Students as Partners in Academic IntegrityPresentation by Sonia Saddiqui, Macquarie University School of Education

7APCEI 16 Nov 2015

About me

• Project Officer (MQU LTC)

• Project Manager (OLT)

• PhD student (MQU School of Education)

• (former) Academic advocacy officer (CQUSA)

• Deputy-Chair, Asia-Pacific Forum on Educational Integrity (APFEI)

• Chair, Academic Integrity Matters Ambassadors (AIMA)

In this presentation…Why, where and how students can be academic integrity partners at university

Example of partnership:Academic Integrity Matters Ambassadors @ Macquarie University

What does partnership entail?

Related concepts:

‘Engagement’, ‘participation’, ‘collaboration’, ‘consultation’, ‘stakeholder’

‘Partnership’:

Collaborative relationships between stakeholders who have a common purpose and are actively engaged in and can benefit from the process of working together (HEA – Healey, Flint and Harrington, 2014)

What does partnership in Academic Integrity entail?

Less of this

More of this

What does partnership in Academic Integrity entail?

While trying to avoid this:

How can we involve students as partners in academic integrity?

(3 domains)

Learning, teaching & research

Campus & Community

Governance

Models for partnership

Some common elements:

• Participation/engagement/partnership is used interchangeably

• A spectrum is implied

Operationalising partnership

EMPOWER/PARTNER

INVOLVE/COLLABORATE

INFORM/CONSULT

Bovill, C. and Bulley, C. J. (2011); Healey, M., Flint, A. & Harrington, K. (2014).; HEA & NUS (2011) Student Engagement Toolkit;International Association for Public Participation (2014) - IAP2’s Public Participation Spectrum.

IncreasingLevel of

influence, control & decision-making

Project OutcomeThe Academic Integrity Matters Ambassadors at

Macquarie University (AIMA@MQU)

The Academic Integrity Matters Ambassadors at Macquarie University (AIMA@MQU)

• AIMA was the outcome of an OLT project on student academic integrity

• Aim of the project: to explore the viability of students participating in the promotion of academic integrity

• Approach: student survey (n=5,500), focus groups (n=40), staff & student rep interviews (n=45)

AIMA

Aim of the project: to explore the viability of students participating in the promotion of academic integrity

2-Part ‘Partnership Strategy’

1. Assess stakeholder profile

2. Develop participation plan

In the begInnIng…

AIMAEnvisaged purpose and goals for AIMA

AIMAStep 1: Assess Stakeholder Profile

Questions Answers

What process/community/system is it? Campus community, academic integrity culture at MQU.

What role do students play? Passively affected, comply with policies & processes, ‘top-down’ system

What input do students provide, how do they do this? What is the impact?

Very limited input into policy, mainly via Academic Senate & ad hoc committees, impact unknown.

How do students prefer to engage with academic integrity?

Preferred to receive info. through instructors and course materials, preference for interactivity and case examples.

Do students WANT to play a bigger/different in academic integrity?

....

AIMAStudents indicated…

“Sorry, its a dull subject and I have no interest in revising it.”

“Personally I'm not interested in learning more about it. I have sufficient knowledge of what's required, most of which is common

sense anyway.”

27% of students supported the idea of a student-led, academic integrity society.

(Academic Integrity Ambassadors Information Session March 2014, Macquarie University; Nayak et al., 2015)

AIMAHowever, they also indicated…

“I think any person who gets their degree or qualification from the university should have actually earned it, that it hasn't been kind of given to them on a platter or…doesn't come in a cornflakes box.…and integrity means that we can be certain that the people coming from university have actually earned

their degrees.”

“It would be great if the university penalised harder on peeps that do not show academic integrity.”

More than 55% felt that academic integrity breaches were a serious problem at their university

27% 1488 students across 4 institutions supported the idea

(Academic Integrity Ambassadors Information Session March 2014, Macquarie University; Nayak et al., 2015)

AIMAStep 2: Create Partnership Plan

Planning stage Activity/action

Determine purpose & goal of proposedpartnership

Create opportunities for students to become involved in activities & conversations about academic integrity within the university, and externally.

Inform & involve target stakeholders Information session ( March, 2014)Recruitment drive (March - July 2014)

Organise Develop group name, constitutionNominate Executive CommitteeFormal launch (March - April 2014)

Evaluate Ongoing

AIMA Activities

AIMA at Orientation Week

AIMA ‘Selfie’ comp

AIMA Executive

Lessons learned•One size does not fit all

•Viability assessment is crucial

• Partnerships in academic integrity can start out small

Always remembering the broader goal:

Transform AI STAKEHOLDERS AI PARTNERS

through meaningful engagement + participation in academic integrity

References• Bovill, C. and Bulley, C. J. (2011) A model of active student participation in curriculum design:

exploring desirability and possibility. In Rust, C. (Ed.) Improving Student Learning (18) Global theories and local practices: Institutional, disciplinary and cultural variations (pp. 176–188). Oxford: The Oxford Centre for Staff and Learning Development.

• HEA & NUS (2011) Student Engagement Toolkit [Internet]. Higher Education Academy and National Union of Students. www.nusconnect.org.uk/campaigns/highereducation/student-engagement/toolkit/resources/

• Healey, M., Flint, A. & Harrington, K. (2014). Engagement through partnership: students as partners in learning and teaching in higher education

• International Association for Public Participation (2014). IAP2’s Public Participation Spectrum. https://www.iap2.org.au/resources/iap2s-public-participation-spectrum

• Nayak A., Richards D., Homewood J., Saddiqui, S. & Taylor, M. (2015). Academic Integrity in Australia: Understanding and changing culture and practice project final report. Australian Government Office for Learning and Teaching. http://www.olt.gov.au/project-academic-integrity-australia-%C3%A2%C2%80%C2%93-understanding-and-changing-culture-and-practice-2012

DISCUSSON QUESTION:

Is partnership with students in academic integrity a viable concept at yourinstitution?