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Academic integrity, STEM education, and COVID-19: a call to action

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Kristal Louise Turner
Kristal Louise Turner
Kristal Louise Turner
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Jennifer D. Adams at University of Calgary
Jennifer D. Adams
Sarah Elaine Eaton at University of Calgary
Sarah Elaine Eaton
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With the global pandemic educators have had to move their courses to virtual spaces, and this quick change has brought up concerns, especially in STEM education where there are ongoing discussions of adapting laboratories and shifting lecture and assessment practices to online learning. One issue that has become more pressing, beyond the financial and technological implications, is that of academic integrity violations. This position paper looks at the intersection academic integrity and equity and social justice in STEM higher education, where there is a lack of research and publications exploring the inequities that exist. The researchers have expertise in these areas and hold positions in as faculty, student, and advisor. The paper’s main focus represents a review of the current literature and calls educators to action to change the narratives in STEM and higher education, taking into account the impact of COVID-19 and the shift in the education conversations that have happened due to the pandemic.
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Vol.:(0123456789)
Cultural Studies of Science Education (2022) 17:331–339
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-021-10090-4
1 3
ORIGINAL PAPER
Academic integrity, STEM education, andCOVID‑19: acall
toaction
KristalLouiseTurner1 · JenniferD.Adams2 · SarahElaineEaton1
Received: 4 January 2021 / Accepted: 22 October 2021 / Published online: 26 February 2022
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V. 2022
Abstract
With the global pandemic educators have had to move their courses to virtual spaces, and
this quick change has brought up concerns, especially in STEM education where there are
ongoing discussions of adapting laboratories and shifting lecture and assessment practices
to online learning. One issue that has become more pressing, beyond the financial and tech-
nological implications, is that of academic integrity violations. This position paper looks at
the intersection academic integrity and equity and social justice in STEM higher education,
where there is a lack of research and publications exploring the inequities that exist. The
researchers have expertise in these areas and hold positions in as faculty, student, and advi-
sor. The paper’s main focus represents a review of the current literature and calls educators
to action to change the narratives in STEM and higher education, taking into account the
impact of COVID-19 and the shift in the education conversations that have happened due
to the pandemic.
Keywords EDJ· STEM· Academic integrity
With the global pandemic educators have had to move their courses to virtual spaces, and
with little notice or course preparation. This quick change has brought up concerns, espe-
cially in STEM education where there are ongoing discussions of adapting labs and shifting
lecture and assessment practices to online learning. However, one issue that has become
more pressing is that of academic integrity violations. Academic integrity is defined as
“a commitment, even in the face of adversity, to six fundamental values: honesty, trust,
fairness, respect, responsibility, and courage” (International Center for Academic Integrity,
Lead editor: C. Siry
* Kristal Louise Turner
kllumsde@ucalgary.ca
Jennifer D. Adams
jennifer.adams1@ucalgary.ca
Sarah Elaine Eaton
seaton@ucalgary.ca
1 Werklund School ofEducation, University ofCalgary, Calgary, Canada
2 Facutly ofChemistry, Werklund School ofEducation, University ofCalgary, Calgary, Canada
Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. Rights reserved.
... However, the concept of academic integrity was re-examined by researchers when assessments and exams were moved online in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, a reevaluation that is equally relevant for IBCs of TNHE-STEM programs [104][105][106][107][108][109]. ...
... IBCs of TNHE-STEM programs therefore implemented several methods to mitigate the increasing tendency of academic misconduct. Table 2 shows the most common types of academic misconduct observed among the students over the periods of pre-, mid-and post-pandemic in the TNHE-STEM programs, and what preventive measures were applied to maintain the standard of academic integrity by the host and home institutes [107,108,115]. ...
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... By addressing the unique challenges posed by eassessments and implementing robust integrity measures, schools can uphold high standards of honesty and fairness in the digital learning environment. Some strategies have been suggested to enhance academic integrity in e-assessments (Pagaling & McDermott, 2022;Turner et al., 2022). ...
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