Werklund School of Education Research & Publications

Permanent URI for this collection

https://prism.ucalgary.ca/handle/1880/100121

Browse

Now showing 1 - 20 of 42

Open Access
6 Tenets of Postplagiarism: Writing in the Age of Artificial Intelligence [Infographic]
(2023-02-24) Eaton, Sarah Elaine Eaton
In this infographic, sections of the final chapter of Plagiarism in Higher Education: Tackling Tough Topics in Academic Integrity (ABC Clio, 2021) are summarized. The concept of post-plagiarism is explained in world where artificial intelligence (e.g., ChatGPT, Large Language Models (LLMs), GPT-3, etc.) are becoming commonplace. The connections between artificial intelligence, plagiarism, and academic misconduct are explored. Keywords: artificial intelligence, academic integrity, plagiarism, academic dishonesty, academic misconduct, academic writing, ChatGPT, GPT-3, Large Language Models, higher education
Open Access
Academic Integrity and Embracing Diversity
(2019-04-17) Bretag, Tracey
Slides from the Pre-conference for the Canadian Symposium on Academic Integrity, held at the University of Calgary, April 17-18, 2019. In this session, Dr. Tracey Bretag examined the issue of academic integrity and diversity, focusing specifically on international students and those who speak languages other than English (LOTE). These slides have been submitted by Sarah Elaine Eaton, Co-Chair of the symposium, with the permission of the author, Dr. Tracey Bretag.
Open Access
Academic Integrity as a Transdisciplinary Field of Research, Policy, and Practice
(Deakin University, 2022-10-12) Eaton, Sarah Elaine
Keynote address presented at the Centre for Research on Assessment and Digital Learning (CRADLE) 2022 Symposium "Challenging Cheating". This keynote addresses how and why academic integrity research is a transdisciplinary field of scholarship. This includes a discussion of various methodological and theoretical approaches used in academic integrity research, as well as examples of current research projects that are transdisciplinary in nature. The idea of academic misconduct as a "wicked problem" is discussed.
Open Access
Academic Integrity in Canada: An Annotated Bibliography
(2019-04-02) Eaton, Sarah Elaine; Crossman, Katie; Edino, Rachael
Purpose: This report documents research and related materials related to academic integrity in Canada to inform and guide future work in the field. It provides an overview of the literature up to and including 2017 relating to academic integrity in Canada. Methods: Two research questions guided this literature review: 1. What scholarly, research, and professional literature showcases Canadian scholarship relating to academic integrity? 2. What major themes emerge from scholarly and research literature about academic integrity in the Canadian context? To this end, a methodical search of databases was undertaken, relevant research was compiled, and articles were summarized and categorized. Results: Our review and search of the literature resulted in 68 sources, which we organized into 7 categories: (a) Attitudes, behaviours, and perceptions; (b) Academic integrity in professional programs; (c) Understanding and supporting international students; (d) Pedagogical implications: Instruction and prevention; (e) Focus on technology; (f) Institutional considerations: Policy, law and case management, and (g) Methodological considerations: Plagiarism research. We found that academic dishonesty in Canada, as in other countries, is widespread among students and faculty, while policies and their implementation are often inconsistent. Calls for clearer guidelines and greater support for students and faculty resound as a consistent theme in the literature. Implications: Academic integrity research in Canada has been slow to develop, but is now experiencing significant growth. As more stakeholders become aware of the scope and complexities of academic integrity, many researchers are making recommendations for policy, policy implementation, and support through technology, education, and intervention programs. Additional materials: 72 References Keywords: Academic integrity, academic dishonesty, academic misconduct, plagiarism, cheating, Canada
Open Access
Academic Integrity in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
(2023-05-29) Eaton, Sarah Elaine
2023 Open Technology in Education, Society, and Scholarship Association (OTESSA) Annual Conference How worried do we need to be that students are going to cheat more because of artificial intelligence? Does writing generated by an artificial intelligence (AI) writing app constitute plagiarism? How can artificial intelligence be used ethically for teaching, learning, and assessment? Will a robot take my job? These questions have dominated teaching and learning circles and social media since late 2022 when ChatGPT emerged. In this keynote, Sarah Elaine Eaton provides insights into how AI tools are impacting higher education She will share insights from recent research project at the University of Calgary that explores the question: What are the ethical implications of artificial intelligence technologies for teaching, learning, and assessment? Cite as: Eaton, S. E. (2023, May 29). Academic Integrity in the Age of Artificial Intelligence. Keynote address for the 2023 Open Technology in Education, Society, and Scholarship Association (OTESSA) Annual Conference, York University, Toronto, ON.
