International Plagiarism Conference

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• International Plagiarism Conference
• Ethics in teaching, learning
• and assessment
• Don McCabe Rutgers University, USA

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Students using technology to cheat

• Computeractive 5 April 2006
• University examiners are struggling with the
  growing problem of plagiarism. At university
  level, one in six students admits to copying work
  from friends, and one in 10 confesses to looking
  for essays online, according to a recent survey
  by The Times Higher Education Supplement.

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Worry at web exam plagiarism rise

• BBC News 2 May 2006
• New concerns have been raised that use of the
  internet and mobile phones is fuelling an
  increase in pupils cheating in their exams and
  coursework. According to the Welsh Joint
  Education Committee (WJEC) exam board there has
  been a "significant" rise in pupils caught
  copying work from the web. More than 600
  candidates were identified as using the web for
  coursework at GCSE and A-level.

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Some questions

• Why do students engage in academic dishonesty?
• - Competition Campus to transnational
• - Fairness entitlement
• - What about the millenials?
• How can we address this growing phenomenon?
• - Plagiarism detection software?
• - Honor codes?
• - Other?
• What are appropriate faculty institutional
  roles?

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My plan

• Will focus on undergraduate students, but will
  consider graduate students as well
• Review my research
• - The numbers mostly US Canada
• - Why students cheat
• - How faculty react
• Some observations
• - Honor codes other deterrents
• - Institutional faculty roles

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My research

• College
• Have surveyed 135,00 students at 140 schools
• Have surveyed 14,000 faculty at 90 schools
• Honor codes were an early focus now modified
  codes
• High School
• Over 30M students at 65 schools (including
  repeats)

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High School Students
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Self-reported cheating

• Public Parochial Private
• Test/exam 76 71 49
• Plagiarism 61 64 47
• Data from over 18,000 students at 61 schools
  across the United States.

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Motivations to cheat in high school

• Because why do the work when you dont have to?
• There is no need to work so hard, if everyone
  else is cheating.
• Courses werent interesting enough
• Time, or lack thereof.
• Pressure to get good grades.
• Desire not to disappoint my teachers/parents.

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College Students
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2002-2006 Surveys

• Canada
• Students, faculty, TAs, first year students
• 16 participating schools
• United States
• Students, faculty, TAs, first year students
• 84 participating schools

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Methodological issues

• Self-report data
• Anonymity concerns with web-based surveys
• Low response rates
• Changing definition of cheating???

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Respondents

• U.S Canada
• Undergraduate 61,700 22,128
• Graduate 9,270 2,151
• Unknown 1,730 599

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Institutional factors associated with greater
cheating

• Cheating is campus norm (cheating culture)
• School has no honor code
• When students feel faculty dont support
  integrity policies, there is little chance of
  getting caught and, even if you are, penalties
  are not seen as significant

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Honor codes

• Traditional
• Unproctored exams
• Pledge
• Student judiciary
• Non-toleration
• Modified
• Student judiciary
• Academic integrity a campus-wide priority
• Pledge/unproctored exams typically optional

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• Some Good News
• About Academic Integrity
• McCabe Pavela
• Sept./Oct. 2000
• The basic elements of a
• modified honor code strategy.

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Students reporting greater cheating

• Business Communications majors
• Test cheating males cheating on written work
  trend is to females
• Students with low or high grade point averages
• Those with significant time commitments e.g.,
  caring for dependent, job, athletics
• Fraternity/sorority members to a moderate degree

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Self-reported cheating

• U.S.
  Canada
• UG Grad UG
  Grad
• Test Cheating 22 9
  19 9
• Written Cheating 46 31
  45 30
• (50) (32) (52) (35)
• N 61,700 9,270 19,378 2,151
  
• For undergrads - 90 via Internet 20
  

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Plagiarism - Undergraduates

• 1999 U.S. Canada
  
• Written cut paste 40 38
  36
• Written plagiarism 16 6
  5
• Internet cut paste 10 37
  35
• Internet plagiarism 5 3
  2
• (e.g., paper mills)

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Other areas

• UK, Australia very small samples, but much like
  the US Canada
• Lebanon, Egypt Greece (in American
  universities) - much more cheating reported
• Mexico higher levels
• Recent work in Israel Malaysia

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Student motivations for cheating

• Pressure to succeed/excel job market, grad
  school, etc.
• Fairness (Others do it.)
• Material is trivial/irrelevant.
• Courses too hard/faculty unreasonable.
• Sense of entitlement seems important.

