Academic Integrity Writing Toolkit

The general purpose of this handbook, or toolkit, is to provide a general reference for educators in the simple ideological and pedagogical methods of education in the general education classroom.  It has been created with the hopes of creating and/or maintaining a simple balance between teacher and student when questions of academic integrity are addressed.  It’s secondary purpose is for generating ideas for further research and discussion among educators and curriculum developers. It provides ...
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Autonomous Educational Organization "Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools"

Branch of "Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools of the Physics and Mathematics direction" of Aktobe


William Staples

Islamova L.S.






Academic standards, plagiarism and maintaining academic honesty while conducting research


Pedagogical Toolkit




















Aktobe 2015




William Staples
Islamova L.S.

Developing and Maintaining Academic Integrity/Authors: William Staples and Islamova, L.S.: Pedagogical Toolkit: Aktobe, 2015

The general purpose of this handbook, or toolkit, is to provide a general reference for educators in the simple ideological and pedagogical methods of education in the general education classroom. It has been created with the hopes of creating and/or maintaining a simple balance between teacher and student when questions of academic integrity are addressed. It's secondary purpose is for generating ideas for further research and discussion among educators and curriculum developers. It provides a series of topics which open the window of ambiguity and generates further understanding if, indeed, the simple tips and tricks of this handbook are utilized by an open-minded and caring learning guide.














Abstract

Learning standards are concise, written descriptions of what students are expected to know and be able to do at a specific stage of their education. Learning standards describe educational objectives-i.e., what students should have learned by the end of a course, grade level, or grade span-but they do not describe any particular teaching practice, curriculum, or assessment method (although this is a source of ongoing confusion and debate). edglossary.org

Standards mostly describe the aims of schooling, the destinations at which students should arrive at the end of the unit or term. For example, most standards expect students graduating from high school to be able to write for different audiences in different formats - things such as reports, instructions and literary criticism. Standards are designed to provide a clear path for students to know and should be able to do at different grades. The teacher is the person who can choose whatever curriculum he or she finds appropriate and also uses the academic standards to develop lesson plans, assignments and assessments that help their students master the knowledge and skills defined by the academic standards. It should be noted that the standard doesn't prescribe how to get the students to this destination - that is determined by the curriculum. Standards do not prescribe any particular curriculum.

The correct implementation of any type of academic standard will never be complete unless those who are partaking in the venture follow the correct procedure and maintain academic integrity whether it is through delivery of material through speech or by writing. What follows will allow the investigator to be immersed in the myriad models and frameworks that exist in western education. A simple introduction to the various forms and models will be introduced as well as a brief explanation of how to incorporate those simple models in the classroom. What will be achieved by this survey of information is a brief understanding on behalf of the individual teacher or team teaching partnership on the theory, methodology, and implementation of these tips and tricks that can be used in the classroom.

Introduction

No course in complete without the innovation and understanding of a good academic integrity plan. This can take on many different shapes and forms; as many as there are teachers giving lessons today. A simple word of caution, however, would be that instructors use these models to formulate the basic culture and mood of the students in class. Put simply, do not forget to always come back to your models and adjust them as needed. In order to better understand this model that must be created, it is vital to understand the various forms and models that exist in many prominent universities and high schools around the western educational model. In order to accomplish this task, models and vignettes will be described in greater detail followed by a method for creating one's own academic honesty statement in the class. To conclude the survey here, we will look at a simple case study and discover many new ways to construct a course that will, according to the latest research models, "plagiarism proof" your efforts.

Discussion

Plagiarism, cheating, etc., is the underlying horror that teachers dread and students always seek to outwit those evaluating them. There have been so many different forms that it would take an entire book to discuss in great detail. But the point of this discussion is to recognize this as the problem and offer simple, yet elegant, solutions that can be implemented in our classrooms. One particular instance that can be easily understood comes from the movie "Cheaters" in which a group of high school students acquire a copy of the answer sheet to the proclaimed SAT test. These cheaters, to no surprise, choose to capstone on their great discovery and a series of calamities result. So what is the reason why they would want to do something like this? Why would students feel the need to do this? Are they just lazy? Are they ignorant? The questions can go on and on and on. But the question that is on a lot of educator's minds is simple: what do we do about it?

Schools all across the country have implemented many different plans of action that result in what many call an academic integrity model or code of student conduct. Through this model, teachers, as well as students, have a form of hard-copy evidence that introduces the concept of maintaining academic integrity. But it also holds the students and teachers both accountable for the actions of both. It seems to represent a form of checks and balances system that helps to keep the wheels of education turning and keep children learning. One educational model that has been quite effective is that of the University of California at Los Angeles. It is here that they provide a simple acronym that holds students accountable for their actions. They call it, "RAISE the bar." Please refer to the model.

True Bruins RAISE The Bar Through:

Respect

True Bruins respect the rights and dignity of others. They listen carefully, communicate clearly and remain open to diverse perspectives.

