Reflections of Academic Integrity Ambassadors Sources: (1) “Ethics in Academic Work” Student to Student Presentation, Orientation Week, (2) Baetz, M., Nitsch, D., “Student-Led Sessions on Academic Integrity in Orientation: An Innovative Institutional Response to Academic Misconduct” submitted to The Journal of College Orientation and Transition

Introduction Agenda 1)Academic misconduct- What it is 2)Detection 3)Consequences 4)Importance of academic integrity Source:

Topic #1: Academic Misconduct- What It is

Reflection #1 “I told my friends about the different ways someone can be academically dishonest, as some were surprising to me.” (1)How confident are you in knowing what constitutes academic misconduct in your courses? (2)Do you ever discuss academic integrity with your friends? If so, how often and why would this matter? Source: Baetz & Nitsch

Sample Student Responses “I had 6 exams last term and for probably 3 of them cell phones had to be in the front of the room and the other three they said just turn it off and put it in your pocket” “It’s fairly common that people have notes on their cell phone” “University needs to be about trust. You can’t hold the hand of everybody…Seriously how much cheating can you do in 20 minutes (with a cell phone in an exam)?”

Sample Student Responses “ We don’t take a course on how to properly source things. We have documents that we can reference but I don’t think anybody studies them really and knows exactly how to source things. So when you get into a group of people, everybody has different opinions about how to source…we just went with something. We didn’t consult faculty”. “Different teachers have different expectations of what we have to cite”

Sample Student Response “ If you wrote a paper for one course and were going to use parts of it in another, you’d have to source it and ask for the permission from the instructor before…Why do have to ask permission from this prof. if you wrote it? It’s your own work…that’s like an author asking permission from an editor to use his ideas in a different book. It just doesn’t make sense.”

Sample Student Responses “ It’s important for you (faculty) to understand how we (students) feel… no one wants their classmates to cheat because we are all going for the same degree and are all competing against each other for marks …so the faculty needs to know if cheating goes on.” “ I am not affected by any class cheating…my own degree is my own degree and I earned it how I earned it.”

Sample Student Responses “ In terms of test taking, most people would know what is considered academic integrity. It’s more the projects and other things that involve team work that lines get blurred...in some classes they would recommend that we work together especially if we are working on the same case as long as we don’t have overlapping information. But that’s the problem because just by talking and discussing that right there (can result in overlapping information)”

Sample Student Response “ Things are confusing…In first year we were told don’t talk to anyone (on assignments), but then by third year business courses we had a project and we were told to work with other people in discussion…as you mature in the program they have different expectations and then you don’t really know where the line is and you don’t know what constitutes academic misconduct.”

Academic misconduct “Academic misconduct is an act by a student, or by students … which may result in a false evaluation of the student(s), or which represents an attempt to unfairly gain an academic advantage … Whether or not a student intended to commit academic misconduct is not relevant for a finding of academic misconduct.” Source: WLU Undergraduate Academic Calendar,

Types of misconduct Plagiarism – “...the unacknowledged presentation...of the work of others as one’s own...” Cheating – “...involves using, giving, receiving, unauthorized information...” Impersonating another student e.g., using another student’s clicker Source: WLU Undergraduate Academic Calendar,

Types of misconduct Submitting the same piece of work – “...for more than one course without permission..” Falsifying, misrepresenting, forging – “anything including academic record or supporting documents” Buying academic work Unauthorized collaboration Source: WLU Undergraduate Academic Calendar,

Topic #2: DETECTION

Reflection #2 “I know and have seen people cheating… Knowing that the university is trying to do something about this makes me feel better about my school and the integrity of my degree” (1)Have you ever observed another student cheating and if so did you report the student? (2)How is academic misconduct detected in your courses? Source: Baetz & Nitsch

Sample Student Response “ There are many students coming to university thinking they are going to cheat their way through…because of the pressures..from other students, our parents and sometimes if you don’t cheat as the other students then you are at a disadvantage..so it’s like you have to do what you have to do to get in.”

Sample Student Responses “ You get pissed off if you worked so hard and you see someone cheating and they get a higher mark than you.” “I think it’s the students responsibility to report when other students are cheating” “If cheating devalues my education or if it makes my prof feel bad or make the university look bad, then what’s my motivation to report it?”

Detection - technology Turnitin.com – Compares your paper to: other student papers submitted (over 100 million) Internet websites (over 12 billion) Major newspapers/magazines/journals (over 80,000) Source: Facebook groups Google searches Source:

Detection - instructors Professors and teaching assistants can spot plagiarism by comparing your work to: – Previous assignments that you have submitted – Assignments that your classmates have submitted – Itself (e.g,. consistency of style within a single assignment) Source:

Topic #3: CONSEQUENCES

Reflection #3 “ The reality of the consequences …I never really knew that it did happen (here) and that real students experience huge life changes…” (1)What types of “huge life changes” can be the result of academic misconduct? (2)What makes for a “fair” penalty for academic misconduct? Source: Baetz & Nitsch

Sample Student Responses “ It (academic misconduct) goes on your academic record. Your friends might find out and that will affect your reputation.” “As a school we have a certain reputation. If I go out and say I am from Laurier or someone else is from Laurier. It’s the same thing. People see it as one… So if you do something that damages that reputation…they should have harsher penalties…because that reputation is very hard to rebuild”.

Sample Student Response “If I were to get caught and I got a zero on that test and I failed the course…and I had to take another course it would push everything back. I’ve got a job already lined up for September then it wouldn’t happen. That would make a huge difference to my life.”

