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The level of academic misconduct, usually related to fraud or plagiarism, has remained constant at the university over the past two years, reports show.
There were 85 cases in 2019 and 84 in 2020.
Concerns have been raised about the potential for increased fraud as universities across the country shift reviews online due to changes in Covid-19 warning levels.
Misconduct reported in the past year included several cases of plagiarism, improper reference to source, using notes or cell phones during exams, and collaborating with other students in their work.
One student was found to have hired a research assistant to help develop and write his dissertation proposal.
Another inadvertently plagiarized in an essay he had to submit because he had previously gotten into trouble over scientific misconduct. They had to attend a session on “Basic competency in relation to the work of others”.
And it was found that a group of seven students had copied responses from a Facebook group.
Generally, the penalty for misconduct was a session with Student Learning Development to discuss academic integrity.
Other penalties included reducing exam grades and writing a “reflective essay”.
Some assessments were postponed online last year due to Covid-19 bans, and the same will happen again this year for the second semester exams.
Five out of eight New Zealand universities showed an increase in fraud over the past year.
The University of Canterbury saw a 258% increase in academic misconduct in 2020 compared to 2019. Lincoln University saw a 104% increase, Waikato University saw a 61% increase, Victoria University saw a 21% increase, and Massey an increase of 10%.
A Massey University employee who refused to be named told RNZ since the lockdown last year that its students had cheated on an online file-sharing service.
“You pay a monthly fee. You actually ask the specific question you want an answer to and the contractor in India writes the answer for you right away, e.g. within 15 minutes of the question and the answer becomes public.” posted for everyone to see other members of the site – not just one student who asked the question, but every other student in the class looking for it. “
The Deputy Vice Chancellor of Otago (acting) academician Prof.
“As in the 1st semester of 2020, remote monitoring will be used for some work for which there are accreditation requirements or which are used for competitive entry into 200-step programs.
“All other papers that contain short answers or essays will be submitted through Turnitin for plagiarism and collaboration detection – students were advised of this on September 14th.”
Students were also provided with an Academic Integrity Statement and a copy of the Academic Integrity Notice that should be displayed at the beginning of any online exam or exam.
– Additional reporting RNZ
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