Open Access
Academic Integrity Leadership and Community Building in Canadian Higher Education [Keynote address]
(2024-03-07) Eaton, Sarah Elaine; Stoesz, Brenda M.; McKenzie, Amanda
Keynote address for ICAI Canada 2024. In this presentation the authors present highlights from the collaborative book chapter with the same title. The authors showcase the development of academic integrity leadership in Canada is examined through the lenses of asset-based community development and strengths-based leadership. Examples are provided from international, national, and regional perspectives that highlight how the work of promoting academic integrity can be undertaken successfully in a geographically large country with a decentralized system of higher education. A core argument of this chapter is that a strengths-based approach to academic integrity community development and leadership can be effective in situations where top-down support (e.g., federal ministry of education or a national quality assurance body) is lacking. Cite as: Eaton, S. E., Stoesz, B. M., & McKenzie, A. (2024, March 7). Academic Integrity Leadership and Community Building in Canadian Higher Education [Keynote address] International Centre for Academic Integrity (ICAI) Annual Conference 2024: ICAI Canada Day, Calgary, Canada.
Open Access
Academic Integrity Lessons: Practical Ideas for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment
(University of Calgary, 2023-10-12) Eaton, Sarah Elaine; Kumar, Rahul
Purpose: The purpose of this Open Educational Resource (OER) is to offer comprehensive lesson plans that focus on instilling skills and values related to academic integrity. The intended audience for this work is educators at elementary, secondary, and higher education levels. Methods: Contributors were invited to contribute lesson plans with a positive orientation to academic integrity, focusing on building skills and competencies, rather than focusing on consequences for committing academic misconduct. To maintain consistency and clarity, every lesson plan adheres to a standardized format. This format helps identify whether the target audience is elementary and secondary, higher education, or a combination of multiple educational levels. All lesson plans underwent open peer review by the editors and some included additional review by contributors to this edited collection. Results: This OER contains twenty-four (24) open-access lesson plans contributed by authors across four countries: Canada, the UK, Finland, and Qatar. There are five lessons specific to elementary or secondary levels, 13 for use in higher education, and another five which can be used or adapted at elementary, secondary or higher education levels. Implications: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonComercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. This work may not be sold or used commercially. This work is freely and publicly available, downloadable, printable, and shareable. The editors and contributors have volunteered their knowledge, expertise, and time to contribute to this work. Language: English Additional Materials: Each lesson plan incorporates its respective references for further clarity and for citation purposes.
Open Access
Academic integrity policy analysis of Alberta and Manitoba colleges
(2023-06-01) Eaton, Sarah Elaine; Vogt, Lisa; Seeland, Josh; Stoesz, Brenda M.
