Language, Culture and Academic Honesty Mara Bordignon Seneca Libraries

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

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

CAUSES: Why? Image source: Microsoft Office Clipart

Growing Up Online: Online Cheating (Films on Demand 1:12min) Image source: Microsoft Office Clipart

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

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)

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

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) Image source: Microsoft Office Clipart

SUPPORT: Resources Image source: Microsoft Office Clipart

Seneca College 2010-2011 Academic Policy http://www.senecac.on.ca/academic-policy/

Section 9: Academic Honesty http://www.senecac.on.ca/academic-policy/acpol-09.html 9.1 Academic Honesty Offenses 9.2 Plagiarism 9.3 Penalties 9.4 College Copyright Policy

Appendix E: Academic Honesty Offences: Procedures for Enforcement http://www.senecac.on.ca/academic-policy/appe.html 19 descriptions/examples of offences

Appendix G: Examination Procedures http://www.senecac.on.ca/academic-policy/appg.html Forms: Academic Honesty, Appeals Request http://www.senecac.on.ca/academic-policy/forms.html

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

Seneca Libraries: Information for faculty website http://library.senecacollege.ca/Faculty/index.html

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: spark@senecac.on.ca.

SPARK eLearning modules: Reacquaint Yourself with MLA http://seneca.libguides.com/spark-mla SPARK eLearning modules: Reacquaint Yourself with MLA

SPARK eLearning modules: The latest in APA http://seneca.libguides.com/spark-apa SPARK eLearning modules: The latest in APA

SafeAssign SafeAssign Manual (for myseneca): https://inside.senecac.on.ca/mysene ca/faculty/tools/safeassign.html

STRATEGIES: Solutions Image source: Microsoft Office Clipart

SPARK eLiteracy: Building Better Assignments http://seneca.libguides.com/spark-eliteracy SPARK eLiteracy: Building Better Assignments

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) Image source: Microsoft Office Clipart

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 Image source: Microsoft Office Clipart

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)

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)

Works Cited (MLA) Canadian Council of Learning. “Liars, fraudsters and cheats: Dealing with the growth of academic dishonesty.” July 7, 2010. Web. 10 Feb. 2011. Link James, Richard, Craig McInnis, and Marcia Devlin. “36 Strategies to Minimise Plagiarism.” Centre for the Study ofHigher Education. Australian Universities Teaching Committee, 2002. Web. 6 Feb. 2009. Leask, Betty. “Plagiarism, Cultural Diversity and Metaphor: Implications for Academic Staff Development.” Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education 31.2 (2006): 183-99. Academic Search Premier. Web. 4 Feb. 2011. Sowden, Colin. “Plagiarism and the Culture of Multilingual Students in Higher Education Abroad.” ELT Journal 59.3 (2005): 226-33. ERIC. Web. 18 Feb. 2011.

Exercises Can you paraphrase? MLA citation example

Need Help? Just hang on… Contact Info… email mara.bordignon@senecac.on.ca IM (Mara’s Subject Guides) Phone 416-491-5050 ext. 3153 Image source: Microsoft Office Clipart

Additional Content Based on Feedback from Participants Thank you for your suggestions!

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.

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: http://seneca.libguides.com/spark-eliteracy