Plagiarism Curricula May Reduce Need for Punitive Plagiarism Education

Objective – To describe the development and implementation of two courses designed to help university students avoid plagiarism. Design – Quantitative and qualitative analysis. Setting – A university in the United Kingdom. Subjects – An unknown number of university students who took a Plagiarism Awareness Program (PAP) course between 2008 and 2011, and approximately 3,000 university students enrolled in a Plagiarism Avoidance for New Students (PANS) course delivered via a virtual learning environment (VLE) between October and December 2012. The authors attempted to collect rates of continued plagiarism among students who had taken plagiarism education courses. The authors also surveyed 702 university students about plagiarism in 2011. Methods – Data collected from PAP participants informed revision of the authors’ approach to plagiarism education and led to development of the second course, PANS. At the end of the course, students completed a test of their knowledge about plagiarism. Authors compared scores from students who took a course supervised by a librarian to the scores from students who took the course independently. Main Results – Students reported that many aspects of citation and attribution are challenging (p. 149). The authors discovered that 93% of students who completed the PANS course facilitated by a librarian in-person passed the final exam with a grade of 70% or higher, while 85% of students who took the same course independently, without a librarian instructor, in an online VLE scored 70% or higher (p. 155). The authors report that referrals of students who plagiarized declined significantly (p-value < 0.001) since the implementation of a plagiarism avoidance curriculum. Conclusion – As reported by the authors, first-year university students require more extensive education about plagiarism avoidance. A university plagiarism avoidance program instructed by librarians reduces the total number of students caught plagiarizing and mitigates the need for punitive plagiarism education programs. In discussing the challenges and implementation of plagiarism awareness curricula, the authors contribute to the dialogue about effective approaches to addressing this critical issue in higher education.

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Evaluation of First-Year University Students’ Engagement to enhance Student Development

Asian Journal of University Education ◽

10.24191/ajue.v17i2.13388 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 17 (2) ◽

pp. 113

Author(s):

Hooi Sin Soo ◽

Yenwan Chong

Keyword(s):

Student Engagement ◽

University Students ◽

Student Development ◽

Academic Engagement ◽

University Education ◽

First Year ◽

Development Programs ◽

Online Engagement ◽

New Students ◽

First Year University

Abstract: The COVID-19 crisis has dramatically impacted university education as well as created new challenges for tertiary learning institutions. The pandemic has exacerbated graduate unemployment and increased student dropout rates. In response to these unprecedented challenges, universities are formulating more student development initiatives to support new students to transition into university and produce holistic graduates with essential soft skills. Student engagement evaluation can help inform and enhance the implementation of student development programs. In this study, seven domains of first year university students’ engagement were evaluated namely Academic Engagement (AE), Beyond-class Engagement (BE), Intellectual Engagement (IE), Online Engagement (OE), Peer Engagement (PE), Student-staff Engagement (SE) and Transition Engagement (TE). This study found that university freshmen’s Online Engagement (OE) was the strongest while their Academic Engagement (AE) was the weakest. This study also discovered that first year university students’ engagement were weakest with regard to reading of textbooks before attending class, asking questions in class and borrowing books from the university library. Future student development programs targeted at first year university students could be enhanced by increasing the use of ICT in teaching and learning as well as increasing efforts in assisting new students to transition from school to university learning environments by inculcating good reading habits and encouraging active class participation. Keywords: Academic engagement, First year undergraduates, Student development, Student engagement, Transition to university

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SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS, RELIGIOSITY, ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE, AND SUBSTANCE USE AMONG FIRST-YEAR UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN SOUTH AFRICA

Psychological Reports ◽

10.2466/pr0.91.5.105-113 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 91 (5) ◽

pp. 105 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

KARL PELTZER

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Substance Use ◽

Academic Performance ◽

University Students ◽

Sociodemographic Factors ◽

First Year ◽

First Year University

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Health related physical activity behaviour of first year university students

International Sports Studies ◽

10.30819/iss.38-1.03 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 38 ◽

pp. 25-35

Author(s):

Peter Le Rossignol ◽

Myrna Boertien ◽

Eng Hoe Wee

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

University Students ◽

Physical Activity Behaviour ◽

First Year ◽

Health Related ◽

First Year University ◽

Activity Behaviour

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First year university students’ perception of autonomy: an individualistic approach

Journal of Further and Higher Education ◽

10.1080/0309877x.2021.1905154 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-14

Author(s):

Feng Ding ◽

Baohua Yu

Keyword(s):

University Students ◽

First Year ◽

First Year University

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Factors associated with depressive episode among first year University students in Serbia

European Journal of Public Health ◽

10.1093/eurpub/ckaa166.1037 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽

Author(s):

S Čanković ◽

D Čanković ◽

I Radić ◽

D Rakić ◽

S Ukropina ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Logistic Regression ◽

Depressive Symptoms ◽

University Students ◽

Depressive Episode ◽

Social Health ◽

Support Network ◽

First Year ◽

Behavioral Factors ◽

First Year University

Abstract Background Some findings indicate that university students are at higher risk of depression despite being a socially advantaged population, showing that 15 to 25% of them develop some type of mental disorder during graduation, and depression is one of the most prevalent. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of depressive symptoms and its association with gender, material status, social health, and behavioral factors among university students. Methods The research represents a cross-sectional study conducted at the University of Novi Sad, Serbia. The research involved 455 first-year students. The average age of participants was 19.3 years (72.1% girls and 27.9% boys). Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) was used to measure depressive symptoms (cut point for depressive episode ≥10). Additional questions were focused on self-assessed material status, social health, and behavioral factors (smoking and alcohol use). The binary logistic regression model was used to estimate the association between depression and observed independent variables. Results The prevalence of moderate to severe depressive episode among students was 18.0%, with no gender differences. Out of the total, 11.0% of students had suicidal thoughts or thoughts of hurting themselves. Multivariable logistic regression showed that self-assessed poor material status (OR = 2.04; 95%CI: 1.06-3.89), self-assessed poor social health (OR = 8.9; 95%CI:4.87-16.42) and smoking (OR = 2.18; 95%CI: 1.09-4.39) were significant predictors of depression among first-year university students. Conclusions High prevalence of depressive episode among university students call for the action for the promotion of mental health, particularly among those of lower socioeconomic status, and points out the importance of social health and social network in the prevention of mental disorders. Key messages Students on the first year of University should be screened for depressive symptoms. It is important to educate students on how to create a strong support network and to implement intervention programs for improving mental health through fostering healthy lifestyles change.

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