Transcript PowerPoint Presentation - Creating a Climate of Academic

Promoting Academic Integrity
at UC Davis
Office of Student Judicial Affairs
© 2006
7/7/2015
University of California, Davis
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Topics Covered
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Why are students cheating?
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Defining academic integrity
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Preventing & detecting cheating
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The UC Davis student discipline system
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SJA statistics
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Next steps/resources
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What Is Going On In College
Classrooms: an epidemic of cheating?
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At most colleges, over 75% of students admit
cheating on tests or written assignments
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Test cheating, plagiarism, and unauthorized
collaboration have increased significantly
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Students see many cheating behaviors as less
serious than do faculty
Source: Center for Academic Integrity
http://www.academicintegrity.org/cai_research.asp
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Influencing Ethical Choices
Key factors in a student’s decision to cheat:
* perceived ease/safety of cheating
* absence of pleasure in learning
* belief that peers accept cheating
Students can be influenced by attitudes and behavior
of their peers and faculty, the existence of clear rules
that are consistently enforced with meaningful
sanctions… and honor codes
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What is Academic Integrity?
Academic integrity is a positive ideal, not a
list of “don’ts”:
Students and faculty seeking knowledge
honestly , fairly , with mutual respect
and trust , and accepting responsibility
for their actions and the consequences
of those actions.
Center for Academic Integrity “Fundamental Values of Academic Integrity Project”
http://www.academicintegrity.org/fundamental.asp
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The Fundamental Values of
Academic Integrity
Honesty, Trust, Fairness, Respect and
Responsibility
“To be most rewarding, teaching and learning demand
active engagement and mutual respect. Students and
faculty must respect themselves and each other as
individuals, not just as a means to an end. They must
also respect themselves and each other …[to extend] their
boundaries of knowledge, [to test] new skills, [to build]
upon success, and [to learn] from failure.”
Center for Academic Integrity "Fundamental Values Project”
http://www.academicintegrity.org/fundamental.asp
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Why Care About Academic Integrity?
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Students don’t learn in a climate of dishonesty
and unfairness, and they cheat more when
faculty do nothing
Academic integrity enhances the quality
of education (teaching as well as learning)
Academic integrity is critical to the learning
process; honest work builds knowledge, skills,
and self-esteem
Cheating and plagiarism give an unfair “edge,”
de-valuing honest work
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An Honor Code Tradition
Beginning in 1911, UC Davis had a traditional
student-run honor code for over 60 years. In the
early 1970s, dissatisfaction triggered campus-wide
debate and a proposal to do away with the code
The California Aggie, February 8, 1974
UC Davis faculty and students acted together to
address the concerns and preserve this tradition
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Building on Tradition
The UC Davis Code of Academic Conduct, adopted
in 1976, is a “modified” honor code
The Code places shared responsibility for
academic integrity on all members of our
community -- students, faculty & administration
Under the Code, SJA administers the discipline
system for suspected academic misconduct cases
Research suggests that academic honor codes can
significantly reduce cheating -- even modified
honor codes at large public institutions
See Center for Academic Integrity http://www.academicintegrity.org/cai.research.asp
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The Campus Judicial
Board

The Campus Judicial Board (CJB) was
created in 1976 as part of the Code of
Academic Conduct

Student members of the CJB serve with
faculty on hearing panels to decide cases of
suspected academic misconduct
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Student CJB members promote academic
integrity through educational outreach
programs for the campus community
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Academic Integrity Standards
Responsibilities of students include:
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“Be honest at all times” and “act fairly toward others”
“Take group as well as individual responsibility for
honorable behavior. … Report acts of misconduct which
you witness”
Responsibilities of faculty include:
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Encourage honesty and integrity in students
Inform students of scholarship/conduct standards
Use test formats that discourage cheating
Report all alleged violations to SJA & tell students how to
make reports
-- UC Davis “Code of Academic Conduct”
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Honesty and Fairness:
Keys to Academic Integrity
The UC Davis Code of Academic Conduct covers
both deliberate dishonesty and “negligent” acts
that impair academic goals (e.g., talking during an
exam)
The Code requires fairness as well as honesty -both are critical to the learning process
By focusing on our educational purposes, we
avoid being sidetracked by issues of motive,
intent, culture, or past practice
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Promoting Academic Integrity
in Class

Highlight campus standards of academic
integrity in syllabus & class discussions
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Enlist students’ help in creating a climate of
integrity in the classroom
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Inspire, encourage, and model integrity
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Set clear standards for assignments and grading,
and define rules for citation and collaboration
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Academic Integrity Standards:
Examples of Academic Dishonesty
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Copying or sharing answers during exams
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Plagiarism (deliberate)
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Altering & resubmitting graded work for
credit
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Stealing others’ work
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Providing false information or excuses
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Falsifying data
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Academic Integrity Standards:
Examples of Academic Misconduct
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talking or “wandering eyes” during exams
having notes or other unauthorized materials
visible during exam
failing to quote or cite sources properly
unauthorized collaboration
other behavior that undermines learning and
teaching (e.g., leaving exam without
permission, working after time is called)
Even if not dishonest, these acts of academic
misconduct impair educational goals, violate course
rules, and/or disrupt class
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Strategies for Preventing
and Detecting Cheating

