This document summarizes a presentation on promoting academic honesty in international schools. It discusses how schools should focus on prevention over punishment by explicitly teaching students skills like citation. Teachers also need training to avoid common mistakes. While cheating is a significant problem, schools can reduce plagiarism through lessons on topics like bibliographies. The presentation emphasizes starting early by integrating academic honesty into curriculum and involving students, teachers, and parents.

1. slides: slideshare.net/Edubridge
backchannel: todaysmeet.com/TAISI
#taisi14
Academic Honesty
in the Digital Age
Mick Purcell
Edunbridge International School
mickpurcell@gmail.com

2. This paper investigates academic honesty in the digital age, and offers constructive advice, including tips,
skills and policy guidelines, for international educators. Schools must focus on the promotion academic
honesty rather than the punishment of academic dishonesty. Research shows that the single most
important factor in promoting a school culture of academic honesty is the attitude of the students. If
students value academic integrity, then their peers are less likely to cheat or plagiarize. Students must be
taught explicitly to value academic honesty and how to practice academic honesty in the digital age.
Practical tips are given about how to create a culture of academic honesty in the digital age. Students and
teachers should discuss and include academic honesty in their Essential Agreements from a young age.
Teachers must learn precisely how to cite, write bibliographies, use the internet effectively, give references
within presentations, or acknowledge a work of art. Strategies for integrating academic honesty into the
curriculum are presented with examples or vignettes of successful methods, including Academic Honesty
in the Primary Years. The best online tools are presented. Practical strategies are suggested for students,
teachers, parents, teacher-librarians, and administrators. There are tips about how to write a school’s
Academic Honesty policy by involving the school community to reflect the school’s mission.
There is a brief discussion of the importance of academic honesty as the bedrock of academic institutions
in free societies, and the links between academic honesty, Ways of Knowing, the Learner Profile, and
international-mindedness.

3. Primary Objectives:
● Learn about AH issues facing educators and schools
● Identify common mistakes made by students, teachers, and
schools
● Thoughtful conversation about the IB Position on Academic
Honesty

4. The most important learning:
● Support students, and focus on promoting academic
honesty instead of punishing academic dishonesty
● Move from academic honesty to educational integrity and
relate AH to mission, school values, ethics, etc.
● Begin young with student involvement
● Train teachers: skills and issues in the Digital Age

5. Structure of this talk
1. a survey of the academic discourse about educational
integrity, and some results from research in the field
2. how this discourse can and should be applied to international
schools, and international schools in particular
3. some practical tips for international educators about
addressing academic integrity at your school

6. school leaders:
AH, EI, issues, etc.
stakeholders:
academic honesty policy
students: tips, tools, procedures, how to cite, etc,
including the critical thinking and research skjills

7. The importance of including sources first
● Get students to think about how their ideas are influenced
by the ideas of others
● Referencing requires “thinking, writing, and signaling”:
○ inquirers, reflective, communicators, principled, etc.

8. Works Cited
"Acadmic Honesty." Online Curriculum Centre. International Baccalaureate Organization, 2012. Web. 31 Jan. 2014.
"APFEI | Asia Pacific Forum on Educational Integrity." APFEI, 2013. Web. 31 Jan. 2014.
Carroll, Jude. "Academic honesty in the IB." IB position papers. International Baccalaureate Organization, 21 Feb, 2013. Web. 31 Jan. 2014.
Crace, John. "Jude Carroll: Original Thinker." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 26 Apr. 2005. Web. 16 Mar. 2014.
Davis, Stephen F., Patrick F. Drinan, and Tricia Bertram Gallant. Cheating in School: What We Know and What We Can Do. Chichester, U.K.: Wiley-
Blackwell, 2009. Print.
Garza, Celina. Academic Honesty Workshop. Proc. of IBAP Regional Conference 2014, Singapore, International Baccalaureate Organization, 2014.
“ICAI | The International Center for Academic Integrity.” ICAI, 2014. Web. 15 Mar 2014.
Josephson, Michael. "CHARACTER COUNTS!" Josephson Institute of Ethics, 20 Nov. 2012. Web. 15 Mar. 2014.
Nicolson, Malcolm, Personal Interview, 28 Aug, 2013.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Dir. Rupert Wyatt. Perf. James Franco, Andy Serkis, Freida Pinto. 20th Century Fox, 2011.
“SEE | The School for Ethical Education.” SEE, 2014. Wed 09 Mar 2014.
Skaar, Havard, and Hugo Hammer. "Why Students Plagiarise from the Internet."International Journal for Educational Integrity. APFEI, Dec. 2013.
Web. 31 Jan. 2014.
Stephens, Jason M and Nicholson, Heather, Cases of Incongruity: Exploring the Divide between Adolescents' Beliefs and Behavior Related to
Academic Dishonesty, Educational Studies, v34 n4 p361-376, Oct 2008.

