ACADEMIC HONESTY Role of Teachers 14th March, 2016 Zakir Hossain

Snapshot Academic Honesty Academic Dishonesty Why do students cheat/ become dishonest? Signs of Plagiarism Strategies for cheating prevention Special circumstances @ Group Work Don’t do these things - Expert Advice 3

Honesty Trust Fairness Respect Courage Responsibility Academic Honesty? Academic honesty is a ‘code of conduct’ that consists of six values- Honesty Trust Fairness Respect Courage Responsibility ©International Centre for Academic Integrity Being an educator it’s our responsibility to build these qualities to students. 3

Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to: Plagiarism in Papers & Assignments Unauthorized Communication during Assessments Misrepresenting Academic Accomplishments Collusion Hoarding or Damaging Library Materials Forging a Signature 3

Why do students cheat/ become dishonest? • Pressure to earn a higher GRADE • Competition for graduate schools & jobs • Culture of cut-up (file sharing, Google research, cut and paste creativity) • Course content not important • “I’m busy,” “The course is hard,” “I’m falling behind” are not as important! Thomas, David (2005). Encouraging Academic Honesty Toolkit 3

Signs of Cheating/Plagiarism Some possible signs of cheating include: • Odd or mixed formatting/Language • Lack of bibliography • In-text & Bibliographic citations variation • Significant difference in quality between assignments • Lack of information from course—facts, sources, concepts, etc. • Paper submitted in HTML format 1. (could be indicative of cut and paste) Thomas, David (2005). Encouraging Academic Honesty Toolkit 3

Strategies for cheating/plagiarism prevention 1. Reducing Pressures that Encourage Cheating 2. Assuring Fairness & Integrity of an Examination 3. Making Syllabus Clear 4. Link Assignment Grading 5. Teach to Cite & Model Citation 6. Advertise Detection Resources & Case History There are a number of key things that you can do to make your tests more resistant to cheating. For example: Who was the first president of the U.S? Ask: Why is George Washington important? 4. Use Citation Assignments 3

Special Circumstances @ Group Work Clarity Individual or group works? What will evaluate product or process or both? Graded for team work or for outcome? Structure Configure the assignment so that each student has a particular role to play and product to create Observation If possible Self-assessment Ask group members fill out a form of their individual contribution Follow-up assessment Quiz students 3

Don’t do these things Only one version of a test Use the same version of the test across semesters Provide different due dates for students Different review dates for test answers Use assessments that focuses on facts Have closed book tests 3

References Josephson, Michael and Melissa Mertz (2004). Changing Cheaters: Promoting Integrity and Preventing Academic Dishonesty, Josephson Institute of Ethics. CHARACTER COUNTS! Retrieved from http://www.westga.edu/~jhasbun/Promoting_Integrity.pdf Thomas, David (2005). Encouraging Academic Honesty Toolkit. Retrieved from http://www.ucdenver.edu/faculty_staff/faculty/center-for-faculty-development/Documents/academic_honesty.pdf

Q & A Thank You

1. Reducing Pressures that Encourage Cheating Ensure your expectations are reasonable Establish clear grading criteria (consider rubrics) Do not change grading criteria once the assignments/tests are turned in Make sure it is explicitly clear what students will be tested on Base the course grade on multiple assessments Make sure students have reasonably enough time to complete the assignment Accept valid excuses for late assignments and absences Do not by any means let cheating become an accepted norm ©Donelson R. Forsyth of Virginia Commonwealth University (2002). 3

2. Assuring Fairness & Integrity of an Examination Before a test Day of a test Access to Information Room set-up Access to Old/New Exams Seat assignments Alternate Versions Prohibit all extraneous items Open-ended Questions Hand Check & Desk Check Modify Former Questions Acknowledgment Open book test Clear marks when grading Josephson, Michael and Melissa Mertz (2004). 3

3. Making Syllabus Clear Be sure your syllabus answer the following questions: • Why does academic honesty matter? • What is cheating? • What is plagiarism? • What are the expectations of the School? • What are the expectations for this class? • What are the consequences? • What will you do in this class to detect cheating? Thomas, David (2005). Encouraging Academic Honesty Toolkit 3