Download - Examining The State of Academic Integrity in Europe - University Politehnica of Bucharest, Romania - 27 June 2017

Dr. Thomas Lancaster

http://thomaslancaster.co.uk

Twitter: @DrLancaster1

Examining The State of

Academic Integrity in

Europe

Presented by Dr. Thomas Lancaster

from Staffordshire University, Stoke-on-Trent, United Kingdom

Presented at University Politehnica of Bucharest, Romania

on Tuesday, 27 June 2017

http://thomaslancaster.co.uk/






Presentation Background







Areas For Consideration

What do we mean by academic integrity and how does a lack of academic integrity manifest itself?

What recent evidence do we have about academic integrity in Europe?

Based on the evidence, what are some of the main challenges for academic integrity in Europe?

What positive academic integrity initiatives can we draw upon?







About Dr. Thomas Lancaster

Professional Interests

Academic

(Computer Science)(Associate Dean)

Social Media Enthusiast

(@DrLancaster)

Media Speaker Researcher

Email: [email protected]

Website/Blog: http://thomaslancaster.co.uk

Slides: https://www.slideshare.net/thomaslancaster




mailto:[email protected]


https://www.slideshare.net/thomaslancaster




Academic Integrity

Research Interests

A red card to student cheating?

Contract cheating

Students paying ghost writers to complete their work

Plagiarism prevention and detection

PhD “Effective and Efficient Plagiarism Detection”

Emerging areas of student cheating

Such as exam cheating technologies and smart drugs

Collaborative research with staff and students







Academic Integrity







The importance and reach

of academic integrity is

not well understood in

education







The Terms People Think About

“academic integrity” 495,000 results

“plagiarism” 30,500,000 results

“academic misconduct” 408,000 results

“cheat exam” 5,440,000

Searches on Google (UK)

June 2016







How Should We View Academic Integrity?

Negative

committed plagiarism

took research shortcuts

stole exam paper

Positive

acted with ethics

marked work fairly

led others by example







Academic Integrity(my rough definition)

The set of core values and

principles that underpin the

activities of universities







Do we want to reward

academic integrity?

Do we want to punish a lack

of academic integrity?







Academic Integrity in Romania







Tweets from Plagiarism Across Europe and Beyond

Conference 2017(24 - 26 May 2017, Brno, Czech Republic)

https://plagiarism.pefka.mendelu.cz




https://plagiarism.pefka.mendelu.cz/




Impact of Policies for Plagiarism in Higher

Education Across Europe (IPPHEAE)

Council of Europe funded project, which ran between from 2010 to 2013

Part of Pan-European Platform on Ethics, Transparency and Integrity in Education (ETINED) platform

The 27 countries included were:

(1) Austria, (2) Belgium, (3) Bulgaria, (4) Cyprus, (5) Czech Republic, (6) Germany, (7) Denmark, (8) Estonia, (9) Finland, (10) France, (11) Greece, (12) Hungary, (13) Ireland, (14) Italy, (15) Latvia, (16) Lithuania, (17) Luxembourg, (18) Malta, (19) Holland, (20) Poland, (21) Portugal, (22) Romania, (23) Slovakia, (24) Slovenia, (25) Spain, (26) Sweden, (27) United Kingdom

http://plagiarism.cz/ippheae




http://plagiarism.cz/ippheae




IPPHEAE Findings

Academic integrity policies inconsistent and lacking in maturity

Some countries denied that they had any issues with academic integrity

Students showed that they were open to operating in a corrupt society

Some good practice in every country, mostly led by individual academics

More work to do in every country







IPPHEAE Romania

Exam based system

(most commonly, 60% of assessment through exams)

32% of students and 46% of teachers believed there would be no consequences for plagiarising in an assignment Dr. Irene Glendinning







Many of the findings for

Romania are very close to the

results from our most recent

SEEPPAI research







Quote From A Teacher in Romania

“I think sometimes it is accidental,

students have not been explained to

about citation rules, or done lots of

reading. Need to teach them not to

plagiarise.”