Dealing with matters related to academic integrity and academic misconduct can be challenging in higher education. As a result, students, educators, administrators, and other higher education professionals look to policy and procedures to help guide them through these complex situations. Policies are often representative of an institution’s culture of academic integrity. For these and other reasons it is therefore important that policies and procedures are reviewed regularly and updated to ensure that they align with current educational expectations and societal context. In this presentation, we share the results from our policy analysis of 16 colleges in the Canadian western provinces of Alberta and Manitoba. Data extraction and analyses were performed using a tool developed based on Bretag et al.’s five core elements of exemplary academic integrity policy. Our results showed inconsistencies in college polices in terms of the intended audience for the documents (e.g., students, faculty, administrators), varying levels of detail, inconsistent definitions, or categories of misconduct (e.g., plagiarism, cheating) and little mention of contract cheating. We compare the results of this study with previous academic integrity policy research in Canada for colleges in Ontario (Stoesz et al., 2019), as well as universities (Miron et al., 2021; Stoesz and Eaton, 2020). We also discuss the recent increase in the use of artificial intelligence tools such as ChatGPT and GPT-3 and what this could mean in the context of academic integrity policy. We conclude with recommendations for policy reform in the Canadian college context. Our findings may be useful to those working in community colleges and polytechnics. This project is part of a larger project on academic integrity policy in Canada (https://osf.io/n9kwt/ ) Cite as: Eaton, S. E., Vogt, L., Seeland, J., & Stoesz, B. M. (2023). Academic integrity policy analysis of Alberta and Manitoba colleges. Canadian Symposium on Academic Integrity (CSAI), Univeristy of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB.
Open Access
Academic Integrity the Canadian Way [Keynote address]
(2023-06-02) Eaton, Sarah Elaine
Closing keynote address for the 2023 Canadian Symposium on Academic Integrity held in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. In this keynote I talk about Canada's unique contribution to the international knowledge base of academic integrity. I highlight how Canadians are leading the way in decolonizing academic integrity globally. Topics I speak about in this presentation include: ethical spaces, decolonization, Indigenization, values, morality, ethics, integrity, comprehensive academic integrity and epistemic pluralism.
Open Access
Academic Integrity: Combating Systemic Racism
(2020-06-05) Eaton, Sarah Elaine
One-page resource to educate instructors and administrators about systemic discrimination and racism in academic integrity matters.
Open Access
Academic Outsourcing: Essay Mills, Theses-On-Demand and Contract Cheating
(2018-04-05) Eaton, Sarah Elaine
Slides from a workshop on contract cheating presented at the Taylor Institute for Teaching and Learning, University of Calgary. Includes: Overview, purpose, definition of contract cheating, advocacy, awareness, prevalence, detection and prevention.
Open Access
Alberta Council on Academic Integrity: Statement Against Racism in Matters Relating to Academic Integrity
(2020-06-04) Alberta Council on Academic Integrity
Statement prepared by the Alberta Council on Academic Integrity to speak out against systemic racism and discrimination in matters related to academic misconduct, be they alleged or actual. This statement was released on June 4, 2020, during the time when the Black Lives Matter social movement was underway. For information about this statement or the Alberta Council on Academic Integrity contact Sarah Elaine Eaton, Werklund School of Education.
Open Access
Artificial intelligence and academic integrity: The ethics of teaching and learning with algorithmic writing technologies
(2023-01-25) Eaton, Sarah Elaine; Brennan, Robert; Wiens, Jason; McDermott, Brenda
The higher education landscape is changing rapidly, with artificial intelligence tools being increasingly available to students, as well as the general public. In this session, we present basic information about artificial intelligence and algorithmic writing technologies such as GPT-3 and other tools. We will contemplate the broader impact of artificial intelligence on teaching, learning, assessment, and academic integrity. Debating whether the use of artificial might or might not constitute academic misconduct is an overly reductionist and polarizing approach to the debate. Our value proposition is that artificial intelligence is already here and as educators we have a responsibility to ensure we are taking an ethical approach about how it can be used for teaching, learning, and assessment. We discuss how artificial intelligence tools can be used to support ethical and equitable approaches to student success. Keywords: artificial intelligence, academic integrity, academic misconduct, plagiarism, GPT-3, ChatGPT, large language models (LLM), algorithmic writing, transdisciplinary, transdisciplinarity Cite this presentation as: Eaton, S. E., Brennan, R., Wiens, J., & McDermott, B. (2023, January 25). Artificial intelligence and academic integrity: The ethics of teaching and learning with algorithmic writing technologies Invited talk for the Webinar Series organized by the Faculty Merit Committee (FMC) Learning Development Team, Bournemouth University, UK.
