Getting on the band wagon to safeguard academic integrity
Wednesday 3 July: Conference day one, 12:00pm – 12:30pm parallel session
Venue
Room 5 – 301-G050 Lg Chem
Presenters
Dr Elizabeth Levin
Swinburne University of Technology, Australia
elevin@swin.edu.au
Overview
Academic integrity is the core value of any educational institution. Students want to be rewarded for their efforts and be confident of the value of their qualification, but there are students who use a variety of ways to gain unfair advantage by submitting work that is not their own.
The Issue
Whilst all universities will have policies and procedures relating to academic misconduct, not all universities have holistic programs that ensure students are clear on the university’s expectations, and that teaching staff have a common understanding of the issues relating to academic misconduct (East and Donnelly, 2012). In 2017 a working party was formed to develop a university wide (including Vocational Education, online delivery platforms and off shore campuses) approach to educating students and staff about good academic practice and the consequences of breaches.
The Intended Outcome
The intended outcome of this initiative is that the university community has a shared understanding of what Academic Integrity means at the university, as well as a common, consistent and comprehensive approach to educating its students and supporting teaching academics. The working party had to ensure that:
- policies and procedure are comprehensive and clear;
- students have a clear understanding of what Academic Integrity is, where to seek support and assistance, as well as the consequences of poor practice; and
- teaching staff at all levels understand the various types of academic misconduct, how to identify breaches and how to manage these in a consistent and equitable manner.
This presentation will describe the university’s coordinated approach to ensure that the there is one source of truth for matters relating to Academic Integrity (East and Donnelly, 2012). The pros and cons, as well as the outcomes of this coordinated approach will be presented.
References
East, J. and Donnelly, L. (2012). Taking responsibility for academic integrity: A collaborative teaching and learning design. Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice, 9(3), p.2.
Presentation topic
Academics – Changing Academic Practice
