Language, Culture and
Academic Honesty
Mara Bordignon
Seneca Libraries
Outline
 Causes
 Support (Resources)
 Strategies
 Exercises
Learning Outcomes
 Identify causes associated with academic honesty and
plagiarism
 Locate and properly utilize Seneca Libraries citation
resources and style guides
 Implement plagiarism-avoiding strategies into
curriculum planning and assignment building
CAUSES: Why?
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Growing Up Online:
Online Cheating
(Films on Demand
1:12min)
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Examples of plagiarism
Oh oh … at Seneca!
Reasons for “Cheating”
 Higher grades
 Avoiding failure
 Higher when marked on a bell curve
 Perceived low risk of getting caught
 Unaware of rules ... broken inadvertently… ignorance of
what defines “plagiarism”
 Culture of AH tolerated or punishments minimal
 Pressure to compete with peers
(Canadian Council of Learning)
“while maintaining an awareness of
cultural predispositions on the part of
multilingual students, we must be careful
how we interpret the behaviour”
(Sowden)
Cultural Differences
 China & Japan: “Communal ownership of knowledge”
 China: “good students do not challenge their teachers or
other authorities, but faithfully copy and reproduce
them”
 Asia: “achieving group consensus is more important
than demonstrating one’s own understanding and
abilities”
(Sowden)
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SUPPORT:
Resources
Seneca College 2010-2011
Academic Policy
http://www.senecac.on.ca/academic-policy/
Section 9: Academic Honesty
 Section 9: Academic Honesty
 http://www.senecac.on.ca/academic-policy/acpol-09.html
 9.1 Academic Honesty Offenses
 9.2 Plagiarism
 9.3 Penalties
 9.4 College Copyright Policy
Appendix E: Academic Honesty
Offences: Procedures for Enforcement
 http://www.senecac.on.ca/academic-policy/appe.html
 19 descriptions/examples of offences
Appendix G: Examination Procedures
 http://www.senecac.on.ca/academic-policy/appg.html
Forms: Academic Honesty, Appeals
Request
 http://www.senecac.on.ca/academic-policy/forms.html
No offence
committed; no
record kept
Suspected
offence
committed
Student meets with
professor/coordinator
Students
can
appeal
decisions
professor/coordinator record
incident, with evidence attached,
on an "Academic Honesty Report“
(both parties should fill in AH
forms)
Completed forms will
go to the Academic
Honesty Committee
(One for each
School/Faculty)
Offence as a comment
on Student’s Academic
Record (can be
appealed); decision
given in writing
Seneca Libraries: Information for faculty
website http://library.senecacollege.ca/Faculty/index.html
Getting to SPARK through mySeneca
Modules are located in
the “SPARK E-Learning
Modules” organization
on MySeneca.
Just look in your “My
Organizations Plus” or
contact us to be added:
spark@senecac.on.ca.
http://seneca.libguides.com/spark-mla
SPARK eLearning modules:
Reacquaint Yourself with MLA
http://seneca.libguides.com/spark-apa
SPARK eLearning modules: The
latest in APA
SafeAssign
SafeAssign Manual (for
myseneca):
https://inside.senecac.on.ca/mysene
ca/faculty/tools/safeassign.html
STRATEGIES:
Solutions
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SPARK eLiteracy: Building Better
Assignments
http://seneca.libguides.com/spark-eliteracy
Assignment solutions:
 break large assignments into smaller ones
 submit drafts of their work
(Canadian Council of Learning)
 collect an annotated bibliography before the submission is due
 progress reports or submit research in stages, e.g. outlines,
drafts, research notes
(Richard)
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Assignment solutions:
 Students to supply photocopies of any references used as part
of an appendix:
Some suggestions...
 for articles, citation and first page
 for books, bibliographic record from library catalogue and/or verso
and table of contents
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Assessment solutions:
 give supervised on-site or interactive video finals that make up
a large percentage of students' final grades;
 change assignments and tests each semester;
 give personalized assignments;
 use verification software (SafeAssign); and
 give open-book exams that require the practical application of
knowledge.
(Canadian Council of Learning)
Assessment solutions:
 oral presentations
 assess work produced in class, possibly with preparation
allowed beforehand
 students make brief presentation to the class based on their
written assignments
(Richard)
Works Cited (MLA)
Canadian Council of Learning. “Liars, fraudsters and cheats: Dealing
with the growth of academic dishonesty.” July 7, 2010. Web. 10 Feb.
2011.
Link
James, Richard, Craig McInnis, and Marcia Devlin. “36 Strategies to
Minimise Plagiarism.” Centre for the Study ofHigher Education.
Australian Universities Teaching Committee, 2002. Web. 6 Feb. 2009.
Link
Leask, Betty. “Plagiarism, Cultural Diversity and Metaphor: Implications
for Academic Staff Development.” Assessment & Evaluation in Higher
Education 31.2 (2006): 183-99. Academic Search Premier. Web. 4
Feb. 2011.
Link
Sowden, Colin. “Plagiarism and the Culture of Multilingual Students in
Higher Education Abroad.” ELT Journal 59.3 (2005): 226-33. ERIC.
Web. 18 Feb. 2011.
Link
Exercises
 Can you paraphrase?
 MLA citation example
Need Help? Just hang
on…
Contact Info…
email
mara.bordignon@senecac.on.ca
IM (Mara’s Subject Guides)
Phone
416-491-5050 ext. 3153
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Additional Content Based on
Feedback from Participants
Thank you for your suggestions!
Student & faculty beliefs about acts of Academic Honesty
Table source: Canadian Council of Learning; Original source: From: Hughes, J.M.C. &
McCabe, D.L. (2006). Academic misconduct within higher education in Canada .
Canadian Journal of Higher Education, 36(2), 1-21.
Tips for structuring assignments which
have a research component:
 Structure assignments that promote higher level thinking
 Emphasize the importance of Academic Honesty … in subject outlines,
assignment/projects, verbally in class, in your myseneca subject page …
every opportunity in your interaction with students!
 Ensure Seneca Libraries has the required resources to support your
subject.
 Clearly direct students to appropriate resources.
 If necessary request a library session customized to the research needs
of your assignment and/or talk to a librarian for other options.
 Place material that will be in high demand on reserve or create an online
course readings list.
 Build manageable ‘steps’ into research-based assignments.
For more specific examples, please refer to:
http://seneca.libguides.com/spark-eliteracy