9. Asia Pacific Forum for
Educational Integrity

10. Cheating in School: What We
Know and What We Can Do
by Davis, Drinan, and Bertrand Gallant

11. The School for
Ethical Education

12. The International Center
for Academic Integrity

13. blogs.ibo.org
Jude Carroll

14. occ.ibo.org
Academic Honesty Policy

15. In the past 15 or 20 years, we see an
emerging academic discipline:
Educational Psychologists and others are
studying academic integrity, cheating or
dishonesty, educational ethics, etc.
Some questions they ask:

16. Is plagiarism or cheating a significant problem?

17. The IBO’s position paper states (without evidence):
“Almost all learners behave honestly but a few do not.”
(Carroll, 2012, p.1).

19. How can we measure whether students are copying from the
internet, plagiarizing, etc?
● Alfie Kohn suggests a revolutionary new method . . . .

20. Josephson Institute (2012) interviews more than 20,000 High
School students every two years:
○ 32% of students self-report copying and pasting from the
internet for a school assignment;
○ 51% of students self-report cheating on a test.

21. Håvard Skaar and Hugo Hammer from Oslo and Akershus
University College, Norway (2013)
● investigate secondary school students' plagiarism of internet
sources in essay writing:
○ 75% of students reported plagiarising from online
sources;
○ plagiarism accounted for 25% of the total amount of text.

22. There are many similar studies. There is an
overwhelming consensus that:
● cheating or academic misconduct is a significant
problem;
● the issues involving cheating or dishonesty
(including the methods) are more complex
because of the internet;
● there is currently a disconnect in the attitudes
between educators and students.

23. Håvard Skaar and Hugo Hammer from Oslo and Akershus
University College, Norway (2013)
● ask: what factors correlate to incidence of plagiarism?
○ grades (better grades, less plagiarism)
○ explicit education about plagiarism and methods of
citation (more education, less plagiarism)
○ bibliography (papers with a proper bibliography are
significantly less likely to contain plagiarism)
● no significant correlation for gender

24. As educators, two of these three factors
are within our control:
Explicitly teaching students about
academic honesty, methods of citation,
and ESPECIALLY about how to write a
proper bibliography (in timetabled
lessons) is likely to reduce the frequency
of plagiarism.

25. What causes students to cheat?

26. Jason M. Stephens (2008), Associate Professor of
Educational Psychology at UConn, has classified
the reasons into four categories:
● under-interested
● under pressure
● unable
● unrepentant

28. How deeply rooted is the problem?

30. the problem is deep-rooted:
From
ACADEMIC
HONESTY to
EDUCATIONAL
INTEGRITY

31. The past ten years:
From Academic Honesty to
Educational Integrity
Naughties (00s):
Academic Honesty
A few students plagiarized
Plagiarism was deliberate
Using plagiarism-detection systems
Focus on text
Blame on students
Reactive punishments
Addressed to the individual
Honesty is assumed as the norm
Tens (2010s)
Educational Integrity
Many students are plagiarizing
Plagiarism is often unintentional
The systems must be scrutinized
Art, images, collusion, etc.
Blame on teachers and schools
Proactive lessons
Addressed to the School Community
Honesty is consciously developed

32. Educational Integrity
Does a school honor its contracts and commitments?
Do kids cheat or bully on the playground?
Are teachers hired with honest promises?
Does the school have policies to reduce conflict of interests?
Are promotions and interviews conducted ethically?
Is the school’s budget transparent?
Do teachers cut and paste images from the web into their PPTs?

