 |
| https://www.dal.ca/news/2020/04/09/academic-integrity-meme-assignment.html |
\
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY - The meme to the left describes what I believe to be part of the reason our students do not understand the concept of "stealing" someone's work. I see this issue often and not just in the realm of plagiarism, but also in the inability to be create original work. In elementary, students are praised for their effort regardless of the quality of their work. By the time they get to middle school, they have been hard wired to believe that it is all about just turning something in. What does this have to do with the topic of academic integrity? EVERYTHING.
If students are given the impression that effort equals turning something in, then it doesn't matter if what they are turning is their own work. They will copy the answers off of another student thinking nothing about the idea that it isn't their original work because it meets their criteria of effort - just turn something in. When it comes to tests, they have a similar concept of the importance of turning something in only on a test it means giving the right answers. Even when I tell my students that there is no reason to cheat on the quizzes I give because I don't grade them, and they are just for the purpose of data - where are they in their mastery of what skill I am teaching. Yet, at the start of 7th grade, it is a real struggle to get them to stop thinking in that way.
Think of this - if your creativity is not fostered and expected, then it isn't practiced and not seen as valuable. With this mindset, does it matter if it isn't your work? The answer is no. This means that they are not taught the idea of ownership: I created this, and so credit for this original work will be given to me. Moreover: If I copy my classmate's work, it is not my original work and it isn't right that I will be given credit for something that is not mine. In addition, using the word "copying" gives that act a different connotation. It minimizes what the student is really doing: stealing.
Now let's imagine all of this in an online environment where there is a false sense that you are not being watched and not likely to be caught. With such easy access to content available online, it is easy for students to not think of using that content within their own as plagiarism (Sidi et al., 2019). This is especially true for the age group that I teach. Too much is going on for this age group to understand the nuances and the greater consequences. They are just learning how to cite, and are barely learning how to integrate. Many are not yet skilled at paraphrasing - they just replace words. They are a very challenging stage in their learning. They just came from an environment that complimented their work even if not original, and then come to an environment where plagiarism is given a brief lesson. Teachers, online teachers especially, should discuss digital dishonesty (Sidi et al., 2019).
Sidi and al. (2019) discuss ethical dissonance and I had to really think about how that applied to my students. I also did a quick research on the ethical dissonance model (Barkan et al., 2015) and as I understand it there is pre and post dissonance. Experiencing pre ethical dissonance might deter some from actually committing academic dishonesty because of their moral ethics against doing something dishonest. Post ethical dissonance is experiencing that after the fact. Both types can lead to the person, in this case student, to justify the academic dishonesty they engaged in. I made a connection between what Barken and al. (2015) explains as justifying the act to alleviate dissonance, and the statement that Sidi and al. (2019) made concerning minorities and older students experience high levels of dissonance. Minority students are often not prepared for academic rigor and I can see why students would justify academic dishonesty. It saves them from feeling completely inadequate. The remedy proposed by Sidi and al. (2019) to change this issue is exactly what I try to do in my classroom. Move away from traditional and outdated practices that focus on the output and not on the input. If we make the learning more important than the grade, then students would have a different view of an exam. If we (teachers) allow students to redo and retake and give feedback as to how to improve the work that needs to be redone, then the emphasis on the outcome - the grade - no longer has the kind of value that would entice a student to practice academic dishonesty.
To leave on a less serious note, I found an interesting website that showcases memes that were created by Dalhousie University students concerning academic dishonesty (Reeder, 2020). It gave me an idea for a fun project I can do with my students.
References
Barkan, R., Ayal, S., & Ariely, D. (2015). Ethical dissonance, justifications, and moral behavior. Current Opinion in Psychology, 6, 157–161. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2015.08.001
Reeder, M. (2020). When it comes to academic integrity, Dal students really meme it. Dalhousie News. https://www.dal.ca/news/2020/04/09/academic-integrity-meme-assignment.html
Sidi, Y., Blau, I., & Eshet‐Alkalai, Y. (2019). How is the ethical dissonance index affected by technology, academic dishonesty type and individual differences? British Journal of Educational Technology, 50(6), 3300–3314. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.12735
Carrie,
ResponderBorrarYou make excellent points about the developmental progression of knowledge and why some students are tempted to plagiarize when they are struggling to create language for their own ideas. You also point out the availability of information online, and how learning new ideas often meshes with creating ideas, and the lines of originality can be blurred.
Communication seems to be a critical piece of this puzzle. If we communicate with students about academic dishonesty regularly, the assumption is that it will occur less. One of the ideas that can be shared with students is that starting work early can be a preventive technique to avoid the temptations of academic dishonesty. How can we encourage students to start work early? Do you see this is a useful tool?
Hello Dr. Broxterman1
BorrarI can't speak on this topic for adult learners, but we can tell them to start early and encourage them, but the age group that I teach needs more "motivation" than wise words. I use a few accountability tools to keep students from being tempted to be dishonest about their work. The first is disseminating the documents that they will use to do their project/essay through Google Classroom. Google Classroom allows me to see the work on their documents in real time. They have deadlines for being at certain points in their work. I check their work along the way and provide feedback. Since I started handling their work in this way, I do not have students copying from other sources. Google Classroom also has a plagiarism check.
I do not know how postsecondary students to this level of accountability.
Carrie,
BorrarThanks for sharing your ideas. It's great that you can monitor their progress through regular submissions and see their work in real time. I can understand how this would help with plagiarism.
Carrie,
ResponderBorrarBeautiful blog post! I love your memes so much. Especially the elementary, middle, high school and college. I cannot agree with you more where students are wired to hand in something, and not worry about the quality of work. I had students who handed in papers to me to re-read their English paper to edit it. They wrote the minimum amount that was needed, and it was not grammatically correct. I explained to the student that a lot of wording looked familiar (copying from the book they were reading, Katherine Called Birdie). The student said, "I'll get the credit, at least I am handing something in". My jaw dropped. I was always taught to hand work in as if you were teaching another person who knows nothing about the topic. The student also proceeded to tell me that they did the minimum amount of work so whatever they handed in was fine. I believe when students are young, we should teach about quality and explain how copying/cheating is not helping them. I feel like (in NYC at least) this is not reinforced. A lot of students tried pulling fast ones on my friends who teach by all handing in the same EXACT paper. The school principal did nothing about it because "covid really affected the students". These students were seniors in high school. When does the excuses stop? We should always talk about honesty to students- no matter their age. Do you agree?
Courtney
Hello Courtney!
ResponderBorrarI never agreed with completely giving up on learning during the pandemic. I have never agreed with homework, and believed in that practice even less during the pandemic. Yes, students were needing connection but learning and connection were not mutually exclusive. Compassion doesn't mean that a student is absolved of responsibility. Compassion means you work with the student. Knowing what they are going through so that you can be accommodating in assisting the student so that they can complete the work is what we need to do as educators.
Carrie