Hi friends! How are you? I hope you’re all well. Winter has begun to envelop Auckland. The temperature can sometimes drop below ten degrees, another first for me. However, this time I won’t write about the weather; I’ll write about my academic journey. As a PhD student, I don’t have regular classes like other levels of study. However, that doesn’t mean there are no classes at all besides research. In this article, I want to share my experience of the first class I took: the Academic Integrity Course. This class provided students at the University of Auckland with valuable insight into ethical standards and principles. Happy reading!
What is the Academic Integrity Course?
The Academic Integrity Course was a mandatory milestone that I had to complete within 2 months of enrollment. This class prepares students to become academics with integrity in values, skills, and practices.
The Academic Integrity course is delivered online. Similar to Coursera, Udemy, or EdX, the only difference is that the University of Auckland uses Canvas as its platform. Each module contains short texts, videos, and quizzes. Oh, and you can retake the quizzes if you want a perfect score!
What Did I Learn in the Academic Integrity Course?
There are six topics that I learned in this course:
- Ethics in Research and Data Reporting
- The Value and Importance of Academic Integrity
- How to Write References
- Ethical Collaboration in Group Work
- Third-Party Assistance
- Copyright
Ethics in Research and Data Reporting
The final module discusses research ethics, specifically the prohibition on falsifying or fabricating data. This is a clear violation of academic integrity. Therefore, it is crucial to uphold honesty, accuracy, and transparency in the research process and reporting.
The Value and Importance of Academic Integrity
The Value and Importance of Academic Integrity
- Tikanga (right practice)
- Fairness (justice)
- Mōhitonga (different ways of understanding)
- Responsibility (responsibility)
- Whakamana (empowerment)
- Whakapapa (relationships and lineage)
These values are rooted in Te Ao Māori (the Māori worldview), which emphasises interconnectedness and respect for all humankind. These values underpin the behaviour and motivation of academics—students, faculty, and staff alike.
Referencing
Referencing is used to demonstrate the quality of a work and to distinguish our own from others’. References also provide a trace of the sources used in our writing.
In general, I’ve learned that whenever using someone else’s work—whether quoting, summarising, or paraphrasing—we must cite the source. However, personal experiences, observations, conclusions, and general knowledge do not need to be referenced.
Ethical Collaboration in Group Work
As a student (or in the working world), some assignments must be completed individually, while others must be done in groups. From this module, I learned the difference between collaboration and collusion. While group work can certainly improve learning, it can also turn into collusion if not followed properly. Therefore, one must always be careful.
Third-party Assistance
Third-party assistance means seeking help from someone other than a lecturer or tutor, such as friends, study groups, family, academic services, or even AI tools. Is this permissible? Yes, as long as it’s only for clarity, grammar, formatting, or referencing. However, if someone else completes the assignment and then claims it as your own, that’s called contract cheating, or academic dishonesty.
Copyright
In this module, I learned about various examples of copyrighted materials. This means we cannot copy or distribute them without permission. This can include books, course materials, images, music, art, computer programs, and even exam questions. However, there is also material that falls under the public domain or fair dealing, which can be used publicly within the law.
Final Words…
Overall, this class taught me about the values, skills, and behaviours associated with academic integrity. What was most impressive was how these values were instilled in every academic. Perhaps we’ve faced a dilemma, for example, should we commit a minor offence because so many people around us are doing it? The Academic Integrity class reminded me that just because many people do it doesn’t mean it’s ethical behaviour. We must determine whether our behaviour reflects the values of academic integrity.
If you would like to know more about the topic of academic integrity in this article, please leave a comment or contact me via Instagram. If you would like to know more about the topic of academic integrity in this article, please leave a comment or contact me via Instagram.
Auckland, 25 June 2024
