Academic integrity: a quantitative study of confidence and understanding in students at the start of their higher education

Abstract

Establishing a positive, proactive approach to issues such as plagiarism requires that students are equipped with the skills and experience to act with integrity, and that educators are fully aware of the attitudes and ability of students, particularly when they start university. This project used a questionnaire-based methodology to probe the attitudes, ability and confidence of undergraduates newly enrolled at a university in the UK, with a focus on concepts relating to written assignments. New undergraduates were confident in their understanding of plagiarism, yet performed poorly on simple tests of referencing. Students were generally of the opinion that academic misconduct should be modestly penalised compared to the standard penalties imposed by the UK higher education sector. Positive correlations were found between confidence, performance and recommended penalties, suggesting that confident students did better on tests of simple tests of referencing, and recommended more severe penalties for transgressions of academic integrity. These correlations were supported by findings that new postgraduates were more confident than new undergraduates, recommended more severe penalties and performed better in the simple tests of referencing. Findings are discussed in the context of educational needs identified for students, educators and institutions.

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