Graduate Academic Integrity Tutorial Developed

To help undergraduates gain an understanding of plagiarism and academic integrity a tutorial was developed and implemented during the summer and fall of 2007; 97% of the freshmen worked through the tutorial and signed the Honor Pledge. The Undergraduate Academic Integrity Tutorial was so well received that Dr. Michael Mensah, Dean of KSOM, contacted Charles Kratz, Dean of the Weinberg Memorial Library, with a request for an Academic Integrity Tutorial on the graduate level for KSOM. Other graduate majors also expressed interest.

 

The Graduate Academic Integrity Tutorial development team included Katie Duke, Coordinator, Eugeniu Grigorescu, Bonnie Strohl, Bonnie Oldham, Andre Oberle, Clara Hudson, Betsey Moylan and Matt Pluh. The target date for finishing the tutorial was the end of January 2008.

 

This gave the team time during the spring semester to pilot the tutorial, see the results, make changes and start a conversation on how this tutorial would be used and marketed by the Graduate School. The graduate students that piloted the tutorial responded favorably. They especially enjoyed reading the essays by different faculty members who discuss their views on academic integrity and plagiarism. Students requested some additional scenarios that would show when and how to cite correctly.

 

The purpose of the tutorial is to teach students how to credit correctly. Some graduate students are coming from educational cultures that do not stress the importance of avoiding plagiarism. With new technology that facilitates plagiarizing information by a simple click, the Graduate Academic Integrity Tutorial helps define, educate and illustrate research with integrity. The Graduate School is planning to make completing the tutorial a requirement for 2008-2009. Currently, the Graduate School is discussing how to implement the tutorial as part of the students' orientation to the University.