Open Access
Atlantic Provinces Academic Integrity and Contract Cheating Policy Analysis
(2022-01-13) Eaton, Sarah Elaine; Stoesz, Brenda M.; Godfrey Anderson, Jennifer; LeBlanc-Haley, Joanne
Contract cheating (i.e., outsourcing of academic work) poses a threat to the integrity of credentials awarded by institutions. The global contract cheating industry is estimated to be valued at $15 Billion USD. If students have outsourced academic work to a third party (e.g., term paper mill, assignment completion services, or thesis-writing services) the integrity of the credentials they are awarded becomes questionable. In this presentation we share findings from our analysis of academic integrity policies of 13 publicly-funded universities in New Brunswick (n = 3), Nova Scotia (n = 8), Prince Edward Island (n = 1), and Newfoundland (n = 1). We pay particular attention to the ways in which contract cheating is addressed through policy documents. We conclude with concrete recommendations for policy reform. Read more about the project here: https://osf.io/n9kwt/wiki/home/
Open Access
Changing trends in academic integrity policy development: Implications for the post-COVID era
(2022-05-05) Razı, Salim; Glendinning, Irene; Eaton, Sarah Elaine; Çelik, Özgür; Khan, Zeenath Reza; Bjelobaba, Sonja; Fishman, Teddi; Waddington, Lorna
As adherence to academic integrity standards is one of the most important aims of academia, many institutions develop academic integrity policies which should be regarded as a core element by quality and qualification assurance agencies. A well-developed policy should reveal responsibilities of stakeholders and provide guidance on investigating suspected cases and delivering sanctions (Razı et al., 2021). Bretag (2013b) also remarks on the importance of a holistic and multi-stakeholder approach in the establishment of a culture of academic integrity. Policies are seen as documents providing guidance to institutions to develop a culture of academic integrity by helping them define their standards, prepare related guidelines and procedures for their stakeholders. Keeping the policies up-to-date is as important as developing them; otherwise, an out-of-date policy may bring more harm than benefit. It is therefore essential to address the changing trends during the COVID-19 pandemic in academic integrity policies by carefully blending what was already in place from pre-COVID era literature. Thus, this presentation aims to first highlight the general framework for academic integrity policies, and then present examples of the changing trends in academic integrity policies during COVID-19. Paine (1994) suggested two approaches: rule compliance strategy and integrity strategy. The former corresponds to the punitive approach to academic integrity, whereas the latter refers to the educative approach. Although earlier conceptions of academic integrity or responses to academic misconduct focused on how to prevent academic malpractice and what sanctions should apply to different academic integrity breaches, Bretag (2013b) spoke of an educative approach to academic integrity where proactive measures are prioritized over detection of and reaction to academic misconduct. Such developments fundamentally changed how we formulate our questions from “how do we stop students from cheating?” to “how do we ensure students are learning?” (Bertram Gallant, 2017). A good, robust, and holistic policy can help build a culture of integrity in an institution by emphasizing the values of integrity (Khan et al., 2019). Policies also serve the purpose of “affecting the way [values are] taught and embedded in curricula” (Bretag, Mahmud, East et al., 2011, p. 1) and good policies can help in reducing misconduct (Stoesz & Eaton, 2020). If policies are not clear, comprehensive, easy to understand or inconsistent, these can raise serious doubt on the quality of the institution’s programs, teaching and learning (Bretag, Mahmud, East et al., 2011; Tennant et al., 2007). Policies serve the purpose of contributing to quality and quality management at an institution, which will help to develop shared values stemming from genuine commitment by all stakeholders (Bretag, Mahmud, Wallace et al., 2011; Exemplary Academic Integrity Project – EAIP, 2013). Fundamentally, integrity is based on ethical principles and values of being honest, consistent, transparent and fair to the participant, public and scientific community. Ethics provides and underpins these principles as guides for research, whilst integrity makes us practise (or carry out) these principles in our day-to-day academic lives (Malan, 2007); therefore, both ethics and integrity collaboratively support appropriate and responsible behaviour in education and research. Organisational policies are usually based on ethical values (Polowczyk, 2017), but they should be written to suit all the different discipline (or subject) areas of an institution. Policies should consider the deviations