Have students sign an honor statement that
their work is their own, that it is honest, and
that they have taken no unfair advantage
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Monitor exams to deter and confront cheating
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Prohibit use of unauthorized electronic or other
equipment or notes
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Use test formats that discourage copying and
cheating (essay or open book, thought
problems, alternate seating, multiple test
versions)
-- SJA “Tips to Prevent
Cheating”
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Preventing/Detecting Cheating
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Require students to show their work & refuse
credit for unsupported/unexplained answers
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Require written excuses for make-ups or
extensions, and check authenticity
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Ask students to sit apart from friends during
exams and to cover their work
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Photocopy [or scan] all tests or a sampling of
tests before returning to students
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Clearly mark blank spaces/wrong answers in ink
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Avoiding Plagiarism: Standards
for Citing Sources at UC Davis
Plagiarism is defined as
“Using another’s work without giving
credit. You must put others’ words in
quotation marks and cite your source,
and must give citations when using
others’ ideas, even if paraphrased in
your own words.”
--SJA “Avoiding Plagiarism: Mastering the Art of Scholarship”
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Mastering the Art of Scholarship:
Learning to Cite Sources
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The focus is on learning – the issue is whether the
behavior (e.g., copying, failing to cite sources)
impairs the educational value of the assignment
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Motives, intent, culture, and past practice are not
the issue -- fairness and quality of the educational
experience are key
Example: Even if a student who fails to cite
sources does not intend to deceive or take an unfair
advantage, she needs to learn how to cite and quote
properly, including from Internet sources
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Preventing and
Detecting
Plagiarism
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Require individualized topic selection and
research; don’t allow late topic changes
Have students turn in all stages of work (topic
statements, outlines, notes, rough drafts,
resource lists, final papers, along with copies
of web/paper sources used)
Require students to present their work orally in
class, and to answer questions about their projects
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More on Preventing Plagiarism
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Use software programs for comparing text
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Define plagiarism and rules for proper citation,
and teach students how to cite sources
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Explain how to paraphrase, how to incorporate
quotes or facts from sources, and how to deal with
‘common knowledge’
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Discuss why plagiarism is unfair to all, and how it
undermines the development of thinking and
writing skills
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Help students build confidence in their own
abilities, providing positive feedback
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What’s Wrong With Copying?
“In my culture, copying is an honor!”
Avoiding the cultural relativism trap …
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Reproducing another’s work and passing it off
for credit as one’s own is not honorable in
any culture
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Regardless of cultural acceptance, copying
defeats the educational goals and purposes
of the assignment
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About Internet Plagiarism
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Some Internet misuse is unintentional, caused
by confusion about citation rules, sloppy
research or careless copying and ‘pasting’
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Other misuse is intentional: buying a paper online, downloading & using a paper from a
website, copying a published article
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Make sure your students know that inserting text,
diagrams, pictures or graphics from Internet
sources without citation is plagiarism
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Preventing & Detecting
Internet Plagiarism
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Use “low-tech” good-teaching practices
Explain that websites vary in quality and
credibility -- and often change without notice
Have students submit electronic copies of
papers
Use “Google” or other search engines to find
key words
Use free software for searching Internet and/or
comparing student papers -- for example:
http://www.pairwise.cits.ucsb.edu/
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Academic Integrity Standards
Unauthorized Collaboration defined:
“Working with others without the specific
permission of the instructor on assignments that
will be submitted for a grade. This rule applies to
in-class or take-home tests, papers, labs, or
homework assignments. Students may not
collaborate without faculty authorization.”
-- SJA “Unauthorized Collaboration: What Students Need to Know”
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Preventing Unauthorized
Collaboration
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Explain what collaboration is & how, when &
why students may work together in your class
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Lead class discussion about different lessons
learned from individual vs. group work
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Set clear rules, and give examples of acceptable
and unacceptable joint work
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Explain why you have adopted course rules for
permitting or limiting collaboration
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The Student Conduct System
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Student discipline holds students accountable
for academic integrity and conduct standards
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These standards are necessary to uphold the
educational goals of teaching and learning and
to maintain an orderly and safe campus
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Public institutions must provide “due process”
before disciplining students & imposing
sanctions -- the key to due process is fairness
