca Libraries citation resources and style guides
Implement plagiarism-avoiding strategies into curriculum planning and assignment building

4. CAUSES: Why?
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5. Growing Up Online: Online Cheating (Films on Demand 1:12min)
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6. Examples of plagiarism
March, 2011
Examples of plagiarism
SBSAC: lab work done in groups lead to falsifying data; lead to the adoption of the AH tutorial for science students (in collaboration with SY library).
GRA: students inadvertently posting confidential information on facebook resulting in dismissal as an example of what is “acceptable”, or they could get away with in college, is not tolerated in the workplace.
Oh oh … at Seneca!
©Seneca Libraries, Mara Bordignon

7. Reasons for “Cheating”
Higher grades
Avoiding failure
Higher when marked on a bell curve
Perceived low risk of getting caught
Unaware of rules ... broken inadvertently… ignorance of what defines “plagiarism”
Culture of AH tolerated or punishments minimal
Pressure to compete with peers
(Canadian Council of Learning)

8. “while maintaining an awareness of cultural predispositions on the part of multilingual students, we must be careful how we interpret the behaviour”
(Sowden)

9. Cultural Differences China & Japan: “Communal ownership of knowledge”
China: “good students do not challenge their teachers or other authorities, but faithfully copy and reproduce them”
Asia: “achieving group consensus is more important than demonstrating one’s own understanding and abilities”
(Sowden)
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10. SUPPORT:
Resources
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11. Seneca College 2010-2011 Academic Policy

12. Section 9: Academic Honesty
9.1 Academic Honesty Offenses
9.2 Plagiarism
9.3 Penalties
9.4 College Copyright Policy

13. Appendix E: Academic Honesty Offences: Procedures for Enforcement
19 descriptions/examples of offences

14. Appendix G: Examination Procedures
Forms: Academic Honesty, Appeals Request

15. Suspected offence committed No offence committed; no record kept
Student meets with professor/coordinator
Students can appeal decisions
professor/coordinator record incident, with evidence attached, on an "Academic Honesty Report“ (both parties should fill in AH forms)
Completed forms will go to the Academic Honesty Committee (One for each School/Faculty)
Offence as a comment on Student’s Academic Record (can be appealed); decision given in writing

16. Seneca Libraries: Information for faculty website

17. Getting to SPARK through mySeneca
Modules are located in the “SPARK E-Learning Modules” organization on MySeneca.
Just look in your “My Organizations Plus” or contact us to be added:

18. SPARK eLearning modules: Reacquaint Yourself with MLA
SPARK eLearning modules: Reacquaint Yourself with MLA

19. SPARK eLearning modules: The latest in APA
SPARK eLearning modules: The latest in APA

20. SafeAssign
SafeAssign Manual (for myseneca): ca/faculty/tools/safeassign.html

21. STRATEGIES: Solutions
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22. SPARK eLiteracy: Building Better Assignments
SPARK eLiteracy: Building Better Assignments

23. Assignment solutions:
break large assignments into smaller ones
submit drafts of their work
(Canadian Council of Learning)
collect an annotated bibliography before the submission is due
progress reports or submit research in stages, e.g. outlines, drafts, research notes
(Richard)
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24. Assignment solutions:
Students to supply photocopies of any references used as part of an appendix:
Some suggestions...
for articles, citation and first page
for books, bibliographic record from library catalogue and/or verso and table of contents
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25. Assessment solutions:
give supervised on-site or interactive video finals that make up a large percentage of students' final grades;
change assignments and tests each semester;
give personalized assignments;
use verification software (SafeAssign); and
give open-book exams that require the practical application of knowledge.
(Canadian Council of Learning)

26. Assessment solutions:
oral presentations
assess work produced in class, possibly with preparation allowed beforehand
students make brief presentation to the class based on their written assignments
(Richard)

27. Works Cited (MLA)
Canadian Council of Learning. “Liars, fraudsters and cheats: Dealing with the growth of academic dishonesty.” July 7, Web. 10 Feb Link James, Richard, Craig McInnis, and Marcia Devlin. “36 Strategies to Minimise Plagiarism.” Centre for the Study ofHigher Education. Australian Universities Teaching Committee, Web. 6 Feb Leask, Betty. “Plagiarism, Cultural Diversity and Metaphor: Implications for Academic Staff Development.” Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education 31.2 (2006): Academic Search Premier. Web. 4 Feb Sowden, Colin. “Plagiarism and the Culture of Multilingual Students in Higher Education Abroad.” ELT Journal 59.3 (2005): ERIC. Web. 18 Feb

28. Exercises
Can you paraphrase?
MLA citation example

29. Need Help? Just hang on…
Contact Info…
IM (Mara’s Subject Guides)
Phone
ext. 3153
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30. Additional Content Based on Feedback from Participants
Thank you for your suggestions!

31. Student & faculty beliefs about acts of Academic Honesty
Table source: Canadian Council of Learning; Original source: From: Hughes, J.M.C. & McCabe, D.L. (2006). Academic misconduct within higher education in Canada . Canadian Journal of Higher Education, 36(2), 1-21.

32. Tips for structuring assignments which have a research component:
Structure assignments that promote higher level thinking
Emphasize the importance of Academic Honesty … in subject outlines, assignment/projects, verbally in class, in your myseneca subject page … every opportunity in your interaction with students!
Ensure Seneca Libraries has the required resources to support your subject.
Clearly direct students to appropriate resources.
If necessary request a library session customized to the research needs of your assignment and/or talk to a librarian for other options.
Place material that will be in high demand on reserve or create an online course readings list.
Build manageable ‘steps’ into research-based assignments.
For more specific examples, please refer to: