‘Teach us how to do it properly!’ An Australian academic integrity student survey

Abstract

The results of a large online student survey (n = 15,304), on academic integrity at six Australian universities, indicate that a majority of respondents reported a good awareness of academic integrity and knowledge of academic integrity policy at their university and were satisfied with the information and support they receive. Response varied across cohorts, with international students expressing a lower awareness of academic integrity and academic integrity policy, and lower confidence in how to avoid academic integrity breaches. Postgraduate research student respondents were the least satisfied with the information they had received about how to avoid an academic integrity breach. The results from this survey provide an opportunity to explore the student perspective and inform the higher education sector in relation to communicating with and educating students about academic integrity. The students have indicated that Australian universities need to move beyond the mere provision of information to ensure a holistic approach that engages students about academic integrity.

Keywords:

• academic integrity
• policy
• students
• survey

Notes

1. For a full explication of the five core elements and how these were conceptualised and developed by the project team, please see Bretag et al. (2011b).

2. The full survey instrument is available at http://www.aisp.apfei.edu.au/content/research-findings

3. University of South Australia, University of Wollongong, the University of Adelaide, the University of Newcastle, the University of Western Australia, La Trobe University.