Pharmacy Students' Interpretation of Academic Integrity
Objective. To explore pharmacy students' recognition and interpretation of situations constituting breaches of academic integrity.
Methods. A survey instrument comprising 10 hypothetical student(s) scenarios was completed by 852 students in the bachelor of pharmacy program at an Australian university. The scenarios were relevant to current modes of assessment and presented degrees of ambiguity around academic integrity.
Results. Identification of the hypothetical student(s) at fault, particularly in the deliberately ambiguous scenarios, was not related to the respondents' year of study or sex. Students with fewer years of postsecondary education were more definitive in their interpretation of contentious cases. Respondents from all 4 years of study reported witnessing many of these behaviors among their peers.
Conclusion. This study provided novel insight into the ambiguity surrounding academic integrity and students' perceptions relating to the deliberate or inadvertent involvement of other parties.
Academic integrity is a fundamental expectation of university students as reflected in student charters and similar documents. While the concept is of paramount importance in all university programs, it is of particular interest in professional degree programs such as medicine, pharmacy, nursing, or law, as students of these disciplines should have high levels of ethical principles in readiness for their membership in professions guided by codes of ethics/conduct and professional practice standards.
The incidence of and demographic factors associated with academic misconduct in postsecondary students, predominantly cheating in assessments and plagiarism, have been extensively studied by academic researchers. Factors including age, sex, and experience with postsecondary study are still debated in the literature. Some studies have found that male students are more likely than female students to commit plagiarism, although this has been contradicted. Studies in which postgraduate and undergraduate students self-reported their behavior suggested lower rates of academic dishonesty among postgraduate students, and this was attributed to these students' maturity and commitment to their future careers. The majority of students acknowledge the existence of plagiarism rules, but may be unsure of how to apply them. Because most international students cope with more stress socially and academically than domestic students, studies have found that they are more prone to cheat. Use of the Internet and other electronic media for plagiarism has been widely reported. Other factors such as a publicized honor code, academic pressure, and students' morals/beliefs have also been researched in terms of students' academic behavior; however, there has been a lack of consensus in the findings.
Presumably because of the challenges surrounding self-reporting of academic misconduct and inaccurate detection of such cases, research has extended to students' perceptions or interpretation of academic misconduct as a proxy for their behavior. Studies have found that "mature" students are less likely to recognize acts of academic misconduct and report cheating compared with younger students. A Scottish cross-sectional study, however, tested students' ability to "recognize foul academic behaviors" and found that most first-year students considered numerous acts of plagiarism reasonable, perhaps because of lack of experience in dealing with such situations. Other researchers have characterized students' justifications for cheating, which first required recognition of these behaviors, and then focused on "neutralization" and excuses, and recognition of the "shades of grey" in condemned behaviors. The overall paucity of published research on the psychological aspects of breaching academic integrity implies a need for further study, and this should begin by exploring students' interpretation of academic integrity.
Two studies of the plagiaristic behaviors of medical students in Croatia, which compared groups of students who were not warned about plagiarism, those issued a minor warning, and those issued a strong message about plagiaristic activity, produced inconsistent findings. These studies focused on particular behaviors rather than on the students' ability to discern appropriate and inappropriate conduct.
Behavioral research in the nursing discipline revealed a higher rate of academic misconduct in undergraduate nursing students compared with postgraduate nursing students and non-nursing undergraduate students. Additionally, the undergraduate nursing students were also less likely to identify moderate or serious cheating.
An Australian study published by University of Sydney researchers explored pharmacy students' knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors relating to academic honesty, and evaluated the influences of students' age, education experience, morals/beliefs, and understanding of plagiarism. Approximately 90% of the undergraduate students surveyed felt that it was acceptable to have someone else write their assignment, invent references because they had forgotten to note the source details, and include someone else's words in their assignment without properly referencing the source. While examining relevant demographic variables, the study omitted some variables reported by other authors and could have provided deeper insight if the proposed behaviors had been more detailed. Our study attempted to build on this published research by applying a scenario-based approach to determine pharmacy students' interpretation of academic misconduct, thereby identifying areas of ambiguity and training needs in academic integrity. Whether examining students' interpretation of academic misconduct in a fictional scenario is a valid proxy for assessing students' views regarding their own behavior is beyond the scope of this paper. Our supposition was that if students can identify appropriate and inappropriate behavior, this might improve self-awareness of their own behavior and, thus, influence their conduct.
The aim of our research was to elucidate students' ability to identify appropriate and inappropriate academic conduct using scenarios depicting potential cases of plagiarism and other forms of cheating in order to highlight areas of ambiguity in students' understanding of appropriate academic conduct. One hypothesis of interest was that students' ability to correctly identify plagiarism would be greater among more senior students in the program.
