Academic Integrity in the 21 st Century Collegiate Environment

1. Academic Integrity in the 21st Century Collegiate Environment

2. Focus on Plagiarism: Basic Questions to Ask • How big an issue is it? • Where do we find it happening? • What form/s does it take? • What are the root causes? • What are the solutions? • What makes it an important educational issue?

3. Basic Questions to Ask 1. How big an issue is it? • What is the extent of the problem? (Substantial Interest from 2011 National Institute Roundtable) • Is our information more than anecdotal? Are there data?

4. Basic Questions to Ask • Where do we find it happening? • Online program assignments • Traditional classroom assignments • Portfolio essays

5. Basic Questions to Ask 3. What form does it take? • What are the root causes? • What are the solutions?

6. Types/Forms of Plagiarism • turning in someone else's work as your own • copying words or ideas from someone else without giving credit - no citation • failing to put a quotation in quotation marks • giving incorrect information about the source of a quotation • changing words but copying the sentence structure of a source without giving credit – paraphrasing without credit • copying so many words or ideas from a source that it makes up the majority of your work, whether you give credit or not (see our section on "fair use" rules) (from internet site Plagiarism.org: http://www.plagiarism.org/plag_article_what_is_plagiarism.html)

7. Basic Questions to Ask 4. What are the root causes of plagiarism? • Dishonesty • Lack of knowledge • Educational immaturity • Cultural issues • Information overload – electronic media

8. Effects of Electronic Media • Wikipedia • Social Media • Mash-ups • Internet “Certainly attention spans seem shorter these days, and the line between actual thinking and mere aggregation grows ever blurrier.”* * Hallberg, , Garth Risk. 2012. Review of Magic Hours: Essays on Creators and Creation, by Tom Bissell. The New York Times Book Review, 6 May, 2012 .

9. Basic Questions to Ask • What are the solutions? • Better detection • Turnitin or other plagiarism detection software • Google or other search engines • Context • Writing style • Barriers to detection • Evaluator/mentor time • Lack of detection software

10. Solutions? • Review of institutional policies: Look at consistency among campus-wide published sources – Examples • Catalog • Student Handbook • Website • Institutional approach: • Punitive or • “Developmental” • Consistency in executing policies

11. Solutions Continued Review ways assignments are given. How is portfolio handled? • Course match • Course challenge • Life essay

12. Why Is Academic Integrity Important? • Intellectual honesty • Information Literacy • With a information-saturated landscape, students need to know how to evaluate quality of the information received. • Citation helps students identify and think about sources – Primary, secondary, etc. • Original Thought • Develop the capacity through analysis and critical thought to develop original ideas • Develop confidence in intellectual skills

13. Carleen Baily Program Advisor Thomas Edison State College 609-984-1141 x3435 cbaily@tesc.edu