Academic Integrity in Teaching and Learning

Upholding and promoting academic integrity at UBC.

Academic integrity is a commitment to upholding the UBC values of respect, integrity, and accountability in all academic endeavours.

All members of the UBC community have a shared responsibility to understand and uphold its values. Academic integrity is important for producing new knowledge through writing, speaking or creative pursuits in academic work. It is also important for demonstrating learning through assessments and assignments.

Instructors are responsible for setting clear expectations around academic integrity in their courses, modelling honest behaviour as teachers and scholars, and creating a space for students to develop their understanding of academic integrity. Students are responsible for meeting these expectations in their academic work, developing an understanding of concepts, and seeking support when they have questions. The resources and topics below can support this work.


It’s integrated

Academic integrity is integrated into every course, and needs to be taught in the context of the disciplines.

It’s for everyone

Faculty, staff, and students act in their shared responsibility to embody the values of academic integrity.

It’s upheld

Responses to academic integrity breaches acknowledge that students are learning and have a responsibility to uphold the standards of academic integrity.

Educative Approaches to Academic Integrity

There have been many recent developments around academic integrity at UBC, including updates to the academic misconduct regulation to introduce a diversionary process and Integrity Plans, a new academic integrity website, and the creation of an Academic Integrity Hub in the Office of the Provost and Vice-President Academic. At the heart of these initiatives, UBC’s aim is to support and promote an educative approach to academic integrity and academic misconduct.


students

Learning with Integrity

Academic Integrity

Students have a responsibility to understand academic integrity in their fields of study and to do their part to support a culture of academic integrity. Understanding misconceptions regarding academic integrity is a step towards embracing its values.

Group Work

Learning collaboratively is effective when combined with clear expectations and documentation of individual contributions. Effective collaborative learning is built on the foundational principle of reciprocity where contributions are acknowledged in a respectful way.

Contract Cheating

Soliciting a third-party to produce academic work and materials on your behalf is known as contract cheating. This type of cheating, along with file-sharing, carries additional risks for students beyond being simple academic misconduct.


faculty

Teaching with Integrity

Teaching Integrity

Faculty have a responsibility to work with students to promote a culture of academic integrity. This starts in the classroom by teaching academic integrity in their discipline and including relevant information in syllabi and coursework.

Citing and Acknowledging

All knowledge production builds on the work of others. When students produce writing or creative outputs, academic integrity is upheld if information is properly paraphrased and sources are properly attributed.

Laptop being used for typing

Assessments

In areas of study where students demonstrate their learning through quizzes, tests or homework assignments, there are evidence-based recommendations for rewarding academic integrity in course and assessment design. 

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