The Summer Series of webinars continues the blog takeover with the fourth pre-webinar blog. The presenters for Workshop 4: After Education on July 11 discuss some key questions to get you thinking about their session.
What do you find most exciting/ challenging/ interesting about after education in academic integrity work? Has your answer to that shifted over the years? If so, how? If not, why not?
VICTORIA: I enjoy getting to know my students and the challenges they are facing with either academic, social, and wellness. My answer has not shifted too much but the types of assignments have definitely changed due to COVID-19, the boom of generative artificial intelligence and just the changing demands of academic life for college students.
ALLISON: I am gratified by being part of giving students a second chance and to work at an institution that believes that is important. Our work recognizes what the research tells us – that anyone can make a mistake, even a moral error. These days, we have even more obstacles to integrity – GenAI tools. As we all navigate this new world – professors examine pedagogy and practice, students experiment with the technology’s capabilities - the confusion for students about what is and isn’t acceptable use of these powerful tools adds to the possibility of mistakes.
By providing education instead of just punishment, we are able to equip students with practical skills and knowledge to help prevent future mistakes like this. So many students tell me at the end of their trainings that they were extremely helpful and all students should be required to take them. Seeing how different students come to their “aha moment” is endlessly fascinating. It is also satisfying and exciting, and it continues to be term after term, year after year.
What do you think folks new(er) to after education in academic integrity work might have misconceptions about/ most need or want to know?
VICTORIA: I always think creatively of what I give my students as a reflection or educational assignment. I try to tie it not only to their career interests, but the weakness or the mistake made that brought them in the first place to their academic integrity case. For students that are struggling with time management, I always get them to show me how they are organizing their time and student life. This ensures that we collectively are taking stock of their full lives. This is intentional because I want them to see that doing successful academic work takes time and cannot be rushed. I also like to talk to them about metacognition in the learning process, how to develop good habits and routines that allow them to reward themselves when they have wins and progress. Perfection is not the goal, but steady progress and motivation to continue to improve day by day whether it's an academic, social, or personal goal.
ALLISON: When I first started, I was surprised by the number of students who told me that identifying the stakeholders who were affected by their AI violation was eye-opening - that they had never thought beyond themselves in that situation. Others said they had never considered asking their professor for an extension rather than cheating. There were numerous “basics” that students just didn’t know. So, I think it is important not to assume knowledge and remember that much will be new to our students. While we are teaching integrity and how to make ethical decisions, we are also teaching them tools for becoming better students.
Another misconception might be that students are going to be resentful of the AI trainings, and thus, it will be difficult to get engagement. I find this to be far from true. Once students realize, usually on the first day, that they have entered a safe, positive learning-oriented environment in which errors are continually framed as learning opportunities, we get buy-in. Having peer educators facilitating much of the trainings helps tremendously. Students are brave in those meetings, and there is a desire to share. We require students to use real situations in our curriculum, such as when we practice ethical decision-making, because research shows they will gain much more from the exercises that way. They are not required, however, to discuss their AI violation with other students outside our staff. Despite that, we find that students choose to talk about their violations and benefit from the reflection and shared insights they gain in those conversations.
What are you most hoping folks will come to your webinar session prepared to talk about?
VICTORIA: I would like folks to come with one challenge they are facing and one pathway or program they might be excited to try or implement with post-reflective education.
ALLISON: I would love to talk in greater detail about our After Education trainings and the intervention (our AI Seminar) that was studied in the Jason M. Stephens and Tricia Bertram Gallant article. I’d also enjoy talking about the theoretical foundation at the heart of all of UC San Diego’s academic integrity education and seeing where there is overlap with the work my fellow panelist does. Ideas and questions about attendees’ after ed programs would be welcomed as well.
What are you most hoping folks will take away from your webinar session? Why?
VICTORIA: I would like to instill upon folks that you can still have an amazing outcome with reflective education even if you are a small team or an office of one. Inspiring students and motivating them is all about creating an environment of care, empathy, and actionable support. This can be done whether your office is well resourced or not – it's about creating the right systems and partnerships with campus leadership.
ALLISON: While we now have a robust office complete with numerous professionals and dozens of student staff, our institution started with just one career staff member and one student staff position. Growth is possible, you just have to get started. So, depending on what the situation is at each attendee’s institution, I hope they walk away with more insights into the value of after-education and feeling inspired to start considering, offering, or expanding their after-education portfolio.
Get ready for Workshop 4: After education (Friday July 11 at 12pm EST)
Join us as two very different institutions share their approach to after education and how they turn academic integrity violations into learning opportunities. We’ll be discussing theoretical underpinnings as well as actual assignments, trainings, and student work.
Pre-reading for Workshop #4:
Recommended further reading:
Murdoch & House (2023), Courageous Conversations (from Second Handbook of Academic Integrity)
Dr. Victoria Malaney-Brown is the inaugural Director of Academic Integrity at Columbia University in the City of New York where she supports undergraduates at Columbia College and Columbia Engineering, and she oversees academic integrity programming, orientation, Integrity Week, and the management of educational integrity cases.
Allison Riley oversees all educational programs for the Academic Integrity Office at University of California, San Diego - she designs and delivers preventative education and outreach efforts for students, student staff, career staff and faculty as well as required integrity trainings for students with violations (after ed).
The authors' views are their own.
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