Grant program: Teaching and Learning Development Grant (TLDG)

Grant recipient: Sheri Fabian, School of Criminology

Project team: Zana Nicolaou and Jennifer Kusz, research assistants

Timeframe: September 2020 to May 2021

Funding: $4,990

Course addressed: CRIM 131 – Introduction to the Criminal Justice System

Description: The study aims to explore the experience of students enrolled in an online class where an academic integrity honour code was violated during a midterm exam, or what I refer to as midterm celebration of learning (a term used by colleague, Lara Aknin, and now by me). Further, this study intends to explore the role of the COVID-19 pandemic on student online learning experiences and how the pandemic influenced a class incident of academic dishonesty during their midterm celebration of learning. Issues of academic integrity are not new and continue to be a consistent point of concern within post-secondary institutions. Violating academic integrity offends every aspect of institutional and individual achievement. Without a promise to abide by academic integrity codes and policies, the work produced at a university cannot be considered trustworthy, original, valid, or credible. Issues of academic integrity are complicated by the presence of a pandemic that forced students and teachers to adjust quickly to an online learning format. While online classes are offered at SFU, exams for online courses are almost always either in-person, or student learning is tested in an alternative manner such as a major paper or presentation. Thus, COVID-19 offered a unique challenge for teachers to decide how students can demonstrate their learning while simultaneously upholding university policies of academic integrity.

References:

McCabe, D. L., Treviño, L. K., & Butterfield, K. D. (1999). Academic integrity in honor code and non-honor code environments: A qualitative investigation. Journal of Higher Education, 70,211–234

Baker, R. K., Berry, P., & Thornton, B. (2008). Student attitudes on academic integrity violations. Journal of College Teaching & Learning (TLC), 5(1).

Lanier, M.M. (2006) Academic Integrity and Distance Learning, Journal of Criminal Justice Education, 17:2, 244-261

Questions addressed: 

• How did students react to the instructor’s management of the academic dishonesty that occurred during the class midterm celebration of learning?
• How did students respond to the required discussion prompt that related due process, restorative justice, and plea bargaining to the incident of academic dishonesty?
• What do students recommend for academic dishonesty prevention in an online environment?
• To what extent do students refer the role of COVID-19 and living in a pandemic in the dishonesty?
• How did the incident of academic dishonesty affect student learning
• To what extent do students refer to this incident as an example of course concepts in their final celebration of learning when presented with the opportunity to do so? How is this incident used as an example of course content in the final celebration of learning?
• What are the experiences of the instructor and teaching assistants in responding to the incident?
  

Knowledge sharing: We will produce a final report that describes the study and results including lessons learned about examinations in online environments. Findings will be shared with Academic Integrity Advisors through SFU’s network. We will also share through CEE, Teaching Matters and other similar venues. We intend to prepare several publications out of the data from this project and hope to present at conferences when they open up.