The project focused on promoting students' adherence to academic integrity principles during unsupervised assessments. Two key theoretical frameworks underpinned the project:

• The Theory of Planned Behavior conceptualizes dishonest learning as a balance between intention and opportunity, with personal values, institutional values and peers moderating behaviour.
• Neutralization Theory explains academic dishonesty as acceptable by students when they justify it by employing rationalizations to explain their behaviour.

A core assumption of the project was that unsupervised assessments present ample opportunities for students to breach existing norms, often accompanied by rationalizations that reinforce behaviours poorly aligned with UCD values.  Our approach assumed that students may need reinforcement of expected behaviour throughout their academic journey.

The project aimed to design reusable learning tools informed by our students' perceptions of academic integrity in unsupervised assessments. Through a formative research approach, the team identified barriers, enablers, and rationalizations influencing students' positive and negative attitudes towards breaches of expected behaviours. The project resulted in the co-design of six reusable learning tools: two short videos, an interactive unit explaining UCD's academic integrity policy, checklists, and academic integrity workshop material. 

The project aimed to promote academic integrity behaviour by partnering with students ensuring unsupervised assessments can still be considered a reliable assessment method. Instead of a stand-alone module, we aimed to co-design instructional tools that module coordinators can embed in Brightspace, reinforcing a positive attitude towards academic honesty and ethical learning throughout their academic journey.

Theme 1: Academic Integrity and Ethical Practice

Through the co-designing of Brightspace tools with students, it is intended that module coordinators can clearly instruct students on the definition of academic integrity, highlight the importance of academic integrity engagement throughout their assessments, and inform students of the disciplinary norms following academic integrity breaches. Through showing the impact of academic dishonesty and how it extends beyond the immediate learning environment and can have far-reaching consequences on individuals and society, as a whole it is anticipated that students in the SPHPSS will embrace academic integrity throughout their time at university.

Theme 2: Online Learning and Assessment

Collecting qualitative data and co-designing Brightspace tools with SPHSS students was an important aim of this project. This project aimed to give students a voice to express their perspectives on academic integrity in online assessment and contribute to the delivery of academic integrity knowledge through their engagement in co-designing appropriate tools.

Semi-structured interviews and a baseline survey with students gathered their perspectives and existing understanding of academic integrity as well as mapping their engagement with the support systems existing at a university level.  By first acknowledging what students currently know about the rules and regulations of academic integrity, their perceptions of barriers and enablers to sustain ethical learning and how they engage with existing resources, this acted as a catalyst for the development of educational tools. Students and alumni that were initially members of the project team supported the creation of the first instructional tools  (a)A  short academic integrity video that clarified behaviors students did not considered academic dishonesty -poor paraphrasing or uploading educational material to assignment mills-  (b) a second video appealing to values -as students expressed that values were a driver to sustain ethical learning,  short interactive academic integrity online course (c) artificial intelligence use scale in assessments as students expressed uncertainty of their uses (d) mandatory academic integrity self-assessment honour codes (e)  an interactive Brightspace Unit explaining UCD academic integrity policy as students expressed limited interest to read or engage with existing regulations communicated in the form of PDFs  and (f) Student’s led workshops as students voiced the importance of peer-discussions and clarifications of certain cases that they were uncertain could constitute a breach in academic integrity.  The inclusion of student workshops invited students to dive deep into the concept of academic integrity, whereby students came together and worked in groups to complete real-life academic integrity-based scenarios and to reflect on the following questions:

1. What are your initial thoughts and feelings about the situation?
2. What actions could the students in the scenario take to uphold academic integrity?
3. How could the university better support students in similar situations?

These workshops yielded not only the opportunity for students to engage openly on the concept of academic integrity but gave them the opportunity to reflect on the importance of engaging in academic integrity behaviour during the course of their studies.

Students attending workshops become academic integrity champions and will now lead future peer-led workshops. 

1. This is a short video that defines academic integrity and clarifies acceptable behaviour in unsupervised assessments. It addresses common misunderstandings such as self-plagiarism and improper paraphrasing.
2. Student-led video shares insights on the relevance of academic integrity from students' perspectives.
3. Interactive course unit that offers an overview of UCD’s Academic Integrity Policy and features scenarios for reflections. Faculty and staff can insert this unit into Brightspace or any other online education platform.
4. Mandatory self-assessment tools that required students to confirm their understanding of academic integrity before submitting assignments. (Only one of the self-assessment tools in the link, we created four)
5. AI assessment scale AI Assessment scale.docx - Adapted from existing assessment scales guiding students on what level of AI use is allowed in unsupervised assessments.
6. Student Led Workshop materials
   • Workshop materials 1 -2 Outline for the Facilitator
   • Workshop materials 3 - Workshop presentation
   • Workshop Materials 4 - Exit Survey

Resources

SATLE Project - UCD School of Public Health, Physiotherapy and Sports Science