Preliminary communication
DEVELOPING CULTURE OF ACADEMIC INTEGRITY IN THE ONLINE EDUCATIONAL ENVIRONMENT
Ivica Katavić
orcid.org/0000-0001-5899-5301
; University College Nikola Šubić Zrinski, Zagreb, Croatia
Gabrijela Budimir Šoško
; University College Nikola Šubić Zrinski, Zagreb, Croatia
Dragan Kopecki
; University College Nikola Šubić Zrinski, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
At the beginning of the 21st century, there was an ongoing debate among educational leaders about academic integrity in the online educational environment. Considering the fact that academic integrity is a core value in educational institutions, this topic has found its place in the educational literature. This literature shows that there is a general consensus that online education provides more opportunities for dishonest academic behavior than ‘’face to face’’ classes. As a result, under the emerging competitive pressures in the online education environment, including the latest trends in online course offers and rapid advancements in the educational technology, new educational perspectives and strategies are required to meet these challenges. While educational leaders require higher education institutions to balance economic and social dimensions, research indicated a considerable gap in building the culture of academic integrity in implementing online distance education. The specific problem that is addressed in this paper is how to develop methods which online educators can use to prevent cheating and plagiarism in online educational settings. The purpose of this qualitative study was to achieve a deeper understanding of how to develop an academic integrity in the online educational environment and how this integrity may contribute to the educational community in the form of sustainable online environment. The research method applied in this study was content analysis of relevant literature related to academic dishonesty in online environment. In addition, the prevention methods were identified to aid distance educators. The study findings clearly indicated that there is a strategic approach in developing the culture of academic integrity in the online settings. These findings revealed that using certain combination of safeguard methods may decrease students’ dishonest behavior in the online educational environment and gradually develop the culture of academic integrity.
Keywords
academic integrity; online distance education; dishonest behavior; safeguard methods
Hrčak ID:
159143
URI
Publication date:
3.6.2016.
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