33. Gary Pavela (ICAI, 2014) has identified 4
stages of Institutional Development
Stage One: "Primitive"
no policy or procedures (or minimalist)
Stage Two: "Radar Screen"
early efforts: public debate and
concerns
Stage Three: "Mature"
policies and procedures known and
supported
Stage Four: "Honor Code"
heuristic: awareness as an institution

35. Task:
Academic Honesty Checklist
for international schools
For each descriptor, mark it:
3 = Absolutely 2 = Mostly 1 = Partially 0 = Not at all

36. Our school has an Academic Honesty Committee
Our school has a clearly articulated Academic Honesty policy
Our Academic Honesty policy is transparent and easily available
Our Academic Honesty policy clearly outlines the rights and responsibilities of
younger students, older students, teachers, and school leaders
Staff training time is set aside for Academic Honesty
Lessons are set aside for students to learn Academic Honesty
Students and teachers are taught the technology tools for AH in the Digital Age,
such as online bibliographies, plagiarism detection services, search engines,
image editing, etc.
Our Academic Honesty policy emphasizes prevention over punishment
Our policy goes relates academic honesty to greater issues of honesty, such as
the Learner Profile attributes
Our Academic Honesty policy clearly defines the procedures for a suspected
case of dishonesty
There is a committee or a panel of judges to adjudicate cases of suspected
dishonesty
There is a process in place for the review and revision of the Academic Honesty
policy, either every year or every other year

37. Our teachers are well aware of our AH policy
and they actively support it
Our students are well aware of our AH policy
and they actively support it
Our parents are well aware of our AH policy
and they actively support it
What evidence is there?

38. “We investigate hundreds of cases of academic
dishonesty each year, and in the majority of cases
the problem is that the student was not intending to
cheat, but that they were never taught properly in
terms of ATL skills. For example, the student was
poorly taught how to cite, how to write a
bibliography, how to reference a work of art, etc.”
Malcolm Nicolson (2013),
Head of Development for the IBDP

39. a story

40. a task
which age group is closest to your heart?
primary years?
middle years?
high school years?
divide into groups of 3 - 4, based on the answer
develop three important methods for teaching (academic)
honesty to students in our schools
WRITE each point in 140 characters or less
contribute those 1 - 4 points to: todaysmeet.com/TAISI OR
twitter #taisi14

41. Summary of IB Position Paper
(Jude Carroll, 2012)
● Support learners
○ most important lesson: students need help in this area
● Policies and procedures need to be especially clear
○ to teachers, too, if plagiarism or collusion is suspected
● Learners need to develop specific skills
○ technology and timetabled lessons
● Schools should provide detailed guidance to learners
○ MLA, useful sites, etc.
● Create a local academic honesty policy
○ involve teachers and parents

42. In the Primary Years
● Essential Agreements
○ most important lesson: students need help in this area
● Relate to Learner Profile
● Involve Parents
● Age Appropriate Measures
○ promote understanding, not fear
● Teacher training and Modeling

43. In the Middle Years
● 21st century Skills
○ Research Skills, Bibliography, Citations, etc.
○ Thinking Skills: is this really your idea?
○ Communication Skills
○ Social Skills
● Early Awareness and Understanding of Consequences, with
increasing stakes
● Specific tasks and lessons, including task-specific clarifications that
include referencing in the rubric
● Paraphrasing and active discussions of spiraling complexity
● More teacher training and Technology Tools

44. Twelve Skills for Teachers
and Students
1. Writing a Bibliography using the school’s suggested format
2. Writing Citations onto Images
3. Explaining Sources in a Presentation
4. Using Headings in a Word Processor
5. Using the Research Tool in Google Docs or the References
Tab in Microsoft Word
6. Paraphrasing and Summarizing
7. Using the Creative Commons Search Engine
8. Using “Reverse Image Search” in Google
9. Distinguishing between Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary
sources
10. Publishing a document with an Open Source License, such as
cc-by-sa 3.0
11. Parenthetical Citations, including Page number
12. Mastering unusual citations, such as films, interviews, lectures,
class discussions, etc.

45. In the High School
● Very clear assignments
● Focus on process
● Very clear procedures and definitions, including technical terms:
collusion, malpractice, etc.
● Guarded use of plagiarism detection services
○ teach students to submit
● Scoratic discussions, e.g.: What is Art?
● Signed pledge
● Clear processes, including specific roles of teachers, librarian, EE
Coordinator, Program Coordinator, etc.