South East European Project

on Policies for Academic

Integrity (SEEPPAI)







South East European Project on Policies

for Academic Integrity (SEEPPAI)

A further Council of Europe supported project, with data collected between

October and December 2016

Study title reflective of the sector move from discussing plagiarism to

thinking about academic integrity

The countries involved were:

(1) Albania

(2) Bosnia and Herzegovina

(3) Croatia

(4) Montenegro

(5) the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

(6) Serbia

http://www.plagiarism.cz/seeppai








SEEPPAI Project Team Members

Czech Republic SEEPPAI Leads(representing Mendel University in Brno, Czech

Republic)

Support for Mendel University

team

United Kingdom SEEPPAI Leads(representing Coventry University, United Kingdom)

Tomáš Foltýnek Ben Calhoun (from Webster Vienna Private

University, Austria)

Irene Glendinning

Dita Dlabolova Tetyana Kapet Thomas Lancaster(now at Staffordshire University,

United Kingdom)

Dana Linkeschova(from Brno University of

Technology)







Final SEEPPAI Report


Plagiarism Across Europe and Beyond Conference Paper

(24 - 26 May 2017, Brno, Czech Republic)

https://plagiarism.pefka.mendelu.cz

Two main

SEEPPAI

resources

released

so far

(plus slides from

presentations and

further papers to

follow)





https://plagiarism.pefka.mendelu.cz/




Data Collection(through live visits and online surveys)

Total Number

Student Surveys 460

Teacher Surveys 255

Higher Education Management Surveys 15

Student Focus Groups 13

Interviews and Group Discussions

(Teachers, Managers, National Representatives)

24

Visits included

a range of

workshops,

focus groups,

discussions

and interviews







Issues found largely consistent across the

SE Europe region (and further, also

reflective of IPPHEAE)

Some emerging trends in student cheating

identified

Headline Results







0.00

5.00

10.00

15.00

20.00

25.00

UK

Au

stri

a

Swed

en

Iris

h R

ep

Mal

ta

Slo

vaki

a

Cyp

rus

Fin

lan

d

Net

her

lan

ds

Cze

ch R

ep

Slo

ven

ia

De

nm

ark

Be

lgiu

m

Bo

snia

& H

erz

Esto

nia

Gre

ece

Lith

uan

ia

Mac

ed

on

ia

Cro

atia

Po

lan

d

Alb

ania

Po

rtu

gal

Latv

ia

Serb

ia

Ger

man

y

Hu

nga

ry

Ro

man

ia

Spai

n

Fran

ce

Ital

y

Luxe

mb

ou

rg

Mo

nte

ne

gro

Bu

lgar

ia

Research

Training

Knowledge

Communication

Prevention

Software

Sanctions

Policies

Transparency

Academic Integrity Maturity Model

Model developed by Dr. Irene Glendinning

Results include 33 IPPHEAE and SEEPPAI countries







Challenges Identified From

SEEPPAI Research







Academic Autonomy

Little monitoring of academic decisions

Second marking and moderation uncommon

Academic integrity policies often not defined

Where academic integrity policies defined, these are often

not followed







Exam Cheating

Reuse of exam questions

Inadequate invigilation of exams

Room layouts allowing students to see other

answers

Third parties available to hire, providing

answers through hidden earpieces







Student Comments From SEEPPAI Focus

Groups

“We have teachers who even don’t

read the papers. One teacher slept

on the exam!”

“I have experienced one or two

cases when students were caught

cheating, and the professors just

tell them to stop looking at the

other person’s paper, and that’s

it.”








Groups

“If you open Buzzfeed or something

you will find a hundred articles on how

to cheat, like you will find articles about

pens or watches… people put a lot of

thought into [exam] cheating.”







