Universities place a high value on the “academic integrity” and originality of research and writing, and we formulate rules and policies to discourage plagiarism and other forms of cheating. But what is originality? When you are writing about someone else’s work, how do you decide what is appropriate use of source material, and what is unoriginal or even plagiarizing? And why do professors care so much about whether papers and student writing are fully their own work, rather than pulled from online sources?
Complex issues have also arisen recently about how and how much universities should try to ensure students refrain from cheating on tests and quizzes. Is the use of Proctorio or other technological proctoring services acceptable? If not, how else can/should universities take steps to ensure students are evaluated fairly and accurately on the quality of their own work? And why is such evaluation necessary at all?
The UBC Philosophy Department invites you to attend and participate in a panel discussion with three of our faculty members (Sylvia Berryman, Dave Gilbert, and Scott Anderson) to talk about these and related questions around academic integrity, originality, and cheating prevention in the current pandemic circumstances. There will be plenty of time for student questions and discussion, and a chance to interact with faculty and fellow students.
For Zoom meeting details, please RSVP to phil.ugradengagement@ubc.ca.