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Motivations for not cheating

• The peer environment on campus because
  students are most affected by the social
  environment around them.
• Self respect. Upbringing (values morals).
• The consequences for cheating or dishonesty.
• Desire top truly learn.

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Do honor codes help? (2005)

• Self Other
• Test Written Test
  Written Sure
• Code schools (13) 14 43 8 9
  22
• New codes (2) 16 50 16
  15 33
• No code (13) 21 51 17
  18 41
• Fall 2005 survey of 28 campuses in U.S., small
  to medium in size, private, highly selective and
  residential. Self reports who acknowledge
  cheating in past year while other reports are
  who feel behavior occurs often or very often on
  campus. Sure who actually observed test
  cheating.

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Do honor codes help?

• Clearly to some degree, but they require much
  effort.?
• Reduced cheating is not the only, maybe not even
  the most important, goal.
• Community experience/self-governance.
• But, longitudinal data show some erosion vs. no
  code schools.
• Can we change this? Strong social pressures.

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Faculty

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How faculty students learn of policy

• Undergrads Faculty
• U.S. Canada U.S.
  Canada
• Faculty 63 43 41
  33
• Handbook 26 52
  51 58
• Orientation 20 25
  25 15
• Note Students - noting they learned
  a lot from the source.
• Faculty - who used source,
  no rating of how much learned.

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Is plagiarism serious cheating?

• Undergrads Faculty
• U.S. Canada
  U.S. Canada
• Written cut paste 59
  55 84 73
• Written plagiarism 93 93
  99 99
• Internet cut paste 60 53
  85 72
• Internet plagiarism 92 90
  98 99
• Note rating behavior moderate or
  serious cheating in 2002-2006 surveys.

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Faculty reactions to cheating

• U.S.
  Canada
• F on test/assignment 56 45
• Report student 52 53
• Warning or reprimand 35 35
  
• F course 19 9
  
• Redo assignment 19 16
• Lower grade 18 15

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Faculty safeguards Lost opportunity?

• Change exams regularly 70
  
• Monitor students closely on tests 70
  
• Discuss views on integrity 65
• Info in syllabus about cheating 65
  
• Internet to confirm plagiarism 23
• Range 7 to 63. 5 of 74 schools at 45 or
  above.

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Faculty role

• Education vs. detection? Use tools for
  education?
• Dont let plagiarism software detection lull you
  into a false sense of security. (Will it detect
  material from MS Autosummarize?)
• Help convince students it matters.
• Dont give up/change assignments.

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Faculty role

• We must remain vigilant at least out of a sense
  of fairness for honest students.
• Students in US seem to want some change we
  need to encourage them.
• More faculty need to come forward. (40 in US
  ignore some cases)
• Key issue Whats the right balance among
  promotion, deterrence and punishment?

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• Ten (Updated) Principles of Academic Integrity
• McCabe Pavela
• May/June 2004
• Principles of academic integrity for faculty.

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Fundamental Values Project
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Fundamental Values Project

• We define academic integrity as
• a commitment, even in the face of adversity, to
  five fundamental values honesty, trust,
  fairness, respect, and responsibility.

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Developing a Strong Program for Academic
Integrity

• Have clear academic integrity statements,
  policies, and procedures that are consistently
  implemented.
• Inform and educate the entire community regarding
  policy and procedures.
• Promulgate practice rigorously these policies
  and procedures from the top down, and provide
  support for those who faithfully follow and
  uphold them.

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Developing a Strong Program for Academic
Integrity

• Have a clear, accessible, and equitable system to
  adjudicate suspected violations of policy.
• Develop programs to promote academic integrity
  among all segments of the campus community.
  These programs should go beyond repudiation of
  academic dishonesty and include discussions
  about the importance of academic integrity and
  its connection to broader ethical issues ands
  concerns.

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Developing a Strong Program for Academic
Integrity

• Be alert to trends in higher education and
  technology affecting academic integrity on its
  campus.
• Assess regularly the effectiveness of its
  policies and procedures and take steps to improve
  and rejuvenate them.