Activities and Events

  1. Academic Integrity Ambassadors Luncheon - 28 February 2014

    As part of the ongoing Academic Integrity Student Group Brainstorm component of the research project, the project team launched a recruitment campaign in January of 2014, to enlist students who might be interested in forming a student society that champions and promotes academic integrity. An Academic Integrity Ambassadors Luncheon was organised for 28 February. Timing for the recruitment campaign and subsequent Luncheon event was critical, given the first semester at Macquarie University was to commence on March 3 ('Week 1'), and the approaching April 30 deadline for project completion. The following communities of students were contacted in this 'first wave' of recruitment via social media, email and referral:

    • Students from discipline-specific and professional student societies
    • Respondents from the project's online survey who had indicated an interest in participating in an AI student society
    • Respondents from the project's online survey who had participated in focus groups/interviews

    Fifty-nine students responded to the invitations. Not all the students were able to attend on 28 February, but all expressed an interest in taking part in the AI student society and were sent application forms to sign up. Approximately 25 students attended the Luncheon, which consisted of a 30-minute presentation and discussion session covering the background of the project and the project team's goals with regards to setting up an AI student society. This was followed by lunch and further informal discussion among the project members and students. All attendees were provided with the following:

    1. Academic Integrity Ambassadors Information Booklet: Download(PDF)
    2. Application form to join as an Academic Integrity Ambassador: Download(PDF)
    3. Participant feedback form: Download(PDF)

    A copy of the AIA Luncheon presentation is available here: Download(PDF)

    Feedback regarding the event and the concept of an AI student society was very positive and the project team was able to collate a great deal of useful suggestions regarding proposed activities from the attendees. 89% of the attendees agreed that they had found the event interesting and informative. 21 applications to become Academic Integrity Ambassadors were received.

    I was delighted to attend today's event and encouraged by the steps being taken to promote academic integrity. This is something I feel very strongly about and I am willing to contribute to the establishment of an AI society at MQ.
    The facts were good. The information about setting up the society is informative and will allow students to achieve, I believe.
    Motivating statistics and ideas. I am excited to be involved.

  2. Office for Learning & Teaching Showcase of 2012 Commissioned Projects - 20 November 2013

    Project team members Associate Professor Abhaya Nayak (team leader), Professor Deborah Richards, Associate Professor Judi Homewood and Sonia Saddiqui (project manager) attended the OLT Showcase event where the project team leader participated in a Q&A panel, along with the three other OLT Academic Integrity project leaders. Associate Professor Nayak and the other team leaders took questions from the floor and engaged in a lively discussion about the respective projects and academic integrity issues in higher education in general. The Showcase provided an opportunity to spotlight the concurrent academic integrity projects and share findings and approaches amongst the AI project teams. It also allowed the project team to discuss the wider implications of project findings with our colleagues engaged in Learning & Teaching at universities across the sector.


  3. Sydney Region IT Education Conventicle (SRITEC 13) - 11 November 2013

    Project Leader, Associate Professor Abhaya Nayak delivered a 30-minute presentation at the Conventicle, hosted by the Computing Department at Macquarie University on 11 November. The IT aspects of promoting academic integrity among students is of interest to the project team given the possibility of working together with a proposed AI student society to create more interactive and engaging ways for students to learn about AI. In addition, one of the interesting developments that emerged from the recent 6APCEI was the prevalence of online academic integrity modules for students, an endeavour that is of interest to education technologists who seek to create new platforms for students to engage with academic integrity information.

  4. 6th Asia Pacific Forum on Educational Integrity - October 2 - 4, 2013

    The 6th Asia Pacific Conference on Educational Integrity (6APCEI) was held from October 2-4, 2013 at Macquarie University, Sydney. The APCEI series remains the premier venue for academic integrity scholars in the Australasian region to discuss and exchange ideas, and it is the first time that the conference is held in Sydney since it commenced in 2003. Ninety-nine delegates representing 34 institutions attended the conference from Australia and overseas.

    6APCEI received thirty-seven submissions, both in the form of full papers and abstracts, with authors from eleven countries. Following two rounds of peer-reviewing, twenty-seven of these submissions were ultimately selected for presentation at the conference and for publication in the 6APCEI Proceedings and will be considered for inclusion in a volume to be published by Springer in 2014.