and/or exceptions to the basic ethical principles. Academic integrity policies are meant to be holistic, inclusive, and educative (Peters, 2019). Bretag, Mahmud, Wallace et al. (2011) list five core elements to be addressed in an academic integrity policy: access, approach, responsibility, detail, and support. Access refers to the ease with which the policy can be accessed or located, read and understood by all stakeholders of the institution, be it staff, students, or faculty. Approach refers to the manner in which the concept is approached or addressed. Responsibility refers to the roles played by all stakeholders involved and what is expected of them in those capacities. Detail refers to the depth of information provided in terms of types of misconduct, severity levels, approach to deal with allegations and processes. Finally, support refers to how the process is implemented, the type of training available for all stakeholders to understand the policy, and on how the process works. Consulting existing policies might be an effective strategy as a point of departure for those who are either writing or revising policies. Researchers involved with the EAIP identified exemplary policies in Australia that others could use as a reference point (Bretag & Mahmud, 2016; Bretag, Mahmud, East et al., 2011, Bretag, Mahmud, Wallace et al., 2011; EAIP, 2013). Although consulting exemplary policies is an approach we recommend, we caution against lifting text or passages from other policies verbatim without acknowledgement as it could be considered plagiarism. Policies themselves can model ethical decision-making and behaviour that they wish constituents to follow. Policy documents that obviously plagiarise from other sources could lead to public outrage and negative media reporting. Institutional policies can vary according to the institutional view about academic integrity, academic misconduct or cheating. A reactive approach might be the most primitive form of policy as each academic takes individual responsibility for identifying the misconduct and its consequences. Another approach adopted by some institutions is a formal, almost judicial stance towards handling breaches of academic integrity, seeing cheating as an aberration to be punished. Detection policies focus on catching and generating evidence about academic integrity breaches. Proactive, deterrent or preventative approaches are designed to discourage and reduce cheating in academic work. Policies that have an educative focus are based on the premise that developing skills and knowledge related to academic integrity is at least as important as punishing students for academic misconduct. This presentation mainly aims to present examples of the changing trends in academic integrity policies during COVID-19. Despite ill-designed assessment practices during COVID-19, responsible academics and administrators were forced to rethink, redefine, and reassess common policies. For example, invigilated examinations were not viable, and they were replaced by online open book tests, short answer questions, timed assessments etc. Some institutions have tried to introduce new preventive measures such as the controversial ‘e-proctoring’ (Hollister & Berenson, 2009; Kharbat & Abu Daabes, 2021; Reedy et al., 2021;) which itself created additional challenges to the integrity policies. Therefore, it is essential for the integrity policy to holistically consider the ethical principles, their exceptions, national/international legislation that underpins integrity, and most importantly the situational changes, their needs and implications.
Open Access
Comparative Analysis of Institutional Reporting Practices Relating to Violations of Academic Integrity in Canadian Post-Secondary Institutions: Research Project brief
(2019-08-09) Eaton, Sarah Elaine
Purpose: The overarching goal of this study is to understand effective institutional practices relating to the collection of reporting of data relating to student violations of academic integrity in Canadian post-secondary institutions. Methods: This is a qualitative study. Data sources will include semi-structured interviews and documents (artefacts) relating to reporting practices relating to academic misconduct. Implications / Significance: The results of this study could inform how the University of Calgary goes about its own processes relating to reporting of academic integrity violations. Other institutions may also benefit from the findings as they endeavour to improve their own institutional practices over time. Keywords: academic integrity, academic misconduct, academic dishonesty, policy, reporting, violations, breaches, higher education, Canada
Open Access
Contract Cheating: A View from Three Calgary Post-Secondary Institutions
(2019-05-27) Eaton, Sarah Elaine; Toye, Margaret A.; Chibry, Nancy; Rossi, Silvia
A comparative exploration of how contract cheating is addressed at three Calgary post-secondary institutions.
