The Results of the «Plagiarism as a Violation of Academic Integrity» Targeted Survey

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to adjust the content of the «Plagiarism and academic integrity» academic subject on basis of the answers to the outlined survey.

Research methodology. To find out the opinion of the respondents regarding the effectiveness of the «Plagiarism and academic integrity» academic subject, despite working in the conditions of a full-scale war in Ukraine, and to adjust the content of this academic subject under the study results, a survey (conducted on May 09–26, 2022) by the method of purposive sampling with Google Forms was used. It covered 67 respondents. This is 69.1% of the general population, that are the students with whom the author worked within this academic subject. The questionnaire contained 6 questions: 3 open-ended questions and 3 close-ended questions. To process the received information, the study used methods of generalization and analysis of information: systematization, grouping, qualitative (text analysis, classification) and quantitative (digital data) methods of data interpretation. The results are presented as a detailed verbal description.

Results. It was found that for 100% of the respondents, the academic subject opened up new knowledge and for 97% helped to master new skills important for maintaining academic integrity. The interviewees testify that the educational course is mostly balanced and creative, but it is still worth adding some items about plagiarism in artistic fields; increase the number of training exercises to develop the skills to compose list of references, to use citations, to create paraphrases and compilations, etc.; focus more on enhancement of basic competencies. Almost 75% of the respondents noted that studying the course prompted them to investigate more deeply the problems of academic integrity in general and plagiarism in particular. Respondents are most interested in creative industries, such as music, cinema, and literature, which means that it will be necessary to offer such formats for acquiring knowledge and skills that combine approaches and principles of academic integrity with course issues, for example, the creation of podcasts devoted to the prevention of plagiarism in various fields.

Novelty. A number of issues are outlined that should be included in the course content, such as plagiarism and photography, plagiarism and stand-up, plagiarism and social media. Competences are highlighted, which, although they are fundamental in obtaining higher education (critical thinking, generating ideas, analyzing information) can be deepened in mastering of this academic subject.

Practical importance. The obtained results will be used to adjust the content of the «Plagiarism and academic integrity» academic subject.

Key words: academic integrity, plagiarism, violation of academic integrity, academic course.