International Center for Academic Integrity Conference Highlights
25–03–2021
The International Center for Academic Integrity (ICAI) held its annual conference at the beginning of March. Here are our highlights of the conference (most talks are approximately 25 minutes with some Q&A):
- From Reactive, Ineffective ‘Whack-a-Mole’, to Effective, Collaborative Action: - YouTube - this talk was given by Cath Ellis and Kane Murdoch of the University of South Wales in Australia. Their proposition is that deterrence is an important focus for all HEIs but the detection of cheating needs also to be resourced and systematically monitored. They also stress the importance of partnerships and sharing nationally and internationally in order to do cause as much disruption as possible to the commercial ‘essay mills’.
- Chegg Cheatsheet: Expanding the Conversation - YouTube - There was a good deal of discussion on the current trends and behaviours of commercial sites which students may use to get academic help, and which may result in cheating, purchasing of work etc. In addition, the publishing of staff IP material on some of these sites and how this can be addressed was raised in a few sessions. Tricia Bertram Gallant (University of California San Diego) and Marilyn Derby (University of California Davis College) presented on Chegg, the US company, which provides a micro-sourcing service to contractors who students can engage with.
- Developing an Academic Integrity Research Module for Undergraduate Students - YouTube - Thomas Lancaster (Imperial College, London) presented a case study on an Academic Integrity module which he had designed and given to undergraduate students at his university. In this, a student who took the course describes his experience of it and there is also feedback from the other participants.
- Walking the Line Between Academic Integrity and Privacy with Online Exams - YouTube - This is a hot topic in the current context of the pandemic. Presented by Jennifer Lawrence and Kylie Day of the University of New England in Australia, they talked about how they manage this in their context, which has been primarily as an online provider, predating the pandemic. This is just one of 4-5 talks on proctoring in a live remote context. It was good to see two talks from Irish presenters too from IT Sligo and DCU. You can find all the video links here to all the talks at the conference.
- ICAI Annual Conference 2021 (whova.com) - all the talks can be viewed here including two by Gavin Clinch of IT Sligo and Fiona O’Riordan of DCU.