Sample Student Responses “If there’s an easy opportunity where you can cheat and the risk of getting caught is very small… it would make logical sense to cheat but then again there’s integrity” “ In the (United) States they are way more strict. I had a friend who sourced but didn’t source properly so they actually suspended her…it’s not like she copied it. She just didn’t cite the way that they wanted and unfortunately that goes on her permanent record… on her transcripts”

Consequences At Laurier there are three levels of action depending on severity: 1) Instructor/relevant administrator (e.g., Chair, Program Co-ordinator, Associate Dean, Dean, or designate) 2) Dean of faculty 3) VP: Academic or President Throughout process, students are given the right to defend themselves and appeal the decisions made Source:

Topic #4: IMPORTANCE OF ACADEMIC INTEGRITY

Reflection #4 “Most people don’t see it as being as big an issue or problem as it is. Some students feel that academic misconduct occurs in a vacuum and that the misconduct of others doesn’t reflect as poorly on them as it actually does” (1)Why might some students feel academic misconduct is not a big problem? (2)Who is affected by academic misconduct? Source: Baetz & Nitsch

Sample Student Response “ The bigger issue is not an individual or two individuals cheating and they managed to get higher marks than me…but when it’s widespread… and everyone shares answers…that’s a huge deal because it impacts the bell of that particular exam. So if I was going to get 75 and I got 60 or 65 then that literally impacts me so that’s where I can see it being a problem”.

Sample Student Response “ I am an international student so sometimes my definition (of academic misconduct) is different…and to me some things are not serious and others are. In first year I felt so unaware and later of course I found out it’s big…cheating is wrong obviously”.

Newspaper headlines University uncovers plagiarism bombshell Simon Fraser wants to give failing grades to 47 copycats (National Post, January 7, 2002 p. A1) School shocked by extent of plagiarism case (National Post, January 7, 2002 p. A9) Cheating scandal shocks university (The Record, January 7, 2002, p. D9) Reproduced with permission

Reflection #5 “Different high schools think and deal very differently with academic misconduct. This further emphasizes the need for these sessions so that students are on a level playing field upon entry to Laurier” (1)What ethical issues face universities if high school standards vary? (Consider utilitarianism, rights and justice.) Source: Baetz & Nitsch

Sample Student Response “ My high school was really strict (zero tolerance policies) but the high school down the road was less strict…the students from the other school had higher marks than me…When you come from a high school like that (more strict and lower grades) it affects your career, because then you don’t get to the school you wanted to go to, can’t get the job you wanted and can’t retire at the age you wanted”

Sample Student Responses “ I came from a zero tolerance high school and in comparison to so many of my classmates when I came to Laurier they were just so surprised that I was concerned with academic integrity”. “In my high school, we always had Turnitin.com so I was always used to it… a lot of people didn’t have Turnitin so they really got worried and burned because they didn’t know what plagiarism was.”

Sample Student Response “ The problem with academic integrity is that everyone is trying to make it so black and white but there’s so many factors that come into play in every situation that you can’t put in one hard and fast rule and expect it to work for everybody because each case is different. That’s where everyone gets lost because there’s so much complexity to it…it’s never gonna be fixed, so what’s the point?”

Role of Faculty A faculty “teaching responsibility” is : “to be fair and objective in relations with students and in grading of student assignments” (1)How can faculty ensure fairness in grading? (2)Should there be an award for faculty who are exceptional in promoting academic integrity? Source: Sec Collective Agreement between Wilfrid Laurier University and Wilfrid Laurier University Faculty Association. July 1, 2008 to June 30, 2011

Sample Student Responses “ A lot of professors are hesitant to pursue academic misconduct because it puts them in an awkward place, so then things are often underreported” “When people get confronted (for academic misconduct) they get very defensive so it is very confrontational. It becomes very difficult. It’s like firing someone”.

Final Reflection “Being a responsible, moral and ethical citizen of Laurier, and the community are important to me…taking a more leadership role in the sessions, has reinforced to me that I can make a difference and that everyone helps to set an example for everybody else” (1)Do you feel that you can “make a difference” by helping to “set an example” for other students? Source: Baetz & Nitsch

Sample Student Responses “ There are all sorts of moral issues. For some reason, for myself academic integrity is not as important as some other issues in life. I don’t know why.” “There was this one girl in my high school who never wrote an exam without cheating and always had doctor’s notes so then she always wrote them by herself in a separate room. And now she wants to go to medical school.”

Sample Student Responses “ You absolutely can (set an example) especially for certain assignments. If you don’t cheat and you don’t help others cheat, some people will follow your lead”. “If you have group projects then all of a sudden everyone is collaborating and you are not in the collaboration, you are gonna get a worse mark than everyone else so what do you do? They are not gonna fail the whole class, so you might as well just do it. If everyone else wasn’t doing it, I guess I’d be setting an example.”

Final Message Each of you can be an Academic Integrity Ambassador and positive role model by: (1)Asking for clarification in any class where you are uncertain about what constitutes academic misconduct (2)Encouraging discussion with your friends and classmates about: a) the importance of academic integrity b) the university resources available to encourage academic integrity

Sample Student Response “ For the number one point you have (about asking for clarification) normally you are finishing your assignments at 3 am in the morning. You are really not gonna get a chance to your prof and be like “this is going to be low integrity or misconduct”. It’s difficult to implement a lot of those things, like going to the resources for time management. Realistically, I don’t think people … take advantage of those resources.”

University Resources Your professor / teaching assistant University Calendars ( Learning Services ( Library ( Counselling Services ( Academic Integrity Website (