    6APCEI was unusual in that on the first day it ran a special track devoted to the four Strategic Priority Grants on Academic Integrity (2012) sponsored by the Australian Government's Office for Learning and Teaching (OLT). Ms. Suzi Hewlett, General Manager of the OLT, provided the background behind this initiative. The conference featured excellent keynote speeches by two eminent scholars in the field. Professor Donald McCabe from Rutgers University spoke on Promoting Academic Integrity, updating the audience on the international development in the arena since his inaugural address on the topic back in 2003 at the 1APCEI (held in Adelaide). Dr Ruth Walker from the University of Wollongong complemented this by a talk of more local flavour, Remix Australia. Days 1 and 2 of the conference also featured two very lively panel discussions that were followed by question and answer sessions with the audience. The first, 'Academic Integrity Transgressions – Skill Shortage or Value Deficit?' was chaired by Dr Teddi Fishman, Director of the International Center for Academic Integrity, while the second, 'Setting them up to fail? Are Universities failing in their duty of care to international students?' was facilitated by Jenny Brockie, host of the SBS's popular 'Insight Program'. On day 3, Will Murray, Senior VP (Product & International) of iParadigm provided a talk regarding Turnitin.


    Social activities across the three conferencing days included a welcome reception and Indigenous Dance Performance, a guided tour of Macquarie University Art Gallery and Sculpture Park and a conference dinner cruise on Sydney Habour. The conference was a success due to the organisation of the 6APCEI organising committee (comprising of five staff members from Macquarie University), assisted by the Asia-Pacific Forum for Educational Integrity Committee. Critical financial support was received from Macquarie University, in particular the Office of its Provost. 6APCEI's generous sponsors were the Australian Government Office for Learning and Teaching, Turnitin and Springer

  5. Macquarie University Learning and Teaching Week 2013 - 19 September 2013

    Project Manager, Sonia Saddiqui delivered a nano-presentation at Macquarie University's Learning and Teaching Week, based on the project team's paper, 'Academic Integrity: Bottom Up' (see Nayak et al. 2013).

  6. Academic Integrity Seminar with Dr. Tricia Bertram Gallant, UC San Diego - 6 March 2012

    As part of an International Experts National Speaking Tour, the Exemplary Academic Integrity Project (EAIP) (SP12-2327), a concurrent OLT-commissioned project led by the University of South Australia, arranged for Dr Bertram Gallant to speak with educators and academics in Sydney. The event was hosted by the Academic Integrity in Australia Project (SP12-2296), at Macquarie University. Dr Bertram Gallant discussed findings from the EAIP, which has the aim of embedding and extending exemplary academic integrity policy and support frameworks across the higher education sector. This event was attended by the EAIP Project Manager, Dr Saadia Mahmud, and thirty educators from ten higher education institutions around Australia.

    Following the seminar, Dr Bertram Gallant generously shared her experience and insight via an information video, regarding the benefits of student participation and engagement in academic integrity, and the practical aspects of implementing an academic integrity student group.

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    To view Dr. Bertram Gallant's seminar at Macquarie University, please visit the Exemplary Academic Integrity website, or you may access the video directly, via youtube

    About Dr Tricia Bertram Gallant

    Dr. Tricia Bertram Gallant, Director of the Academic Integrity Office, joined UC San Diego in August 2006. Dr. Bertram Gallant is an internationally known expert on integrity and ethics in education, having authored or edited numerous publications as well as consulted with high schools, colleges and universities in the U.S., Egypt, Australia and England. She is the author of "Academic Integrity in the Twenty-First Century" (Jossey-Bass, 2008), co-author of "Cheating in School" (Wiley-Blackwell, 2009) and editor of "Creating the Ethical Academy" (Routledge, 2011). Tricia serves as Past Chair on the Advisory Council of the International Center for Academic Integrity (ICAI) and is a member of OLT Academic Integrity Standards project reference group (2010-2012).

References

Nayak, A., Richards, D., Saddiqui, S., Homewood, J., White F., Mcguigan, N., Meredith T., & Sureshkumar, P. (2013), Academic Integrity: Bottom up, Proceedings of the 6th Asia Pacific Forum on Educational Integrity, retrieved 23 October 2013 from:
http://web.science.mq.edu.au/conferences/6apcei/Proceedings/6APCEI_Proceedings.pdf