Academic integrity and assessment offences: Anecdotal observations by an AOA from practice

Hassler, Sabine

Abstract

Assessment Offences, it would seem, are on the rise. Access to better supporting software, such as text-matching resources like SafeAssign and TurnitIn or a simple search engine access with key phrases, have made plagiarism or collusion easier to detect and trace. Other offences, such as falsification and/or fabrication can be detected owing to assessment design and marker input in that data or results produced fail to reflect the assessment parameters. Even contract cheating is better known and understood owing to the proliferation of such providers being made public, with the services they provide to be made into an offence.
However, assessment offences in terms of student misconduct are not a new phenomenon and in fact have been committed for a long time; just most went unnoticed or were unable to be advanced owing to insufficient evidence and/or because the resources for detection were not as plentiful and efficient as they are now. It could consequently be argued that academic integrity has been under threat for a long time, at least hypothetically, and that a number of academic submissions written in the past might not stand up if subjected to contemporary scrutiny – with the exception of some scholars being publicly shamed having come under specific scrutiny and publicity. These, however, do not seem have had a major impact on matters of academic integrity, albeit putting a question mark against the personal integrity of the individual.
With increased detection tools at our disposal, a key argument in creating preventative frameworks to deal with the emergence and proliferation of assessment offences is that academic integrity is at risk. But what is meant by academic integrity? It is not just a self-serving ideal, reflective of moral imperatives and standards as a means and an end in itself. On a personal, individual level it is about being ‘open and honest’ and admitting that rules were not adequately understood. On larger, institutional level, ‘academic integrity’ can be taken to translate into reputation (both the university’s and by extension the individual student/ alumnus) and value (of the degree) in terms of long-term impact. Having a degree is consequently tied to self-interest in coming from a reputable organisation. Yet, in an age when detection is more likely and where the consequences for a law student in particular could have professional implications, students still commit assessment offences when the argument should be that when they appreciate the value of academic integrity, and therefore the long-term impact on the value of their degree, they do not engage in such misconduct. Something clearly does not connect.
In order to explore this issue, this paper is premised on the argument that assessment offences are not a deliberate attack on academic integrity but are, rather, borne out of other reasons. These will be explored and considered in light of the presenter’s personal experiences as an assessment offences adviser with thoughts on assessment design and academic support mechanisms on offer.

• Presentation Conference Type: Presentation / Talk
• Conference Name: Academic Integrity in the Law School: Past Experiences, Current Challenges, and Future Perspectives
• Start Date: Jun 17, 2022
• End Date: Jun 17, 2022
• Deposit Date: Jul 29, 2022
• Keywords: academic integrity assessment offences student misconduct harm reputation
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/9719675
• Additional Information: https://essl.leeds.ac.uk/law/events/event/1247/academic-integrity-in-the-law-school-past-experiences-current-challenges-and-future-perspectives