Contract Cheating

Ghost writing services offering to complete work for

students widely advertised

Students themselves said they were writing assignments

for other students








Groups

“There are Facebook groups

where you can hire someone.

There are numbers in the

bathroom stalls for writing

seminars”

“I wrote many works for other

students, also at high school, it’s

very often”







Penalties

Penalties for academic misconduct said to be lenient,

inconsistently applied and not a deterrent

Very difficult to delay the progress of a student

Almost impossible to remove a student from a course







What Action Would Be Taken Against A

Student Who Plagiarised In An Assessment?

Students Teachers

No action would be taken 23% 25%

Warning (informal or formal) or exposing to community 53% 60%

Rewrite the assignment or new assignment or zero mark 66% 70%

Repeat the subject or year or temporary suspension 39% 31%

Expel from the institution 7% 2%








Groups

“Many students just go

through college to get a

job, and the punishments

aren’t strict enough”







Cultural Challenges

Wider cultures identified that support bribery and

corruption, with these issues also seen in education

In some countries, over 80% of young people find they have

to university, otherwise they would be unemployed

Overall focus is on penalties, rather than promoting integrity








Groups

“There are a few professors

who are known for taking

money to let students pass

exams.”







Education

Teachers assume that students know about academic

writing and referencing

Students lack support on avoiding plagiarism

Staff lack continued professional development







Results From Survey Of Teachers

87.2% of teachers agreed that there should be more training

for students on avoiding plagiarism and academic dishonesty

80.3% of teachers agreed that there should be more training

for teachers on avoiding plagiarism and academic dishonesty

87.5% of teachers said there is no training provided for people

involved in making decisions on academic misconduct and

penalties







What Do Students Find Most Challenging

About Academic Writing?

Students Teachers

Finding good quality sources 73% 17%

Referencing and citation 26% 19%

Paraphrasing 23% 13%

Understanding different referencing formats and styles 16% 8%

Time management 16% 5%

Language skills 16% 15%

Tackling cultural differences 6% 2%

Building a critical argument with evidence 32% 21%

Other 4% 1%








Groups

“Maybe it’s the mistake of

teachers and professors? They

don’t teach students how to write

proper work.”

“A good measure, professors should

give students someone else’s

essays. In that way, students should

see how they should write it. They

are reading textbooks and essays of

professors but the texts are too

good for students. So students lose

their self-confidence.”







SEEPPAI Good Practice







Internationalisation

Institutions had developed strong ties with international

universities and adopted their codes of practice

Teaching assistants provided with the opportunity to study

abroad, bringing good practice back with them







Deterrence

Students required to submit a signed ethical statement

before taking exams

Universities and individual academics had adopted text

matching tools to identify plagiarism

Only students with a clear academic integrity record entitled

to grants







Assessment

Spoken exams were used to check that students

understood their subject

Exam room layouts set up to make cheating difficult

Cameras used to record activity in exam rooms







Education

Institutions having pages on their web site relating to ethics

Teachers delivering writing courses showing students how

to write and structure essays for their particular subject

Guest speaker programmes offered to provide a more

enriching and motivating experience for students







SEEPPAI Recommendations







A Multi-Levelled Approach

Academic integrity needs to be addressed all levels

from National Government support through to individual

teachers and students

Institutions to be encouraged to develop international links

(and supported with this process)

Local research to be encouraged through small grants







Policies and Processes

Guidance to be provided from National Government, along with quality process monitoring

Institutions to instigate internal review of processes and practices, including standard penalties

Guidelines to be developed for students and teachers, supported by training

All parties to commit to handling academic misconduct cases through official university processes







Teaching and Assessment

Teaching methods to be reviewed to discourage rote

learning

Preventative measures, such as the use of software tools,

to be integrated into assessment

Staff to work with students as partners to improve teaching

and to ensure that students see the value in their studies








Groups

“It is better to

plagiarise good ideas

then to create bad

ones”

Do we agree?