46. Focus on Process
Recommendation for Research Papers

48. ● community involvement, including teachers
● the IB definitions of plagiarism, collusion and the duplication of work
● appropriate reference to the IB learner profile
● guidance on the distinction between legitimate collaboration and
unacceptable collusion
● information on what action will be taken by the IB if a candidate is
suspected of malpractice and subsequently found guilty
● an extract from the provisions of the Regulations relating to
malpractice.
● a link should lead the reader to the IBO AH policy

49. ● clearly defined processes: step-by-step: what will happen if academic
misconduct is suspected?
● teachers must know what to do if they suspect plagiarism
● up to the school, but be clear: missed deadlines? rewrites? etc.
● clearly defined roles and responsibilities
● e.g. who will check the turnitin report? what to do if there is a
problem?
● rights of the student: due process and an appeals process
● which referencing style

50. IB Category 3 Workshop:
Academic Honesty
● Recommended for someone from your school
● Lots of information about:
○ how the IB investigates Academic Misconduct
○ what is considered plagiarism
○ the “Naughty List”
○ the legal team in Geneva and paper mills
● Celina Garza, Academic Honesty Manager, Cardiff
● increasing transparency from the IB
● how to write your Academic Honesty Policy

51. IB Cases of Academic
Misconduct, source: IB
Workshop on Academic
Honesty

52. Common Mistakes by Students
● copy and paste
● overdependence on the internet
● not citing unusual sources, such as lecture notes
● not understanding “collusion”
● thinking about “not getting caught”
● doing Bibliography last minute
● saying mentally “I will cite that later”
● not using the Bibliography Database and other Word Processor
tools
● thinking a URL is a reference
● inflating their Bibliographies, or not proofreading them

53. Common Mistakes by Teachers and Librarians
● focus on punishing dishonesty instead of promoting
honesty
● assuming children understand right and wrong
● oversimplifying the complexity of citing in the digital age
● the same mistakes students make, especially thinking
about “not getting caught”
● not using the tools properly
● not enough professional development in this area
● overdependence on turnitin
● misreading turnitin

54. Is there any good news?
● Absolutely! International schools, with vigilance, and
discussions like these, create best pre-Univ preparation on
this issue.
For example, the IB publishes statistics on AH:
● Of 142,00 candidates, we still have only 1200 cases -- that
includes cases that were dismissed or “not guilty”.

55. Final words
● Please support students and be compassionate towards
young learners
● Academic Honesty addresses issues of how we construct
knowledge
● Understanding referencing, construction of knowledge,
intellectual property, copyright law, etc. is complicated

57. The Sydney Opera House does not
allow photographers to use its image.
This photo is from a Picasa site which
seems to belong to someone named
Zakia Karmal. I assume she is the girl
in the photograph, but maybe not --
maybe she is the photographer, or the
person who owns the camera, or the
person who owns the boat, or the
person who hired the boat and the
photographer. Copyright law is
complicated. As long as she is not
using the photograph for “commercial
purposes,” SOH won’t sue her , but if
her photograph gets a million hits, and
she becomes famous . . . .

58. Writer Sheila Skillman and her Family
scskillman.com

61. ●
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63. Activity 1:
In your groups of six:
Take the handout, a “term paper” by a student
named Orlov.
For each of the 15 arrows, determine whether the
student is correct, or incorrect, and give a reason.
Enter your decision and your reason into the
Google Doc:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1c-
TYw9DMv0mBj9Vj0v7GpyjDCIlA_9o4JoX08084Sx8/
viewform

64. Secondary Objectives:
● Tips about specific skills to promote Academic Honesty for
teachers and students
● Distinguish between citations, references, Bibliography,
Works Cited, etc.
● Conversation about Wikipedia
● Gain skills in common applications, such as Microsoft Word
or Google Docs

65. Scott Adams: Dilbert
www.dilbert.com

66. Activities
1. Learn how to use Headings, Contents, the Bibliography Database and
referencing tools in Microsoft Word
2. Learn how to write a citation directly onto a jpeg using a web-based
photo-editor
3. Learn how to correct common errors when using MLA to write in-text
citations
4. Learn how to use the CC search engine and similar tools to find
resources in the public domain
5. Learn how to embed an image directly into your presentation without
downloading or fussing with image files
We may also discuss:
1. Setting up a Google Accounts for Education account for your school
2. Setting up a diigo or Pocket account for your school

67. Adams, Scott. Dilbert and the Way of the Weasel. New York: Harper,
2002. Print.

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72. Wikipedia

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