Is plagiarism changing over time? A 10-year time-lag study with three points of measurement

Are more students cheating on assessment tasks in higher education? Despite ongoing media speculation concerning increased ‘copying and pasting’ and ghostwritten assignments produced by ‘paper mills’, few studies have charted historical trends in rates and types of plagiarism. Additionally, there has been little comment from researchers as to the best way to assess changes in plagiarism over time. In this paper, we discuss the relative strengths and weaknesses of research designs for assessing changes in plagiarism over time, namely cross-sectional, longitudinal, and time-lag. We also report the results of our own time-lag study of plagiarism. We assessed self-reported engagement in, awareness of, and attitudes towards plagiarism in three comparable groups of students at the same university on three occasions, each separated by five years (2004, 2009, and 2014). The data from our study paint an encouraging picture of increased understanding and reduced occurrence of several forms of plagiarism, with no upward trend in verbatim copying or ghostwriting. We suggest that technological and educational initiatives are counteracting the potential for increased plagiarism from online sources.     

Computerized Cognitive Diagnostic Adaptive Testing: Effect on Remedial Instruction as Empirical Validation

The purpose of this study is to show the usefulness of cognitive diagnoses for remedial instruction. Cognitive diagnoses were done by an adaptive testing system using the rule-space methodology, which was developed by K. K. Tatsuoka and her associates (K. K. Tatsuoka, 1983, 1990; K. K. Tatsuoka & M. M. atsuoka, 1987; M. M. Tatsuoka & K. K. Tatsuoka, 1989). The results of the study strongly indicate that knowing students'knowledge states prior to remediation is very effective and that the rule-space method can effectively diagnose students' knowledge states and can point out ways for remediating their errors quickly with minimum effort. It is also found that the design of instructional units for remediation can be effectively guided by the rule-space model, because the determination of all possible knowledge states in a domain of interest, given an incidence matrix, is based on a partially ordered tree structure of knowledge states, which is equivalent to item-score patterns determined logically from the incidence matrix.     

Understanding children's epistemic beliefs in elementary education

Research shows that the beliefs individuals hold about knowledge and knowing (epistemic beliefs) influence learning approaches and outcomes. However, little is known about the nature of children's epistemic beliefs and how best to measure these. In this pilot study, 11 Australian children (in Grade 4 or Grade 6) were asked to ‘draw, write and tell’ about their epistemic beliefs using drawings, written responses and interviews, respectively. Drawings were analysed, with the majority of children depicting external, one-way sources of knowledge. The written statements and interviews were analysed using inductive thematic analysis, showing that children predominantly described knowledge acquisition as processes of task-based learning. Interviews also enabled children to describe a wider range of views. These results indicate that the methodological combination of ‘draw, write and tell’ allowed for a deeper understanding of the children's epistemic beliefs which holds implications for future research.     

Teachers' Self-evaluation of Knowledge,Skills and Personality Characteristics Needed to Manage Change

For some time, change has been the driving force in language teaching and learning. This seems to be even truer today than it was in the past, and seems set to be even more so in the future, which raises the questions of how to identify what is known and what is needed by teachers managing the changes, and how to address any needs. In this study, we asked 35 experienced secondary school teachers of English in Hong Kong to rate their own change-related knowledge, skills and personality characteristics, to find out how they would rate themselves in the various areas, and to consider whether such information can be of use in identifying change-related support needs. The results show that the teachers self-assessed some of their change-related knowledge, skills and personality characteristics as more and some less developed than others. Reasons are put forward to explain these different ratings, and ways in which such information might be used to identify teachers' change-related needs are discussed.     

Interpersonal skill-building for instructional developers

Although competence in the area of interpersonal skills has long been recognized as important by those in the instructional development (ID) profession, few academic programs instruct students in those skills. As they enter the field, students from such programs soon discover that it takes more than ID skills to be an effective instructional designer-developer. Positive interaction with SMES, clients, and colleagues soon emerges as equally important to getting the job done successfully. In an attempt to provide training in interpersonal skill-building, a course was implemented at Syracuse University's Area of Instructional Design, Development and Evaluation. The main goal of this course was for students to gain competence and confidence in their ability to interact with people. This article provides information about and insight into the content and activities of this course and personal reactions of the students who participated in it.     