All parties need to take personal

responsibility for integrity

And commit to such integrity in

their professional and personal

lives







For More Information







Connect With Thomas Lancaster(Speaking, PhD Supervision, Collaborations)

Email: [email protected]

Website: http://thomaslancaster.co.uk

Blog: http://thomaslancaster.co.uk/blog

LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/thomaslancaster

Twitter: @DrLancaster

Slides available at http://www.slideshare.net/ThomasLancaster Drawing courtesy of Lesley Imgart

http://www.lesleyimgart.com




mailto:[email protected]


http://thomaslancaster.co.uk/blog

https://uk.linkedin.com/in/thomaslancaster

https://twitter.com/DrLancaster

http://www.slideshare.net/ThomasLancaster

http://www.lesleyimgart.com/




Selected Academic Integrity References

Lancaster, T. and Clarke, R. (2017), Rethinking Assessment By Examination In The Age Of Contract Cheating, Plagiarism Across Europe and Beyond 2017.

Glendinning, I., Foltýnek, T., Dlabolová, D., Linkeschová, D. and Lancaster, T. (2017), Exploring Issues Challenging Academic Integrity in South East Europe, Plagiarism Across Europe

and Beyond 2017.

Lancaster, T. and Clarke, R. (2016). Contract Cheating – The Outsourcing Of Assessed Student Work, in Handbook of Academic Integrity, Bretag, T. (editor): SpringerReference.

Hersey, C. and Lancaster, T. (2015). The Online Industry of Paper Mills, Contract Cheating Services, and Auction Sites, Clute Institute International Education Conference, London, June

2015.

Lancaster, T. and Clarke, R. (2014). Using Turnitin As A Tool For Attribution In Cases Of Contract Cheating; 3rd Annual Higher Education Academy Conference in Science, Technology,

Engineering and Mathematics, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, April 2014.

Clarke, R. and Lancaster, T. (2013). Commercial Aspects Of Contract Cheating; 8th Annual Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education, University of Kent,

Canterbury, UK, July 2013.

Lancaster, T. (2013), The Use of Text Matching Tools For The Prevention And Detection of Student Plagiarism; in Plagiarism Phenomenon In Europe: Research Contributes To Prevention,

Dias, P. and Bastos, A. (editors): Braga: Aletheia - Associação Científica e Cultural da Faculdade de Filosofia da Universidade Católica Portuguesa.

Lancaster, T and Clarke, R (2012). Dealing With Contract Cheating: A Question Of Attribution; 1st Annual Higher Education Academy Conference in Science, Technology, Engineering and

Mathematics, Imperial College, London, April 2012.

Clarke, R, and Lancaster, T (2007). Establishing a Systematic Six-Stage Process for Detecting Contract Cheating; The Second International Conference on Pervasive Computing and

Applications, Birmingham City University, July 2007.

Lancaster, T and Clarke, R (2007). Assessing Contract Cheating Through Auction Sites – A Computing Perspective; 8th Annual Higher Education Academy Conference in Information

and Computer Sciences, University of Southampton, August 2007.

Lancaster, T and Clarke, R (2007). The Phenomena of Contract Cheating, in Student Plagiarism in an Online World: Problems and solutions, Roberts, T. S. (editor), Hershey, Pennsylvania,

USA: Idea Group Inc.

Clarke, R and Lancaster, T (2006). Eliminating The Successor To Plagiarism? Identifying The Usage Of Contract Cheating Sites; 2nd Plagiarism: Prevention, Practice and Policy

Conference 2006 - Newcastle, UK, June 2006.

Lancaster T. and Culwin F. (2004), A Comparison of Source Code Plagiarism Detection Engines. Journal of Computer Science Education 14.2.

Culwin F. and Lancaster T. (2001), Plagiarism Issues for Higher Education. Vine 31(2), pp. 36-41.




Download - Examining The State of Academic Integrity in Europe - University Politehnica of Bucharest, Romania - 27 June 2017

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