Academic IntegrityDaniel HickeyIST Librarian

Academic Integrity @ Penn State“The pursuit of scholarly activity in an open,

honest and responsible manner. […] the

University's Code of Conduct states that all

students should act with personal integrity,

respect other students' dignity, rights and

property, and help create and maintain an

environment in which all can succeed.” Policy 49-20

Q: How many reported cases of

academic dishonesty were there

among Freshman students in

2006/7?

1. 75 3. 200

2. 130 4. 250J. Harwood

130 cases

Watterson

Class Standing for 2006-2007

130

64

56

16

29

89

25

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

5th +

Graduate

Other

Cla

ss S

tand

ing

Number of Cases

J. Harwood

Academic Integrity Cases System Wide

335

393

358346

417

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

2002/2003 2003/2004 2004/2005 2005/2006 2006/2007

Year

To

tal

Nu

mb

er o

f C

ases

J. Harwood

Academic integrity is compromised by:

•Fabrication of information or citations

•Facilitating acts of academic dishonesty by others

•Unauthorized possession of examinations

•Submitting the work of another person, or work previously used without informing the instructor

•Tampering with the academic work of other students

Q: Have you ever engaged in

one of these behaviors?

1. Yes 2. No

(This is anonymous, so you can be honest.)

Student Perceptions of Practices Most Likely to Be Seen as Cheating:

Watterson

Student Perceptions of Practices Most Likely to Be Seen as Cheating:

•Using an unapproved aid during an exam (96%)

•Copying from another student’s paper or exam (97%)

•Taking a test for someone else or having someone else take a test for you (97%)

•Exchanging answer sheets or papers during a test (98%) PULSE survey

Student Perceptions of Practices Least Likely to Be Seen as Cheating:

•Not telling instructor about a grading error in their favor (69%)

•Submitting the same paper for more than one class without permission (55%)

•Giving or getting exam information from someone in another section (42%)

PULSE survey

Reasons to Cheat that SomeStudents Perceive as “Justifiable”:

• Get a better grade or GPA (20%)

• Insufficient preparation (11%)

• Personal issues including stress and personal/family problems (9%)

• Time management (8%)

• Little concern for academic integrity (6%)

• Instruction issues (5%) PULSE survey

Awareness and Prevalence of Cheating

Behavior

Perceive this behavior to be cheating

Have engaged in this behavior

Males n=599

Females n=532

Male n=620

Females n=563

Ask students in another section of a course for information about a test you will take at a later time or to give other students information about a test % % % % Receive help on a take-home test in which you are not allowed to collaborate with others

% % % % Allow someone to copy your assignment or paper % % % % Use someone else’s ideas or words without referencing or crediting the original source % % % %

PULSE survey

Awareness and Prevalence of Cheating

Behavior

Perceive this behavior to be cheating

Have engaged in this behavior

Males n=599

Females n=532

Male n=620

Females n=563

Ask students in another section of a course for information about a test you will take at a later time or to give other students information about a test 57% 60% 53% 59% Receive help on a take-home test in which you are not allowed to collaborate with others

80% 87% 30% 30% Allow someone to copy your assignment or paper 91% 93% 25% 21% Use someone else’s ideas or words without referencing or crediting the original source 91% 95% 16% 8%

PULSE survey

Q: What percent of students lied

about an illness/emergency after

missing a deadline/test to avoid a

lower grade? 1. 8 3. 22

2. 16 4. 35

Behavior

Perceive this behavior to be cheating

Have engaged in this behavior

Males n=599

Females n=532

Male n=620

Females n=563

Turn in the same paper for more than one class (without receiving permission from the instructors) % % % % Not tell an instructor when an error has been made in your favor in scoring a test or an assignment % % % % Lie to an instructor about having an illness or some other emergency when you’ve missed a test or assignment % % % %

Awareness and Prevalence of Cheating

PULSE survey

Behavior

Perceive this behavior to be cheating

Have engaged in this behavior

Males n=599

Females n=532

Male n=620

Females n=563

Turn in the same paper for more than one class (without receiving permission from the instructors) 41% 50% 22% 20% Not tell an instructor when an error has been made in your favor in scoring a test or an assignment 28% 34% 35% 32% Lie to an instructor about having an illness or some other emergency when you’ve missed a test or assignment 72% 71% 16% 16%

Awareness and Prevalence of Cheating

PULSE survey

What is Plagiarism?

The action or practice of taking someone

else's work, idea, design, etc., and

passing it off as one's own; intellectual

theft.

- Oxford English Dictionary

•Program that gauges the originality of student work and aids in detecting plagiarism

•Used in more than 6,500 institutions, 106 countries, and 30 languages

•Over 1,500 instructors at Penn State have accounts

Turnitin searches:

•A current and archived copy of the publicly accessible Internet

•Millions of published works from ProQuest and Project Gutenberg

•Millions of student papers already submitted to Turnitin since 1996 (including PSU students)

Turnitin.com

Now we can:•Define academic integrity

•Identify how specific behaviors violate Penn State’s academic integrity policy

•Visualize how the behaviors are related