Teaching Academic Integrity in Quebec Universities: Roles Professors Adopt

Abstract

The habits of university students today have changed drastically thanks to the technological tools at their disposal and the access to an enormous amount of information on the web, which they can copy, use, and reference in their assignments. Unfortunately, the line has become blurred about what is and what isn't permitted by their professors and their universities, sometimes resulting in students committing plagiarism. Research has shown that many students arrive at university unprepared. They lack the informational skills needed to research and choose the information relevant for their assignments, the writing skills necessary to properly integrate the found information with paraphrases or quotations, or the referencing skills to provide their sources in order to write their assignments with integrity. In this research, we aimed to examine how professors in six different universities viewed their role in the teaching of academic integrity by means of educating students on informational, writing, and referencing skills as well as teaching their students about plagiarism prevention. Forty-nine professors and lecturers were interviewed about their role in the teaching of various skills. Results show that there were four types of information searching assignments required by the professors: searches for published information, searches for authentic contextual information, searches limited to the handouts given to the students and no information research required. Seven roles emerged from the data, from the Ambassador professor who takes full responsibility for the teaching of skills to prevent plagiarism to the Detached professor, who completely dissociates from this responsibility for different reasons. Recommendations are presented on how to encourage professors to adopt the four roles of the "Integrity Ambassador": the intermediary who promotes the discovery of all services available to students; the awakener, who encourage students' appreciation of learning for the sake of learning; the accompanist, who guides and supports students with direct interventions in class so that they develop the skills and knowledge necessary to write their assignments with integrity; and finally, by being a model, the Integrity Ambassador cultivates a climate of integrity in class and in the university, showing how one can lead an academic life with integrity.

Academic Integrity Education Across the Canadian Higher Education Landscape

“…The pivotal role faculty play through their relationships with students must be emphasized. Students have reported their reliance on faculty to help them understand expectations related to academic integrity (Miron, 2016 ; Peters et al, 2019 ). Modeling and mentoring the values of academic integrity combined with teaching content specific to academic integrity and expectations across the students’ learning career will support the development of students’ ethical and moral comportment.…”

“…Modeling and mentoring the values of academic integrity combined with teaching content specific to academic integrity and expectations across the students’ learning career will support the development of students’ ethical and moral comportment. Peters et al ( 2019 ) noted that faculty who adopt an ambassador role toward academic integrity engage students systematically to teach them the importance of integrity in their academics. Peters et al suggested that this role engages, promotes, encourages, and inspires students to learn through tangible teaching about academic integrity within the higher education setting.…”

“…This misalignment between expectations result in student integrity transgressions and student dissatisfaction with their educational journeys (Bretag et al, 2014 ; Curtis et al, 2013 ). Opportunity, for faculty, leaders, and students in higher education, rests in our efforts to orient, teach, and engage students with academic integrity (Peters et al, 2019 ). Additionally, higher education students’ interactions with their organizations’ cultural landscapes influence their beliefs and actions related to integrity (Young et al, 2018 ).…”

“…Evidence suggests that faculty play important roles in modelling desired behaviours and conduct, as well as teaching essential skills that equip students to engage with their studies with integrity (Garza Mitchell & Parnther, 2018 ). Academic writers suggest that when students have positive relationships with their instructors, they are less likely to be dishonest and feel connected to their learning and those teaching them (Clark & Soutter, 2016 ; Peters et al, 2019 ; Stoesz & Yudintseva, 2018 ). Seventy-five percent of senior undergraduate nursing students ( N = 339) from across three different educational organizations reported they rely on their professors/instructors to help them learn about academic integrity (Miron, 2016 ).…”

Assessing the Academic integrity among University Students in Pakistan

“…Semantic content analysis was used to produce a list of occurrences of themes. In semantic content analysis occurrences and meaning inherent in the text, both are reported (Onwuegbuzie, Dickinson, Leech, & Zoran, 2009). These themes are then used to assert the meaning obtained from the data.…”