I am handing this out in class, but it will be much easier to find the readings here, digitally. Please see below for a reading and discussion assignment that starts Friday, Sept. 9.
Academic Integrity Definition Reading & Discussion
Arts One, Hendricks, 2016-2017
Our class it taking part in a pilot project to try to help students understand “academic integrity” in a deeper and more useful way than it is usually covered in many postsecondary classes. As part of this project, we’re asking what you think academic integrity means, what the complications with it are, and why it’s valuable.
At the beginning of the academic year, we’re going to write up a definition of academic integrity as a class, and then we’ll revisit it later and see if we still agree with it as the year goes by, or whether we think it should be changed.
For Friday, Sept. 9
Please read the following excerpts from UBC policies and articles from elsewhere before class on Friday Sept. 9. The links to these readings are posted under “announcements” on the course website, for easy electronic access (https://a1hendricks.arts.ubc.ca).
- UBC Policy 85, on Scholarly Integrity: http://www.universitycounsel.ubc.ca/files/2015/08/policy85.pdf
- From the UBC Calendar, section on Academic Conduct & Discipline: http://www.calendar.ubc.ca/Vancouver/index.cfm?tree=3,54,111,0 Just read the first three sections of this site, namely:
- Academic Honesty: http://www.calendar.ubc.ca/Vancouver/index.cfm?tree=3,54,111,958 (this link was broken earlier; I fixed it Thursday late afternoon!)
- Academic Misconduct: http://www.calendar.ubc.ca/Vancouver/index.cfm?tree=3,54,111,959
- Disciplinary Measures: http://www.calendar.ubc.ca/Vancouver/index.cfm?tree=3,54,111,960
- Nelms, Gerald. “Why Plagiarism Doesn’t Bother Me at All.” Teaching and Learning in Higher Ed, 20 July 2015. https://teachingandlearninginhighered.org/2015/07/20/plagiarism-doesnt-bother-me-at-all-research/
- Nwanevu, Osita, and Stewart, Rachel. “Watch Melania Trump Plagiarize Michelle Obama….” Slate, 19 July 2016. http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2016/07/19/melania_trump_plagiarizes_michelle_obama_s_2008_speech.html
On Friday, Sept. 9, we will discuss the following questions and write up a preliminary list of things for a definition of academic integrity, what some complications/questions with might be, and why it is valuable.
We’ll discuss the following questions in small groups and each group will write answers on a shared online document, located at: https://is.gd/integritydef2016 It may ask you to log in; you don’t need to do so. Just start typing as “guest”!
- What does “academic integrity” mean to you?
- What does it mean at UBC, after reading the UBC documents? Is this similar to how you think of academic integrity?
- Why might academic integrity be important in educational institutions? Why might something like academic integrity be important beyond educational institutions, in workplaces and the wider society and culture?
- What are some complications with academic integrity, things that might make it difficult to judge if an action is wrong or not? What questions do you have about it?
- Why do you think some people commit academic misconduct?
For Wednesday, Sept. 14
Read through the other groups’ answers and make a few comments on answers from one or more of the other groups, on the shared document (https://is.gd/integritydef2016) before class on Wed. Sept. 14. Make your comments by using a different colour of font, so we can tell what the original answers were and what the comments are. Go to the button on the top of the doc with an “A” and a red underline, and you can choose the font colour of your text.
Christina will put the answers to questions (1) and (2) together into something like a shared definition by Friday, Sept. 16, and you will have a chance to comment on it then. Through this process we will come to a shared definition of academic integrity for our class that fits with UBC policies.
Later in the year
We will return to this definition and the same or similar questions as above (and any others that come up) at least one more time during the year to see if knowledge and experience we’ve gained in university changes anything of what we thought at the beginning of the year.
Resources about academic integrity
Please see the course website under “links,” “writing/citing” for a number of useful resources about academic integrity, how to paraphrase correctly without accidentally committing plagiarism, and more. Course website: https://a1hendricks.arts.ubc.ca/links/writingciting-resources/
