Academic Integrity

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School

University of Notre Dame *

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Course

500

Subject

Communications

Date

Apr 3, 2024

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pdf

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Uploaded by keielaniyamamoto98

Academic Integrity This training explores academic integrity issues faculty members may encounter in their classroom. Faculty expectation regarding modeling academic integrity, encouraging the use of student resources and recognizing and reporting plagiarism are included. GCU policies and procedures related to the citation and grammar tool are also discussed. “Academic Integrity is at the heart of GCU’s values and is integral to our university community. According to the Center for Academic Integrity, five fundamental values are central to academic integrity, honesty, trust, fairness, respect and responsibility. Students who utilize the work of others without proper citation or reference are in violation of these values, and are committing academic dishonesty. Such dishonesty not only discredits the student who is plagiarizing the work of another, but also the university community as a whole” (Academic Integrity 2021, Student Success Center, paragraph 1). It is the faculty member’s responsibility to carefully monitor and promote academic integrity in the classroom. It is the goal of this workshop to give you information, processes and policies to help you as a GCU instructor to both promote academic integrity and prevent plagiarism in your classroom. “Plagiarism is a serious academic offense. It is important to balance any suspected instance of plagiarism against the rights of the stu dent(s) involved” (Grand Canyon University Online Teaching Manual, 2019, p. 20). As online learning has evolved, methods of plagiarism have also become more sophisticated and sometimes difficult to detect. These methods can include: a) Text Spinning which takes content written by another and running it through a software tool or manipulating text with the intention of misleading, b) AI-based writing, using an AI-based tool to finish writing an assignment, c) Source Code plagiarism which is copying or adapting source code without attribution to the original creator and d) White Out, which is “whiting out” text so that the word count is inflated but the text is not visible (Lee, Christine, 2020). Other methods include paper buying, paraphrasing sites, putting two spaces between words and putting invisible quotation marks at the beginning and end of the paper. All of these plagiarism methods can be recognized and prevented, and this workshop is a tool to help faculty do that. Academic integrity is vitally important to maintaining a high-quality education for our students, and instructors are at the heart of that mission. The Citation and Grammar Tool (CGT) is just that – a tool. It is important to note that LopesWrite is the official citation and grammar to ol of the university. Since it is GCU’s tool of choice, other tools such as Turnitin, should not be utilized in determining or giving evidence for a plagiarism concern . When students submit assignments, the Tool detects and identifies similarity to other sources. It is important for instructors to remember that similarity is not necessarily plagiarism: it could be, but it is the instructor’s job to read the similarity report and determine if they think the similarity is concerning. If the instructor determines the similarity is concerning, there are very specific steps that GCU expects the instructor will take to maintain academic integrity in the classroom.

*Note the similarity percentage is not a factor in determining plagiarism, which is why instructors need to open and view all similarity reports to successfully prevent an assignment with plagiarized material from being given credit. In the case where a significant portion of text that was lifted, copied and pasted into the assignment (there are no quotation marks, no citation to a source and no acknowledgement of the material not being the student’s original writing), this is an example of plagiarism and the assignment cannot be accepted for credit. The following are the steps you should take when you determine plagiarism is present in a student’s assignment: 1. Contact the student in the classroom and ask for his perspective on the issue in the similarity report. In the communication, the word “plagiarism” should not be mentioned. For example: Name – I wanted to contact you because I noticed a high similarity in your Topic 2 assignment similarity report – see specifically page 1 and page 2 of your assignment. Could you please respond to me within 48 hours and give me your perspective on this? It is recommended to include a time frame for the student to respond so the issue is not prolonged. 2. If you receive a response from the student, and there is no explanation or defense of the similarity noted, there are two options to follow. You need to take some action even if the student does not respond to your communication. The student can be allowed to correct and resubmit their assignment. It is advisable to put a clear timetable on the resubmit - 48-72 hours is recommended. The instructor can apply the late penalty if the resubmission is not posted by the communicated due date. The second option is to submit a zero grade for the assignment. In both cases, the CIR Report should still be submitted. The student will also need to be notified that the CIR has been submitted. 3. Whether you allow the resubmit, or you assign the zero grade, instructors are required to submit a Classroom Incident Report (CIR) to report the plagiarism to Academic Compliance. Follow the steps outlined in the Faculty Resource Center for completing and submitting the CIR. You will not receive any communication as to your submission, unless the Code of Conduct Committee determines the issue was not plagiarism and want you to take different action. Communication Submit an Early Alert so the stu dent’s Advisor is aware of your submission of the CIR. When submitting a Classroom Incident Report, it is required to notify the student of the report to the Office of Academic Compliance. When you send a message within Halo to notify the student, please remember to include a screenshot of the communication that includes the Topic Assignment name and the full comment. *Note – Do not submit a CIR if a student cites or references incorrectly, or fails to use quotation marks while including a citation. Instruct the student in the correct way to cite and reference and use quotation marks, and take a deduction in the score, but do not submit a CIR. In this scenario, the students are attempting to give the original authors’ credit but need guidance on how to do it correctly.

