A significant national higher education conference was held for the first time in Sydney last week. Hosted by Macquarie University, the 6th Asia Pacific Conference on Educational Integrity explored concepts of academic and educational integrity with experts from around Australia and the world, between 2-4 October 2013.
Centred around the theme of Bridging the gap between policy and practice, the conference brought together scholars to present, argue and discuss pertinent interpretational issues, different approaches to promoting academic integrity, and its dynamics with learning and teaching.
“Academic integrity has always been important in higher education, but now more so than before because of the competing demands on students’ time, and the role of the internet, which has made it harder for students to resist temptation,” says conference organiser Abhaya Nayak.
“There is a strong resolve across the sector to better understand the problem we are facing, and address it, by formulating policies that are fair and easy to understand, by developing procedures to implement these policies effectively, and by taking appropriate steps to raise awareness among students and providing them adequate support when needed.”
Highlights included keynote presentations from Prof Donald McCabe, regarded as a founding father of research in this field, two panel discussions respectively chaired by Dr Teresa “Teddi” Fishman from the International Center for Academic Integrity and well known journalist and documentary-maker, Jenny Brockie, as well as presentations by four OLT sponsored Strategic Priority Projects on academic integrity.
This included a project led by Macquarie University, which explores academic integrity in Australia, and proposes ideas to change culture and practice.
Partnering with the Australian Catholic University, Rutgers State University of New Jersey (USA) and The University of Sydney, the project is investigating potential benefits of involving students in academic integrity knowledge dissemination and processes.
“Instead of reinventing the wheel,” says Project Manager Sonia Saddiqui, “we’re looking at what’s working well in the existing student-led approaches from North America (in the form of academic honour codes) for its adaptation in the Australian context.”
The project has surveyed over five thousand students at four Australian higher education institutions, interviewed academics and administrators across Australia and conducted focus groups. Initial results from the study were presented at the 6APCEI, and in the longer term, aims to facilitate the creation of an academic integrity student society at Macquarie University.
If successful, the idea may be subsequently emulated by other higher education institutions in Australia.
For further information and proceedings from the conference, visit: http://web.science.mq.edu.au/conferences/6apcei/
Centred around the theme of Bridging the gap between policy and practice, the conference brought together scholars to present, argue and discuss pertinent interpretational issues, different approaches to promoting academic integrity, and its dynamics with learning and teaching.
“Academic integrity has always been important in higher education, but now more so than before because of the competing demands on students’ time, and the role of the internet, which has made it harder for students to resist temptation,” says conference organiser Abhaya Nayak.
“There is a strong resolve across the sector to better understand the problem we are facing, and address it, by formulating policies that are fair and easy to understand, by developing procedures to implement these policies effectively, and by taking appropriate steps to raise awareness among students and providing them adequate support when needed.”
Highlights included keynote presentations from Prof Donald McCabe, regarded as a founding father of research in this field, two panel discussions respectively chaired by Dr Teresa “Teddi” Fishman from the International Center for Academic Integrity and well known journalist and documentary-maker, Jenny Brockie, as well as presentations by four OLT sponsored Strategic Priority Projects on academic integrity.
This included a project led by Macquarie University, which explores academic integrity in Australia, and proposes ideas to change culture and practice.
Partnering with the Australian Catholic University, Rutgers State University of New Jersey (USA) and The University of Sydney, the project is investigating potential benefits of involving students in academic integrity knowledge dissemination and processes.
“Instead of reinventing the wheel,” says Project Manager Sonia Saddiqui, “we’re looking at what’s working well in the existing student-led approaches from North America (in the form of academic honour codes) for its adaptation in the Australian context.”
The project has surveyed over five thousand students at four Australian higher education institutions, interviewed academics and administrators across Australia and conducted focus groups. Initial results from the study were presented at the 6APCEI, and in the longer term, aims to facilitate the creation of an academic integrity student society at Macquarie University.
If successful, the idea may be subsequently emulated by other higher education institutions in Australia.
For further information and proceedings from the conference, visit: http://web.science.mq.edu.au/conferences/6apcei/
