I just had the honor of giving a special presentation as part of the Center for Teaching and Learning at the American University of Armenia on the topic of Academic Integrity. This short article highlights the main aspects of academic integrity by defining it, identifying reasons it is violated, and providing mitigation techniques. By fully comprehending these aspects, instructors and students will gain a better understanding, and academic dishonesty can be greatly reduced in the classroom.   

Defining Academic Integrity

“Adherence to academic ethical principles and honesty” (AUA, 2022, 6.1)

Violations of Academic Integrity are referred to as Academic Dishonesty which is defined as

Any action or attempted action that may result in creating an unfair academic advantage for one’s self or an unfair academic advantage or disadvantage for any other member or members of the academic community, including misrepresentation of another’s work as one’s own. (AUA, 2022, 6.4) – full exhaustive list of examples of academic dishonesty available at https://policies.aua.am/policy/10 (sections 6.4.1 through 6.4.4.)

Summarized as cheating (on tests and/or assignments) and plagiarism (using others’ work as your own).

Reason for Academic Dishonesty

Varied research (Awdry & Ives, 2021; Javed, 2019; Lang, 2018; Verhoef & Coester, 2021) has identified that the five top reasons that students commit some form of academic dishonesty are:

1. Not being fully prepared and/or fear: although a fair amount of students were not fully prepared and so resorted to academic dishonesty, a fair amount of other students, who were straight “A” students, also cheated just to ensure (out of fear) that they maintained their grade point average even though they fully studied and were well prepared for any assessment.
2. Not enough time to complete assignments: many students had too many other commitments or simply didn’t properly schedule study or homework completion time.
3. Not fully understanding the material: some students identified spent a lot of time studying and doing the homework, but they had issues with comprehension.
4. Believing that others are cheating: some students expressed that they saw or heard about other students cheating so believed that they should cheat too in order to make things “even.”
5. Believing that cheating is acceptable: some students felt that it was OK to cheat because the teacher didn’t specifically say not to, didn’t really monitor students, or made it easy to cheat.

Mitigation

Research (as previously cited), as well as experience, has shown three main mitigation techniques:

1. Assessment Structure: there needs to be both formative and summative assessments spread out throughout the course. By first providing multiple formative assessments, students gain feedback on their understanding and learning. This builds confidence and fully prepares them for summative assessments as well as gives them a chance to seek additional help if needed (example: math/writing success centers, additional scaffolding assignments, outside tutors, etc.). *Some students might need additional skills to simply be better students; this will lead to more confidence and less likelihood of cheating (Anders, 2021). Avoiding having just one or two high-stakes tests will also greatly reduce academic dishonesty. When there are only one or two tests that will mainly determine the entire grade that a student receives, they are much more likely to cheat due to fear and anxiety.

• Evaluation Procedures and Type: Instructors should create multiple versions of tests as well as continually modify and update tests periodically. This helps prevent students from cheating by looking at someone else’s test or from previous classes’ exams. Additionally, changing the order of questions and answers provided makes copying more difficult. Also consider the type of question being asked. Essays, short write-in answers, as well as questions that require personalized responses are harder to grade but also help prevent cheating. Finally, be sure that students are monitored when taking tests, and ensure that the tests are properly modeled from what students should be expected to do in the “real world” workplace. Would a project or student presentation be a better assessment than a multiple-choice test? Consider what assessments would be best and provide the most benefit.

• Internal Factors: Instructors should model the type of behavior they want from their students. Are you properly citing your sources so that students see that you aren’t plagiarizing? Be sure to discuss academic dishonesty (not just on the first day) and reiterate that it will not be tolerated. Explicitly show and tell them how you will be checking their papers for plagiarism (for example using screening software like Turnitin) as well as monitoring them for cheating. Remind them of upcoming assignments/tests, their relevancy, and that you appreciate their hard work and honesty (this helps to develop intrinsic motivation). If needed additional time or resources should be given to students to ensure that they understand what constitutes cheating/plagiarism (example resource: plagiarism.org)

Use the free Academic Integrity Faculty Checklist (created by the American University of Armenia) to help ensure that you and your course are ready to maximize academic integrity. The second part of the checklist also provides a summary of the information presented within this article.  

Summary

Academic integrity is a vital component of every educational institution. All instructors need to know not only the reasons why students commit acts of academic dishonesty but also ways that this can be mitigated. When all faculty know and follow the suggestions presented, student will fully see the importance of academic integrity and will understand the high standards within their educational institution. By instructors and students fully comprehending all aspects of academic integrity and following the techniques suggested, academic dishonesty can be greatly reduced in the classroom, which will result in a better academic experience and better-prepared student.   

References

Academic Integrity Faculty Checklist. (2022). Academic integrity faculty checklist and academic integrity: techniques & recommendations handout. Center for Teaching and Learning at the American University of Armenia. https://ctl.aua.am/files/gravity_forms/1-db8435c2abe5d32d4f8c48b5cbb4c3d3/2022/11/academic-integrity-checklist1.pdf?gv-iframe=true  

Anders, B. (2021). How to be a super student: Based on science and experience. Sovorel Publishing.

AUA. (2022). Student code of ethics. American University of Armenia Policies. https://policies.aua.am/policy/10

Awdry, R. & Ives, B. (2021). Students cheat more often from those known to them: Situation matters more than the individual. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 46:8, 1254-1268.

Javed, A. (2019). Predicting the underlying factors of academic dishonesty by university students: A case study. Electronic Research Journal of Social Science and Humanities, Vol:1, Issue 1.

Lang, J. (2018). Cheating lessons: Learning from academic dishonesty. Harvard University Press.

Plagiarism.org (2022). About plagiarism. https://plagiarism.org

Verhoel, A., & Coester, Y. (2021). Academic integrity of university students during emergency remote online assessment: An exploration of student voices. Transformation in Higher Education, 6(0), a132.

*I also published this article on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/lowering-academic-dishonesty-classroom-brent-anders-ph-d-/?trackingId=fRLnM9HlQFufqBguq7MlCA%3D%3D