The Citation and Grammar Tool will reveal multiple types of similarity, and not all of those instances reveal academic integrity concerns. This is the main reason instructors should not determine if they need to act based solely on the similarity percentage in the report. However just because the similarity revealed is not plagiarism, does not mean instructors do not need to take steps to communicate the reason for accepting an assignment that generates a high similarity score. Template Use – The Key Word is Transparency Many assignments require students to use/complete a template document, e.g. worksheet or chart, which when submitted to the CGT might result in an elevated percentage. Therefore, an explanation of the high similarity should always be included in the student’s feedback. For example, “The high similarity resulted from the submitted template.” Placing this comment in the feedback communicates that the instructor has viewed the similarity report and is not accepting potentially plagiarized work for credit. GCU values this transparency in assignment feedback and management of the Citation and Grammar Tool. Student is Retaking the Course GCU allows students to resubmit assignments completed for a previous attempt at the same course at GCU. *Note – a submission for a different course is not acceptable, rather this would be self- plagiarism. Below is an example of a course retake: If a student submits an assignment that generates a very high similarity score, the first thing an instructor should do is check the cause of the similarity. Faculty should follow these steps regarding a possible resubmission: 1. Contact the student asking them to verify if they are retaking the course. 2. Contact Faculty Training and Development to confirm the student’s retake. 3. If the student’s retake is confirmed, grade the assignment and place a comment such as: High similarity due to course retake. Common Language sometimes similarity is caused by use of common language in a discipline or field of study: in other words, there is no other way to say it! This can happen often in technical courses, and College of Education courses. Again, this would be similarity that is not plagiarism, and students should not be penalized. Properly Quoted and Cited Material Students are permitted to use direct quotes in their assignments, if those quotes have appropriate quotation marks, citations and references. Lack of quotation marks, or incorrect citing

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referencing are issues that should be addressed, but they are not necessarily examples of plagiarism. Original Content The other way to use the Citation and Grammar Tool for this similarity is to hold students accountable to the “80/20 or 85/15 Rule.” At GCU, for undergraduate and graduate courses, students must not exceed 20% of their papers/assignments for properly cited direct quotes: the limit is 15% for doctoral. Again if a student exceeds this limit it is not a case of plagiarism, rather a case of not using enough of their own writing and depending too heavily on direct quotes. Instructors should address this in feedback, but it is not a plagiarism issue. The Citation and Grammar Tool can be used effectively for feedback other than similarity concerns. The CGT will detect and note many potential errors in grammar, usage and writing mechanics: some but not all. When opened the report will show these errors and instructors can review them and advise students to use the report to note corrections needed for future assignments. Faculty can also add their own corrections either in the similarity report, or in their own embedded comments in returned assignments. This can save time downloading, embedding comments and then uploading the assignment again to the student. Instructor feedback comments can be added in the similarity report, and show in purple highlight boxes, to distinguish them from the grammar and similarity items marked. In this way, students can view feedback, corrections and similarity issues all in one document. The CGT can be used not only to detect plagiarism but as a tool to improve student writing. Feedback should not only be constructive comments indicating where the student’s submission missed the assignment parameters - it should be a positive learning experience that encourages what the student did well, suggests opportunities for improvement, and provides the student with take-aways that can be used for future development. There are several strategies instructors can use to educate their students to prevent plagiarism. This can be completed through their classroom announcements, modeling behavior, providing positive feedback and following GCU policy. A classroom announcement regarding Academic Integrity is highly encouraged. It can include APA templates, style guides and templates and information regarding the Academic Integrity section in the Student Success Center which include; Examples of Policy Violations, How to Cite Properly and Academic Integrity Scenarios (Academic Integrity, 2021). One pitfall faculty face is the assumption students know how to conduct proper research and cite sources. One of the best methods of teaching proper citation is to model the behavior we wish to see in students. Integrating research and proper APA citation and referencing provides a good example for students to follow. Faculty posts which include outside information should include a citation and a reference. This also applies to any graphics which are included in these posts.

Academic integrity is a critical component in our professional responsibility as a faculty member. Using the Citation and Grammar Tool and returning timely, holistic and descriptive feedback creates an environment of honest and robust research that works to create an effective culture of learning. Academic dishonesty is a serious offense which puts the university at risk, and methods of plagiarism have become more sophisticated as online learning as evolved. It is important for faculty to uphold academic integrity in the classroom and holding students accountable if needed. The Citation and Grammar Tool is at the heart of helping instructors maintain that academic integrity. Academic Integrity (2021), Student Success Center https://www.gcumedia.com/lms- resources/student-success-center/v3.1/#/tools/academic-integrity . Grand Canyon University Online Faculty Teaching Manual, 2019, p. 20, Faculty Resource Center. Lee, C. (2020), What are the New and Emerging Plagiarism Trends? https://www.turnitin.com/blog/what-are-the-new-and-emerging-plagiarism-trends .

Academic Integrity

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