Language, Culture and Academic HonestyMara Bordignon

Seneca Libraries

Outline

Causes

Support (Resources)

Strategies

Exercises

Learning Outcomes

Identify causes associated with academic honesty and plagiarism

Locate and properly utilize Seneca Libraries citation resources and style guides

Implement plagiarism-avoiding strategies into curriculum planning and assignment building

CAUSES: Why?

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Growing Up Online: Online Cheating

(Films on Demand 1:12min)

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Examples of plagiarismOh oh … at Seneca!

Reasons for “Cheating”

Higher grades

Avoiding failure

Higher when marked on a bell curve

Perceived low risk of getting caught

Unaware of rules ... broken inadvertently… ignorance of what defines “plagiarism”

Culture of AH tolerated or punishments minimal

Pressure to compete with peers

(Canadian Council of Learning)

“while maintaining an awareness of cultural predispositions on the part of multilingual students, we must be careful how we interpret the behaviour”

(Sowden)

Cultural Differences

China & Japan: “Communal ownership of knowledge”

China: “good students do not challenge their teachers or other authorities, but faithfully copy and reproduce them”

Asia: “achieving group consensus is more important than demonstrating one’s own understanding and abilities”

(Sowden)

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Image source: Microsoft Office Clipart

SUPPORT:Resources

Seneca College 2010-2011 Academic Policy

http://www.senecac.on.ca/academic-policy/

Section 9: Academic Honesty

Section 9: Academic Honesty http://www.senecac.on.ca/academic-policy/acpol-09.html

9.1 Academic Honesty Offenses

9.2 Plagiarism

9.3 Penalties

9.4 College Copyright Policy

Appendix E: Academic Honesty Offences: Procedures for Enforcement

http://www.senecac.on.ca/academic-policy/appe.html 19 descriptions/examples of offences

Appendix G: Examination Procedures

http://www.senecac.on.ca/academic-policy/appg.html

Forms: Academic Honesty, Appeals Request

http://www.senecac.on.ca/academic-policy/forms.html

Suspected offence

committed

No offence committed; no

record kept

professor/coordinator record incident, with evidence attached, on an "Academic Honesty Report“ (both parties should fill in AH forms)

Completed forms will go to the Academic Honesty Committee (One for each School/Faculty) Offence as a comment

on Student’s Academic Record (can be appealed); decision given in writing

Student meets with professor/coordinator

Students can

appeal decisions

Seneca Libraries: Information for faculty website

http://library.senecacollege.ca/Faculty/index.html

Getting to SPARK through mySeneca

Modules are located in the “SPARK E-Learning Modules” organization on MySeneca. Just look in your “My Organizations Plus” or contact us to be added: spark@senecac.on.ca.

SPARK eLearning modules: Reacquaint Yourself with MLA

http://seneca.libguides.com/spark-mla

SPARK eLearning modules: The latest in APA

http://seneca.libguides.com/spark-apa

SafeAssign

SafeAssign Manual (for myseneca):

https://inside.senecac.on.ca/myseneca/faculty/tools/safeassign.html

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STRATEGIES: Solutions

SPARK eLiteracy: Building Better Assignmentshttp://seneca.libguides.com/spark-eliteracy

Assignment solutions:

break large assignments into smaller ones

submit drafts of their work

(Canadian Council of Learning)

collect an annotated bibliography before the submission is due

progress reports or submit research in stages, e.g. outlines, drafts, research notes

(Richard)

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Assignment solutions:

Students to supply photocopies of any references used as part of an appendix:

Some suggestions...

for articles, citation and first page

for books, bibliographic record from library catalogue and/or verso and table of contents

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Assessment solutions:

give supervised on-site or interactive video finals that make up a large percentage of students' final grades;

change assignments and tests each semester;

give personalized assignments;

use verification software (SafeAssign); and

give open-book exams that require the practical application of knowledge.

(Canadian Council of Learning)

Assessment solutions:

oral presentations

assess work produced in class, possibly with preparation allowed beforehand

students make brief presentation to the class based on their written assignments

(Richard)

Works Cited (MLA)Canadian Council of Learning. “Liars, fraudsters and cheats: Dealing with the

growth of academic dishonesty.” July 7, 2010. Web. 10 Feb. 2011.

Link

James, Richard, Craig McInnis, and Marcia Devlin. “36 Strategies to Minimise Plagiarism.” Centre for the Study ofHigher Education. Australian Universities Teaching Committee, 2002. Web. 6 Feb. 2009. 

Link

Leask, Betty. “Plagiarism, Cultural Diversity and Metaphor: Implications for Academic Staff Development.” Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education 31.2 (2006): 183-99. Academic Search Premier. Web. 4 Feb. 2011.

Link

Sowden, Colin. “Plagiarism and the Culture of Multilingual Students in Higher Education Abroad.” ELT Journal 59.3 (2005): 226-33. ERIC. Web. 18 Feb. 2011.

Link

Exercises

Can you paraphrase?

MLA citation example

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Need Help? Just hang on…

Contact Info…

email mara.bordignon@senecac.on.ca

IM (Mara’s Subject Guides)

Phone416-491-5050 ext. 3153

Additional Content Based on Feedback from Participants

Thank you for your suggestions!

Student & faculty beliefs about acts of Academic Honesty

Table source: Canadian Council of Learning; Original source: From: Hughes, J.M.C. & McCabe, D.L. (2006). Academic misconduct within higher education in Canada . Canadian Journal of Higher Education, 36(2), 1-21.

Tips for structuring assignments which have a research component:

Structure assignments that promote higher level thinking

Emphasize the importance of Academic Honesty … in subject outlines, assignment/projects, verbally in class, in your myseneca subject page … every opportunity in your interaction with students!

Ensure Seneca Libraries has the required resources to support your subject.

Clearly direct students to appropriate resources.

If necessary request a library session customized to the research needs of your assignment and/or talk to a librarian for other options.

Place material that will be in high demand on reserve or create an online course readings list.

Build manageable ‘steps’ into research-based assignments.

For more specific examples, please refer to:

http://seneca.libguides.com/spark-eliteracy