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Student Discipline Procedures
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Students receive notice of the referral and
meet with SJA to discuss the case
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If the student admits responsibility, possible
resolutions are discussed with the student
and the referring faculty member
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Most cases are resolved by agreement with
the student signing a written contract
admitting a violation and accepting sanctions
and educational assignments
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Referring a Student
 If possible, talk to the student before referring to see if
s/he can explain what happened
 Use a non-confrontational approach (don’t accuse or
blame)
 Tell the student you have questions about his/her work
(e.g., the test has answers to a different version of the
exam) and you will refer to SJA
 Use a report form or email
 Check with SJA to see if the student has a prior history
 Contact SJA if you have any questions
-- SJA “Reporting Academic Misconduct”
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2004-05 Academic Cases
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683 academic cases
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Types of violations:
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42% Plagiarism/submitting another’s work as
one’s own
30% Cheating on tests (copying/collaborating, or
using unauthorized materials)
17% Unauthorized assistance on homework
4% Altering exam & submitting for more credit
7% Other (providing false information, stealing
academic work, having ringer take exam)
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683 Academic Cases in 2004-05
(classified by type of suspected violation at time of referral)
Academic Violations by Type 2004-05
Alter Exam & Re-Submit
(28) 4%
Unauthorized Equip Crib
Notes (38) 6%
Prov ide False Inf ormation
(18) 3%
Hav ing Ringer Take Exam
(11) 2%
Other (16) 3%
Plagiarism (290) 42%
Unauthorized Help-Homework (115) 17%
Copy /Share Exam
Answers (24%)
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Referring Faculty
Many faculty are reluctant to deal with cheating, yet research
shows cheating is more prevalent when faculty ignore it
Center for Academic Integrity http://www.academicintegrity.org/cai.research.asp
At UC Davis, faculty DO report academic
misconduct:
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221 faculty, graduate instructors, and TAs referred
academic cases to SJA in 2004-05
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Referrals came from 60 academic departments
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The top ten referring departments (English, ECE,
History, Physics, Psychology, Computer Science, NPB,
Microbiology, Anthropology, and Chemistry) together
accounted for 52% of reports
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Grades and Sanctions
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Under UC Davis Academic Senate Reg. 550, faculty
may assign a grade of F or zero to an exam or paper
if academic misconduct is admitted or determined
by hearing
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First-time violations are usually sanctioned with
Deferred Separation or Probation
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Aggravating factors (e.g., premeditation, conspiracy,
or a prior disciplinary history) may trigger
Dismissal, Suspension, or Delayed Graduation, even
for a first offense
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Why Give Second Chances?
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We want students to learn from mistakes
 Students learn more if they admit & accept
responsibility and understand consequences
 Educational assignments (referral to Learning Skills;
researching and writing a paper; or community
service) improve skills and prevent repeat violations
 Deferred sanctions mean students can be removed
without a formal hearing for a new offense
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More severe sanctions may deter students from
admitting responsibility, as well as deterring
some faculty from reporting cases
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Sanction Definitions
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Probation – Student must demonstrate conduct
conforming to University standards and meet conditions
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Suspension – Student is removed from school for
specified period (noted on transcript)
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Dismissal – Student is removed indefinitely -- Chancellor
must give specific approval for readmission (noted on
transcript)
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Suspensions & Dismissals may be deferred if student waives the
right to a formal hearing for any subsequent violation
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Suspended/Dismissed students may not attend class, use
services, or hold student employment
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2004-05 Academic Outcomes
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633 Academic cases resolved
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93% of resolved cases resulted in sanctions
or administrative action
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10% -- (65 students) Suspended or had Graduation
Delayed; 3 students were Dismissed
55% -- Deferred Separation or Probation
14% -- Censure or Warning
13% -- Administrative Notice
7% -- Innocent or Case Dismissed for lack of
evidence
Eight formal hearings – approx. 1% of referrals
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2004-05 Academic Outcomes
Outcomes for Academic Cases 2004-05
Suspension, Delay
of Graduation (65)
10%
Deferred
Separation
(130) 19%
Dismissal
(3) <1%
Pending/Hold on
Registration
(50) 7%
Innocent, Case
Withdrawn
(42) 6%
Administrative
Notice
(84) 12%
Name On File
(21) 3%
Probation
(219) 33%
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Censure
(50) 7%
Warning
(19) 3%
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Summary
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Students, faculty, and SJA all play key
roles in academic integrity and
student discipline

By working together, developing and
using clear policies and fair
procedures, by discussing academic
integrity, and by consistently
enforcing our standards, we uphold
the academic integrity of UC Davis
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Academic Integrity Resources
UC Davis Office of Student Judicial Affairs
752-1128
3200 Dutton Hall
SJA Website: sja.ucdavis.edu
The Center for Academic Integrity
http://www.academicintegrity.org
The Fundamental Values of Academic Integrity
http://www.academicintegrity.org/fundamental.asp
For more information: [email protected]
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