Open Access
Contract Cheating: An Inter-Institutional Collaborative SoTL Project from Alberta
(2018-11-10) Eaton, Sarah Elaine; Toye, Margaret A.; Rossi, Silvia; Chibry, Nancy
Our project showcases perspectives from three Alberta post-secondary institutions, using a collaborative action research approach to reflect upon and then develop interventions to advance awareness of, and responses to, contract cheating. Contract cheating includes, but is not limited to essay mills, custom writing services, assignment completion services and professional exam takers. Contract cheating also occurs when parents, partners or another student do the work for a learner. In short, contract cheating happens when students have someone else complete academic work on their behalf, but submit their work as if they had done it themselves. Our project is framed as an action research project that extends SoTL beyond the individual classroom to a broader institutional context. Using narratives, observations and reflection-on-action as data sources, we use informal interventions such as hallway conversations and in-class discussions, designed to help both faculty members and students develop greater awareness about what contract cheating is and why it deserves attention from a teaching and learning perspective. We also discuss institutional action, such as taking part in the International Day of Action Against Contract Cheating, as a formal way to raise awareness about contract cheating in higher education more broadly. We conclude with preliminary practical and evidence-informed recommendations for practitioners, educational developers and decision-makers.
Open Access
The Ecosystem of Commercial Academic Fraud
(University of Calgary, 2022-09-28) Eaton, Sarah Elaine; Carmichael, Jamie
This graphic depicts the intersection and overlap between various types of commercial academic fraud and cheating. There are four overlapping categories including: (1) degree mills (i.e., fake and fraudulent diplomas, transcripts, reference letters, and other academic and professional documents; (2) contract cheating (i.e., outsourced student academic work such as term paper mills, assignment completion services, thesis writing services, and student proxy services; (3) admissions fraud (i.e., impersonation and fraud services for standardized admissions testing, language proficiency testing, and unethical educational agents); and (4) paper mills (i.e., manufactured scholarly and scientific publications and authorship for sale.) At the heart of all of this is intentional academic fraud.
Open Access
Engineering Integrity: Using text-matching software in a graduate level engineering course
(2019-04-18) Crossman, Katie; Paul, Robyn; Behjat, Laleh; Trifkovic, Milana; Fear, Elise C.; Eaton, Sarah Elaine; Yates, Robin Michael
Academic misconduct is an unfortunate reality for many post-secondary level educators across disciplines; however, there is currently a paucity of Canadian research on Academic Integrity (Eaton, 2018). This study describes an inter-disciplinary project to investigate the potential for text-matching software to prevent and avoid plagiarism by graduate level engineering students. Conceptual/Theoretical Framework: Our study was informed by the potential for text-matching software to help students understand and avoid plagiarism (Zaza & McKenzie, 2018) and faculty identify instances of plagiarism in an engineering course (Cooper & Bullard, 2014). Although text-matching software has been commercially available since the 1990s, its acceptance within academic contexts is uneven. Reasons for this are manifold, but the most commonly expressed concerns are about a) the punitive nature of the software use; b) the potential for it to be used as a tool for cheating students to “beat the system”, and c) privacy concerns (Savage, 2004). Methodology / Approach: In this project, approved by the institutional REB, assignments submitted in a graduate-level engineering communication course were analyzed using text-matching software, Ithenticate. The first phase of the study involved collecting baseline data from students enrolled in a graduate-level Engineering course (N=132). As per REB protocol, individual results were not shared with the professor or teaching assistants and sharing of aggregated results is not permitted until after February 15, 2019. In our presentation, we share baseline results, as well as outcomes of the second phase of the research, in which the research associate revealed the deception, explained the study, and solicited consent from students to have their next assignment harvested and analyzed. The research associate also introduced the software and provided a workshop on academic integrity including strategies for avoiding plagiarism, such as paraphrasing. Subsequent to these workshops, assignments written by consenting participants were analyzed with Ithenticate to determine whether a reduction in textual similarity occurred. Results / Findings: The results of this study indicate that text-matching software can be useful to students and educators to prevent and identify academic misconduct. This study will add to the growing body of empirical research about academic integrity in Canada and in particular, in engineering contexts.