THE CROSS PAPERS – 12 MARCH 2009 ACADEMIC INTEGRITY IN A MULTICULTURAL CONTEXT: IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING Carol A. Jenkins, PhD 2009 Cross Papers Fellow Glendale (AZ) Community College A Maricopa County Community College

PRESENTATION OUTCOMES: Plagiarism: a socio-cultural or academic phenomenon? Understanding cross-cultural assumptions Strengthening academic integrity Recognizing “culturally variant logic” Strategizing for multicultural students

PLAGIARISM DEFINED Who owns knowledge? What constitutes intellectual (dis)honesty? What role does culture play in defining academic integrity?

WHY DO STUDENTS PLAGIARIZE? Intentional deception (fraud) Unintentional misuse

WHY DO STUDENTS PLAGIARIZE? Intentional deception (fraud) Unintentional misuse students in general multicultural students

ENHANCING MULTICULTURAL STUDENT SUCCESS Pedagogies can be strengthened by Identifying multicultural variables Understanding learning styles Acknowledging culturally variant logic Revisiting assignment design

MULTICULTURAL STUDENT LEARNING: Key predictors of academic success Individual factors Contextual factors

ENHANCING MULTICULTURAL ACADEMIC SUCCESS Learning Styles Multiple intelligences Authentic learning Collaborative group work To what extent do these approaches reflect Anglo-European assumptions?

ENHANCING MULTICULTURAL ACADEMIC SUCCESS Culturally Influenced Rhetorical Styles Korea: encouraged to imitate rather than create China: taught copying viewed as legitimate and showing respect for the original author Japan: taught group solidarity and collaboration Mexico: motivated to share homework and answers

ENHANCING MULTICULTURAL ACADEMIC SUCCESS Culturally Influenced Rhetorical Styles When multicultural students adhere to their own culture-specific reasoning and writing norms, why does their work tend to be viewed as intentioned intellectual dishonesty rather than a reflection of differing cultural norms and prior socialization?

ENHANCING MULTICULTURAL ACADEMIC SUCCESS Doing critical analysis involves Western behaviors. Culturally influenced rhetorical styles Strategies: Instruct students that the writing process in English involves a set of assumptions different from those with which they are accustomed. When it is important that the direct English style is used, its standards should be clearly stated.

TOWARD A MORE CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE PEDAGOGY Culturally Responsive Teachers: “Highly effective teachers do not just teach well-designed lectures; they know how and why their students learn. They also are aware of socio-cultural differences.” (Sachs, 2004)

TOWARD A MORE CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE PEDAGOGY Learner-centered Instruction Pays careful attention to the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and beliefs learners bring to the educational setting Recognizes the importance of building on that conceptual and cultural knowledge

TOWARD A MORE CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE PEDAGOGY Preventing Plagiarism “That which appears as plagiarism may indeed be simply a reflection of systems of logic and manners of cognifying that have evolved out of the historical development, cultural institutions, and philosophical traditions of a people.” (Bowman, 2004; Youmans and Evans,2000; Brown, 1998)

RESPONDING TO PLAGIARISM Plagiarism As A Disciplinary Issue (Intended fraud) Strategies: Deal with plagiarism swiftly and directly within established Institutional guidelines Develop effective deterrents

RESPONDING TO PLAGIARISM Plagiarism As An Unintended or Culture-bound Offense: Strategies: “Deal with unintended or culture-bound offenses as issues of pedagogy, not as issues of morality.” (Howard, 2000)

RESPONDING TO PLAGIARISM Strategies: Do not give up standards of academic integrity. Recognize that learning how to write is difficult for many students and especially stressful for second-language learners. Consider differences in intellectual traditions. Enable students to successfully transition reasoning and writing skills.

RESPONDING TO PLAGIARISM Strategy: Rather than focusing on catching and punishing – provide genuine opportunities for multi-cultural students to learn appropriate academic conventions and the rationales behind them.

RESPONDING TO PLAGIARISM Preventing Plagiarism Strategies: Effective prevention makes detection unnecessary. Create a climate of involvement and interest, rather than of detection and punishment. (University of Melbourne, 2002)

“If community colleges continue to open their doors to students of the world, those teaching in these academic settings have a moral obligation to meet students where they are intellectually, without being condescending, ethnocentric or hegemonous.” Jenkins, 2009)

Comments or Questions contact carol.jenkins@gcmail.maricopa.edu