The academic world can easily be infiltrated by dishonesty and plagiarism, especially in trying times such as the past two years of the Covid-19 pandemic. Good academic practice is essential for lecturers and students.
Prof Anné Verhoef, director of the School of Philosophy, is an avid campaigner for academic integrity and has centred his research on establishing a Community of Practice for Academic Integrity (CoPAI).
He has been collaborating with integrity specialists and work teams across the university to establish a CoPAI and document the student experience of academic integrity and honesty at the NWU. Among the specialists and teams are Dr Mariëtte Fourie, Quality Manager: Academic Programmes at the Quality Enhancement Office, teams from the faculties and Student Judicial Services, as well as Dr Yolandi Coetser, senior lecturer in the School of Philosophy.
"Although good research about academic integrity is available in the online environment, the Covid-19 pandemic made the management of academic integrity difficult. The research we do and the projects we launch in this regard at the NWU are unique and groundbreaking, not only locally but also internationally. "Our work offers many possibilities to make an impact on the management of academic integrity by higher-education institutions worldwide," says Prof Verhoef.
A first for South Africa
The NWU was one of the first universities in South Africa to do research about academic integrity in the teaching and learning environment during the pandemic.
This research led to three research outputs. "Firstly, we gave a presentation about the CoPAI in Portugal at the European Network for Academic Integrity at the beginning of 2022. After experiencing their enthusiasm about CoPAI, we realised that international universities share this need to develop their own CoPAIs."
The second output was an article Prof Verhoef and Dr Coetser wrote for Transformation in Higher Education. This article has now been quoted more than 14 times in just a few months, demonstrating that the research is receiving international recognition and making an impact.
An article was also published in the International Journal for Educational Integrity in Canada about the NWU's CoPAI. This led to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation asking Prof Verhoef to write a blogpost for their International Institute for Education Planning and give advice to other universities on how they can establish the same practices.
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