Anticipating And Guarding Against Academic Dishonesty in A Fast-Changing Learning Environment in The Context of Covid-19

Abstract

Academic integrity is a shared value in all institutions of Higher Learning. The rationale underpinning this value is that it recognises scholarship as it  should be and acknowledges the work of others. Academic dishonesty, on the other hand, occurs when academic integrity policy is violated. While  this has been a growing concern in most institutions of Higher Learning, the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic and the momentary shift by most  institutions to remote learning has made this problem escalate to unimaginable heights. Previous studies have basically focused on the issue of  plagiarism in a context where students relied heavily on in-person assessments and partially on online learning. This paper examines the extent to  which academic dishonesty has increased under an emergency remote learning system compared to an intentionally designed online learning  platform. A quantitative survey was carried out in the last quarter of the 2020 academic year with a sample of 150 students out of a population of  165 students from an institution of Higher Learning in South Africa. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used in data analysis and  presentation. The findings indicate that the current, unusual learning environment has forced most students to focus on performance over mastery.  Furthermore, students went beyond plagiarism to engage in dishonest practices in the submission of assignments due to stress and  pressure. It is, therefore, recommended that institutions of Higher Learning invest in remote test monitoring software, encourage the use of applied  learning as well as adopt the backward design instructional approach to guard against academic dishonesty among students.