Abstract and Introduction
Abstract
Objective. To explore pharmacy students' recognition and interpretation of situations constituting breaches of academic integrity.
Methods. A survey instrument comprising 10 hypothetical student(s) scenarios was completed by 852 students in the bachelor of pharmacy program at an Australian university. The scenarios were relevant to current modes of assessment and presented degrees of ambiguity around academic integrity.
Results. Identification of the hypothetical student(s) at fault, particularly in the deliberately ambiguous scenarios, was not related to the respondents' year of study or sex. Students with fewer years of postsecondary education were more definitive in their interpretation of contentious cases. Respondents from all 4 years of study reported witnessing many of these behaviors among their peers.
Conclusion. This study provided novel insight into the ambiguity surrounding academic integrity and students' perceptions relating to the deliberate or inadvertent involvement of other parties.
Introduction
Academic integrity is a fundamental expectation of university students as reflected in student charters and similar documents. While the concept is of paramount importance in all university programs, it is of particular interest in professional degree programs such as medicine, pharmacy, nursing, or law, as students of these disciplines should have high levels of ethical principles in readiness for their membership in professions guided by codes of ethics/conduct and professional practice standards.
The incidence of and demographic factors associated with academic misconduct in postsecondary students, predominantly cheating in assessments and plagiarism, have been extensively studied by academic researchers. Factors including age, sex, and experience with postsecondary study are still debated in the literature. Some studies have found that male students are more likely than female students to commit plagiarism, although this has been contradicted. Studies in which postgraduate and undergraduate students self-reported their behavior suggested lower rates of academic dishonesty among postgraduate students, and this was attributed to these students' maturity and commitment to their future careers. The majority of students acknowledge the existence of plagiarism rules, but may be unsure of how to apply them. Because most international students cope with more stress socially and academically than domestic students, studies have found that they are more prone to cheat. Use of the Internet and other electronic media for plagiarism has been widely reported. Other factors such as a publicized honor code, academic pressure, and students' morals/beliefs have also been researched in terms of students' academic behavior; however, there has been a lack of consensus in the findings.
Presumably because of the challenges surrounding self-reporting of academic misconduct and inaccurate detection of such cases, research has extended to students' perceptions or interpretation of academic misconduct as a proxy for their behavior. Studies have found that "mature" students are less likely to recognize acts of academic misconduct and report cheating compared with younger students. A Scottish cross-sectional study, however, tested students' ability to "recognize foul academic behaviors" and found that most first-year students considered numerous acts of plagiarism reasonable, perhaps because of lack of experience in dealing with such situations. Other researchers have characterized students' justifications for cheating, which first required recognition of these behaviors, and then focused on "neutralization" and excuses, and recognition of the "shades of grey" in condemned behaviors. The overall paucity of published research on the psychological aspects of breaching academic integrity implies a need for further study, and this should begin by exploring students' interpretation of academic integrity.
Two studies of the plagiaristic behaviors of medical students in Croatia, which compared groups of students who were not warned about plagiarism, those issued a minor warning, and those issued a strong message about plagiaristic activity, produced inconsistent findings. These studies focused on particular behaviors rather than on the students' ability to discern appropriate and inappropriate conduct.
Behavioral research in the nursing discipline revealed a higher rate of academic misconduct in undergraduate nursing students compared with postgraduate nursing students and non-nursing undergraduate students. Additionally, the undergraduate nursing students were also less likely to identify moderate or serious cheating.
An Australian study published by University of Sydney researchers explored pharmacy students' knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors relating to academic honesty, and evaluated the influences of students' age, education experience, morals/beliefs, and understanding of plagiarism. Approximately 90% of the undergraduate students surveyed felt that it was acceptable to have someone else write their assignment, invent references because they had forgotten to note the source details, and include someone else's words in their assignment without properly referencing the source. While examining relevant demographic variables, the study omitted some variables reported by other authors and could have provided deeper insight if the proposed behaviors had been more detailed. Our study attempted to build on this published research by applying a scenario-based approach to determine pharmacy students' interpretation of academic misconduct, thereby identifying areas of ambiguity and training needs in academic integrity. Whether examining students' interpretation of academic misconduct in a fictional scenario is a valid proxy for assessing students' views regarding their own behavior is beyond the scope of this paper. Our supposition was that if students can identify appropriate and inappropriate behavior, this might improve self-awareness of their own behavior and, thus, influence their conduct.
The aim of our research was to elucidate students' ability to identify appropriate and inappropriate academic conduct using scenarios depicting potential cases of plagiarism and other forms of cheating in order to highlight areas of ambiguity in students' understanding of appropriate academic conduct. One hypothesis of interest was that students' ability to correctly identify plagiarism would be greater among more senior students in the program.
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