The evolution of a hybrid classroom: Introducing online learning to educators in American samoa

Conclusion This case study suggests that the process of designing and facilitating hybrid courses in the island community of American Samoa required continuous negotiation with respect to the pace of instruction and the acculturation to online learning. The need for gentle transitions, such as constructing the face-to-face community before rushing into the online community, was apparent for instructors and students. Without honoring the local community, and making time for its renewal on a regular basis, the online community would be difficult, if not impossible, to sustain. The feeling of isolation that characterizes many online experiences is often compounded when one is geographically isolated on an island. It was obvious that the presence of a local teaching assistant was essential in bridging the physical and psychological gap between students and online instructor. Before and after each online activity it was important to take time to discuss in face-to-face sessions the questions and concerns that had arisen while engaged in online activities. These sessions, facilitated by a local instructor, reinforced the sense of community that is so important in this island culture and helped students overcome the challenges inherent in online learning. The importance of honoring the traditions of an oral culture, particularly in an island community, underscores the need to purposefully employ information and communication technologies in a hybrid course. Asynchronous communication such as email and discussion forums allows the widest participation because of low bandwidth internet requirements. However, synchronous modes of communication seem to provide the most natural transition from the oral to digital cultures. Chat sessions and videoconferencing offer students with access to broad bandwidth connections the opportunity to interact directly. Videoconferencing seemed the most successful technology for accommodating American Samoan students’ need for oral expression and visual connections with their distant instructor. Ultimately, instructors must strive for a delicate balance while constructing a hybrid classroom that introduces online learning activities to relative novices. To achieve a healthy equilibrium, instructors must pay heed to the cultural context, social needs and technical constraints of their learning community, fostering a learning environment that simultaneously honors oral traditions and textual innovations, enables synchronous and asynchronous communication and accommodates low bandwidth access while experimenting with broadband technologies.     

Communication in a web-based conferencing system: the quality of computer-mediated interactions

Time constraints and teaching in crowded classrooms restrict in-depth dialogical interaction in teaching and learning. Electronic conferencing systems, however, have the potential to foster online discussions beyond class time. Case-based instruction also constitutes a promising approach in fostering learners' participation and reflection. The purpose of this study was to investigate (a) the extent to which an electronic conferencing system, named COW (“Conferencing on the Web”), facilitates pre-service teachers' communication outside their classroom, when discussing teaching cases from their field experiences, and (b) the potential of COW and case-based instruction to foster quality discourse and promote students' critical-thinking skills. The results showed that students' online discourse was mostly an exchange of personal experiences and did not reflect well-supported reasoning. Future research on the issue of interactivity should address motivational and affective variables related to the implementation of distance-education methods, variations in pedagogical activity and task structure, and the readiness of mentors and learners.     

Online Course Evaluations: Faculty Perspective and Strategies for Improved Response Rates

This article provides an overview of issues involved with traditional paper versus online course evaluations. Data were gathered from university faculty, who transitioned from traditional paper to online course evaluations. Faculty preferred traditional course evaluations versus online course evaluations by a small margin. However, faculty overwhelmingly believed that traditional course evaluations result in higher response rates from students. Incentives were also believed by faculty to increase student response rates. Suggestions from faculty on how to improve student response rates are also provided in this article.     

The Performance‐Based Research Fund: research assessment and funding in New Zealand

The Performance‐Based Research Fund introduces research assessment and links this with the state funding of institutions of higher education in New Zealand. There has been considerable support from the university sector for this initiative in the belief that it will divert funding from polytechnics and other tertiary education organisations. This sectoral support borrows a thirdway rhetoric of rewarding excellence also used by Government, but becomes problematic at the point where institutional shares are determined. The paper explores how a rhetoric of rewarding excellence in research is subordinated to a new mangerialist thrust for efficiency and greater productivity from academics. The methodology of the Performance‐Based Research Fund is analysed as providing an imperfect local driver for the global phenomenon of new managerialism in higher education.     

Measuring perceptions of school learning environments for younger learners

Learning Environments Research - Students’ perceptions of the learning environment play an important role in their academic achievement and social lives. While most measures of school...