Survey reveals strong views on academic dishonesty issues

by Patty Pitts

The preliminary results of a recent survey on academic integrity reflect a general climate of trust and respect at UVic and show strong agreement that academic misconduct devalues the educational experience and the university's degrees.

Yet 12 per cent of students and 25 per cent of faculty also agree that academic dishonesty is a serious problem at UVic.

The results were part of a recent presentation by Dr. Don McCabe of Rutgers University, whose study on academic integrity formed the basis for the survey conducted at UVic in February. Co-ordinated by the learning and teaching centre (LTC), with the endorsement of UVic's vice president academic and the undergraduate and graduate student societies, the survey attracted more than 3,660 students, over 240 faculty and 104 teaching assistants - an average 20 per cent participation rate from each group.

"The results suggest there's a reasonable understanding of our policies and procedures and a positive perception of how UVic deals with issues of academic integrity," says Dr. Geri Van Gyn, director of the LTC. "But there's also very strong evidence that education for students and instructors is needed, particularly around issues of collaboration and the appropriate use of resources from the Internet."

Of the students surveyed, 80 per cent said they've never cheated on a test while just over half responded that they had never plagiarized or were dishonest on written assignments. Forty-nine percent of the student respondents owned up to copying or paraphrasing material for a paper or project, usually from the Internet, without footnoting or referencing the source.

The numerical results and written comments clearly indicate confusion over exactly what constitutes academic misconduct when it involves the use of information from the Internet.

One respondent felt that "if it's on the Internet, it's public knowledge, so it can't be plagiarism." Other students considered it acceptable to cheat when doing what they considered "make work" assignments or work superfluous to their main educational goals. Only two per cent admitted to using Internet paper mills as the source for essays or papers. All of these data are very similar to those reported from 10 other Canadian universities.

"We're asking students to be honest about their dishonesty," says McCabe who, nonetheless, felt the data accurately reflected the situation at UVic. He noted that both students and faculty indicated high workloads and demands on their time were factors on whether a student chose to cheat and whether an instructor chose to pursue those students suspected of unethical academic conduct.

"Students tend to uphold the values [of academic integrity] if they feel that the demands placed upon them are fair and reasonable and they believe they have the resources and capacity to meet those demands."

Students said they wanted consistency in how instructors dealt with those who cheat. In written comments, some complained that students who brought cell phones and calculators into exam venues were not always reprimanded, when the items were clearly forbidden.

Faculty said the main reasons they didn't pursue students whom they suspected of academic misconduct were "lack of proof" or "lack of time." The written observations of teaching assistants reflected a strong feeling of frustration and a sense of "futility" in convincing faculty to pursue cases of misconduct.

Survey results suggest that upholding academic integrity is not the duty of one group but the responsibility of all members of the UVic community. Written comments from all groups point toward a strong desire to convert the results of the survey into action.

"We'll use the good relationship between students and faculty that was evident in the survey to enhance academic integrity," says Van Gyn. "The results will inform the development of educational resources and support to help students be aware of and abide by our academic integrity guidelines."

As an initial step, the May edition of the LTC newsletter Currents will contain academic integrity information and resources for instructors that they can consider for use in their fall term courses.

Over the summer, the LTC will complete a comprehensive statistical analysis of the numerical results and a content analysis of approximately 10,000 comments made by the survey participants. A formal report is expected in the fall.