Academic Conduct Matters: Assessing the Impact of Academic and Disciplinary Interventions on Student’s Retention, Progression, and Completion

Blog post "What difference does it make? Embedding the teaching of good academic practices" published 5th October 2021.

Between August 2011 and July 2019, I was the Lead Academic Conduct Officer for the Arts and Humanities at The Open University. My role during this time primarily involved investigating cases of poor academic practice (aka plagiarism) which had been referred for disciplinary treatment. As such, these cases required a formal approach, including sending students evidence of our concerns in the form of marked-up copies of their essays and asking students to explain in writing the reasons behind the lack of appropriate referencing in their assignments. Students’ responses almost invariably brought up one or more of these issues:

• Lack of appreciation of when and why to acknowledge other people’s work,
• Panic and confusion around how to reference,
• Lack of confidence in their ability to write in their own words, or to paraphrase effectively,
• Special circumstances leading to difficulties finding time for or being able to concentrate on their studies.