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ACADEMIC HONESTY
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Some forms of academic dishonesty rely upon more deliberately deceitful motives than others. The student who actively creates an elaborate method of hiding pre-written answers for a test shows a clearer intention toward academic dishonesty than students who, due to errors in their notes, inadvertently plagiarize. A lecture targeting only obviously intentional academic dishonesty will not reduce instances of unintentional academic dishonesty. As a GSI, having a better understanding of the causes of academic dishonesty and how they feed into particular behaviors will enable you to be more effective in fostering an honest academic environment.
Many cases of academic dishonesty flow from inadequate preparation. Issues associated with lack of preparation can range from students not having enough educational background or experience in completing a particular type of assignment to feel confident about their work to students failing to prepare themselves adequately by budgeting enough study time. An instructor can instate a number of different measures to allow students the maximum amount of support and preparation, which will lessen the chances that students will resort to dishonesty. Some common instances in which students are vulnerable to the temptation to academic dishonesty, and their potential resulutions, are discussed below.
Cause: Inadequate Time Management
Students often have not been taught how to organize and prioritize their work. Sometimes students (like anyone else) simply procrastinate or let personal problems or outside interests interfere with their academic work. The fact that students manage multiple assignments simultaneously complicates the matter--navigating a heavy workload and / or course load can be challenging. Remember that most students face these problems from time to time, and most deal with it without resorting to academic dishonesty.
When students' time is in short supply, many become aware that the quality of their work will inevitably suffer. Upon realizing this, students may panic about receiving a low grade, the impact on their GPA, or the thought of turning in work of a lower standard. To save time and preserve the perceived quality of their work, students may intentionally or unintentionally turn to academically suspect practices.
Solution:
Remind students early in the semester that if they have a heavy course load there will be an impact on their work, especially when multiple assignments are due later in the semester, and that they should plan their schedules accordingly. Offer personal anecdotes to illustrate this point, as well as your best advice for juggling academic commitments.
Begin preparing students for major course tasks in advance. Explicate the nature of the assignment or exam as soon as is feasible. Provide students with details, if possible, such as how many and what type of questions (multiple choice, short answer, proofs, essay) will show up on an exam. This can help give students an idea of how to prepare and make the task of reviewing seem less daunting and more manageable.
Breaking exam review or major papers into smaller pieces with a series of sub-due dates forces students into an organized study schedule and thus avoids some degree of cramming or last-minute behaviors that breed panic. In the weeks prior to the exam practice answering sample test questions in class, showing how to approach the question, divide it into parts, and answer it in the allotted test time. Ask students to bring in one-page drafts of essays to section or office hours and go over them with the student.
Cause: Fear, Lack of Confidence
Procrastination is a common way for students to avoid anxiety associate with course material that they are struggling with. If students avoid facing these difficulties until the last minute, for instance the night before a major due date or exam, they may find themselves feeling trapped--too late to get outside help and unable to diffuse their confusion on their own. In such a bind, students may be tempted to resort to academic dishonesty in order to mask their lack of comprehension and to turn in some semblance of the assignment on time.
On written assignments, students may plagiarize out of self-doubt, concluding that their own words or ideas are not strong enough or sophisticated enough. Students still in the process of learning English may take another's words because they "sound better" or more fluent than their own. Moreover, students unused to writing in the style of a particular discipline may plagiarize because they are unsure of their writing skills in the context of this discipline.
These issues of self-confidence are exacerbated if a student is afraid to turn to the GSI for help.
Solution:
Support students as they learn to cultivate their own ideas. Openly establish that your classroom is a safe environment for the pursuit of individual thought, voice, and skills in all stages of development.
Permit students to engage with course materials in a variety of ways such that those who are not comfortable asking questions in class can find answers. Refer students to outside resources, such as the Student Learning Center, the Purdue Online Writing Lab, or any departmental tutors available. Offer to meet with students in office hours or casually after class regarding any issues they are having with the course, from comprehension to workload conflicts. By presenting a welcoming attitude, students will begin to understand that they can approach you as a resource to help them struggle through challenges as opposed to someone they need to impress at all times. Such a relationship immediatly reduces the performance pressure on the student and will naturally bolster student confidence in their studies as they work with the GSI.
When presenting the assignment, the GSI can provide support by thoroughly orienting students to the particulars of the assignment and the resources they may need to successfully complete the assignment. Review any discipline-specific details that may impact students' success on a test or assignment, such as the format or units of their responses. If writing style is a factor in the grading of the assignment, discuss the major characteristics of writing within the discipline.
Cause: Poor Note-Taking
When taking notes from a book, many students forget to write down quotation marks or citation data. Sometimes the students make the assumption that they will remember which entries in their notes were direct quotations or what the sources were. This problem can also arise when students who are normally careful about correct citation work from borrowed notes.
Careless note-taking can be symptomatic of passive note-taking. Passive note-takers write down the author's words or a close paraphrase rather than thinking through the ideas to to re-cast them in different ways. Active note takers record their own ideas in response to a source, ask questions, make connections with other materials they have come across, and generally assimilate the author's ideas as a basis for their own. Because active note-takers record fewer direct quotations, they are less prone to this kind of plagiarism.
Solution:
Give students a handout explaining how and when to use quotation and what constitutes an acceptable paraphrase. Emphasize the importance of accurately recording quotation marks and sources in notes, as it is difficult to go back and find an exact quotation again afterwards. Explain how active note-taking can save time by promoting reflection on a subject from the beginning, which makes for stronger papers as the students' ideas are more developed.
Cause: Uninformed about Academic Dishonesty
Students often arrive at the university level without a clear understanding of what constitutes academic dishonesty or why its consequences can be severe. These issues may not have been adequately addressed in the student's high school experience, or the student may come from an international background in which the definition of academic dishonesty is different.
Certain types of academic dishonesty are prone to occur as a result of ignorance:
- Handing in another student's paper as one's own work.
(Students may feel that this practice, while not acceptable, is not
"really bad" because the paper has never been published and
/ or the other student has agreed to let them hand it in as their own
work.)
- Splitting an assignment with or working too closely with
another student in a way that results in both handing in the same piece
of work (usually to different GSIs, which suggests that the students
are not entirely ignorant that this is illegitimate but consider it
another "not-very-bad" form of dishonesty).
- Submitting the same paper to different courses. (Students
often do not know this practice is dishonest because they are the original
authors of the paper in question, and they are not aware there is a
university policy against it.)
- Plagiarizing from electronic resources. (The emphasis on the free availability of information on the World Wide Web has led to the common belief that if something is on the Web it must be free. Furthermore, information is easy to find on the Web and can be cut and pasted into a document with only a minimum of work.)
Solution:
Information about academic dishonesty should be included among the tools you give your students to successfully complete the tasks ahead of them. Students are often aware that taking verbatim quotations without acknowledging the source is unacceptable but are unclear about the ethics of paraphrasing, collaborating on assignments, or handing in the same paper for different classes. Select a style guide to be used for this class, and provide students a handout that details how to cite in this format. Direct students toward Library resources for citation management or Library handouts on specific citation styles.
Share any undergraduate experiences with academic dishonesty you know of with your students, complete with any consequences suffered by any party involved. Knowing that other experience similar pressures is comforting and simultaneously shows that thare are real repercussions for academic dishonesty.
