Tracey Bretag

‘Teach us how to do it properly!’ An Australian academic integrity student survey

The results of a large online student survey (n = 15,304), on academic integrity at six Australian universities, indicate that a majority of respondents reported a good awareness of academic integrity and knowledge of academic integrity policy at their university and were satisfied with the information and support they receive. Response varied across cohorts, with international students expressing a lower awareness of academic integrity and academic integrity policy, and lower confidence in how to avoid academic integrity breaches. Postgraduate research student respondents were the least satisfied with the information they had received about how to avoid an academic integrity breach. The results from this survey provide an opportunity to explore the student perspective and inform the higher education sector in relation to communicating with and educating students about academic integrity. The students have indicated that Australian universities need to move beyond the mere provision of information to ensure a holistic approach that engages students about academic integrity.

Responding to Crises in Transnational Education: New Challenges for Higher Education

This paper is based on a case study of an Australian university involved in the delivery of transnational programs in an educational environment that has been increasingly characterized by commercial considerations. The researchers conducted focus group interviews with both general and academic staff to ascertain the personal, academic and administrative issues affecting the delivery of educational programs in Asia that arose as a result of one particular crisis in 2003: the SARS epidemic. The findings indicate that both administrative and academic staff felt personally and professionally challenged by the complexity of the issues involved in interrupting the pattern of transnational teaching. Potentially conflicting rationales emerged through the focus group discussions, with administrative staff expressing concern with maintaining services, while lecturers articulated a preoccupation with the safeguarding of assessment standards.

Postgraduate Research Students and Academic Integrity: "It's about Good Research Training".

Findings from a study on academic integrity at Australian universities challenge the presumption that postgraduate research students have prior knowledge of academic integrity. A review of online academic integrity policy in 39 Australian universities found that one in five policies had no mention of higher degree by research (HDR) students. Despite each of the six universities in our study having an academic integrity policy for HDR students, one in five HDR student survey respondents said they had never heard of academic integrity, two in five said they did not know whether their university has an academic integrity policy, and among the student groups they were the least satisfied with the information they had received about how to avoid an academic integrity breach. We argue for support and training in academic integrity for HDR students and draw insights from the interviews with senior stakeholders on how this could be realised.

Global Experience: the development and preliminary evaluation of a programme designed to enhance students’ global engagement

This paper reports on the development and preliminary evaluation of ‘Global Experience’, an innovative programme at the University of South Australia designed to broaden students’ intercultural engagement through a range of international experiential activities. The paper provides the rationale for the establishment of the programme including a summary of data from a feasibility study. A preliminary evaluation of the programme which has been operational since February 2008, is based on a range of data sets including the results of a survey of commencing students, a survey of the first graduates of the programme, plus results from the online Course Evaluation Instrument (CEI), Student Evaluation of Teaching for the academic component Global Experience Professional Development (GEPD) and qualitative feedback in journals written by students enrolled in GEPD. The data indicate that the Global Experience programme is fulfilling its objectives by responding to the recommendations of numerous researchers to operationalise programmes that encourage students to develop cross-cultural understanding, intercultural communication and international perspectives.

Contract cheating: a survey of Australian university students

ABSTRACT Recent Australian media scandals suggest that university students are increasingly outsourcing their assessments to third parties – a behaviour known as ‘contract cheating’. This paper reports on findings from a large survey of students from eight Australian universities (n = 14,086) which sought to explore students’ experiences with and attitudes towards contract cheating, and the contextual factors that may influence this behaviour. A spectrum of seven outsourcing behaviours were investigated, and three significant variables were found to be associated with contract cheating: dissatisfaction with the teaching and learning environment, a perception that there are ‘lots of opportunities to cheat’, and speaking a Language Other than English (LOTE) at home. To minimise contract cheating, our evidence suggests that universities need to support the development of teaching and learning environments which nurture strong student–teacher relationships, reduce opportunities to cheat through curriculum and assessment design, and address the well-recognised language and learning needs of LOTE students.

‘Pushing the boundaries’: participant motivation and self-reported benefits of short-term international study tours

Abstract Short-term overseas study tours serve as a means of developing students’ global competencies. The authors conducted pre-departure and post-return focus groups with three groups of students at an Australian university who had participated in short-term study tours to Asia to explore their motivations for participating and their self-reported benefits following completion of the study tour. Students’ key motivations revolved around the allure of a challenge, the desire to complete coursework quickly, experience cultural immersion, expand their networks, develop their ‘soft’ skills and to set themselves apart from other graduates in the future. The main self-reported benefits of the study tours centred on increased confidence from ‘pushing the boundaries’, enhanced intercultural understanding, improved interpersonal skills and the perception that career goals, particularly in relation to working overseas, had been clarified.

Integrity in Postgraduate Research: The Student Voice

There is a limited understanding of the student perspective of integrity in postgraduate research. This is of concern given that ‘research trainees’ may have a vulnerable position in formal investigations of research misconduct. This paper analyses qualitative data drawn from an Australian online academic integrity survey in a mixed methods research study. This analysis complements the quantitative survey data analysed earlier and sought to explore factors contributing to postgraduate research students’ satisfaction with policy and process, the ways institutions can support students’ understandings and practice, suggestions for improving breach processes, and students’ concerns. We found that integrity training and modelling of ethical behaviour by staff were key factors contributing to students’ satisfaction. Students would have liked more ‘hands-on’ integrity training, accompanied by consistent and transparent enforcement of policy. Respondents expressed concern about the credibility of research output and educational standards. We call for recommendations from the extensive literature on academic integrity policy and practice to be extended to the postgraduate research sphere.

Fostering Integrity in Postgraduate Research: An Evidence-Based Policy and Support Framework

Postgraduate research students have a unique position in the debate on integrity in research as students and novice researchers. To assess how far policies for integrity in postgraduate research meet the needs of students as “research trainees,” we reviewed online policies for integrity in postgraduate research at nine particular Australian universities against the Australian Code for Responsible Conduct of Research (the Code) and the five core elements of exemplary academic integrity policy identified by Bretag et al. (2011), i.e., access, approach, responsibility, detail, and support. We found inconsistency with the Code in the definition of research misconduct and a lack of adequate detail and support. Based on our analysis, previous research, and the literature, we propose a framework for policy and support for postgraduate research that encompasses a consistent and educative approach to integrity maintained across the university at all levels of scholarship and for all stakeholders.

Journal editing and ethical research practice: perspectives of journal editors

This article offers perspectives from academics with recent journal editing experience on a range of ethical issues and dilemmas that regularly pose challenges for those in editorial roles. Each contributing author has provided commentary and reflection on a select topic that was identified in the research literature concerning academic publishing and journal editing. Topics discussed include the ethical responsibilities of working with international and early career contributors to develop work for publication, balancing influence and responsibility to a journals disciplinary field while maintaining the integrity of editorial and review processes, and the challenges of promoting scholarly research that pushes epistemological, methodological, and political boundaries in an increasingly competitive publishing climate. This article aims to stimulate discussion concerning the roles, responsibilities, and ethical challenges faced by journal editors, and the implications of these for ethical practices in academic publishing today.

Editorial Volume 7 (1)

Welcome to the last issue of the IJEI for 2011. This issue includes the best refereed papers from the 5th Asia Pacific Conference on Educational Integrity: Culture and Values , held at the University of Western Australia, 26-28 September 2011. Download PDF to view full editorial