Accountability

True Bruins maintain accountability for their conduct and commitments. When they face adversity, they reflect thoughtfully and make ethical choices.

Integrity

True Bruins conduct themselves with integrity, understanding that the quality of our UCLA experience reflects the quality of our work and service to the community.

Service

True Bruins are leaders on campus and in the community. They make a positive impact on the world through public service.

Excellence

True Bruins strive for excellence in all that they do, in both work and service.

Adapted from truebruinucla.edu UCLA Student Conduct Code

This model demonstrates the basic fundamental necessities of any basic model of academic integrity. It provides the teachers with a basic structure to which they may model their own standard. It also provides the students with a basic model to which they can refer at any point in time.

Since the topic of academic integrity is constantly on the minds of educators and dictated to students on a consistent basis, it is important now to understand what it is that we should be telling the students when talking about maintaining academic integrity. The following points to be discussed will be a brief description of copyright, followed by plagiarism, followed by a series of tips that students can use in order to maintain academic integrity, and, finally, some tips and tricks that can be used by the teacher in the classroom to teach students proper academic integrity.

According to a periodical written by the University of Auckland in New Zealand, there are many different types of copyright that go beyond the basic scope of copying someone else's work. They describe how any type of intellectual work, and for any purpose, is the property of the person by whom it was created. This can be, for example, any type of play, song, written work such as books, magazines, newspapers, etc., that go from the privacy of one's own mind to the public sector. But one important piece of information is when information is translated. When information is translated, it must still be given rights to the original creator. This must be communicated in great detail to students in ESL classes.

So how does a student maintain academic integrity with copyright? The University of Auckland in New Zealand outlines a series of examples and suggestions on the topic. First, they suggest that students have to acquire permission before using any of the author's work. However, this can be difficult to attain, and it would be better in this case to search for different materials or send an email to the author and wait for a response. They also caution on the idea that one should also pay particular attention to the amount of material being copied. We need to instruct the students to remember the general 10 word rule.

If a student wishes to use the information from someone else, he or she must summarize or cite after a minimum of 10 words.

According to the University of Auckland in New Zealand, it is only required to make an official citation under the following circumstances:

1. Copyright has expired; or

2. The author has made the work available under a license which permits you to post the work on the internet such as a Creative Commons license.

3. The copying is fair i.e. your use clearly falls under one of the fair dealing exceptions in the Act such as fair dealing for the purpose of criticism and review

4. Works are not protected by copyright; or

5. Copying is permitted under the Act

Plagiarism

According to the Senate Faculty Committee at the University of Irvine, in Irvine, California, plagiarism is defined as when a writer deliberately uses someone else's language, ideas, or other original (not common-knowledge) material without acknowledging its source. This is a very common problem among many professionals as well as students. There are many different causes that many have already seen in their classrooms but will be highlighted here:

  1. Students will simply have a fear of failure

  2. Students may not want to take any risks when it comes to doing creative or innovative work projects.

  3. Students may have extremely poor time management skills or pre-disposed conditions that make their learning abilities retard.

  4. Students may not see what they are doing, or the course itself, as something important.

  5. Students may not care about the consequences or even "call the bluff" of those trying to enforce the consequences.

  6. They may feel inferior to their peers in class who have a higher writing ability.

But on a more positive note, we know that there are lots of students that try really hard to not plagiarize their work, but they still do it without understanding. And so, some of the following may be likely to occur:

  1. Students may not know how to properly integrate what they are researching into their texts.

  2. Students have simply made errors as part of the learning process.

  3. Even though the general consensus believes a basic definition of plagiarism, the interpretations can be misunderstood by learning students.

  4. Students from other cultures may not understand the rules of plagiarism while it is defined completely different in their society.

  5. Students may use a blanket approach and believe that one method or form is accurate and true for all forms of writing.



Academic Honesty Policy of NIS Aktobe

According to the Academic Honesty Policy of NIS Aktobe, plagiarism is defined as:

1. Presenting someone else's work;

2. The use of someone else's work as his/her own;

3. The intentional use of someone else's work, or fragments of someone else's work without giving the author, in his or her name, without including a reference from sources which may include "copy-paste" without giving proper citation;

4. The lack of references to the resource (text, illustrations, photos) in the form of footnotes, intra-links, bibliographies, citations etc. in accordance with the rules.

(The use of someone else's work and correct referencing is not considered plagiarism).


Types of Policy

Degree of seriousness

 cheating

 full or partial copying of works from other resources without proper citation

 use of prohibited items in the exams as determined by the student conduct code of the school.

1 Minor

 conspiracy (doing someone else's work),

 copying (presenting other people's works as their own)

 illegal purchase and use of examination materials

 copying other works, as well as providing own work for cheating, if it is not a group work

 plagiarism

 the use of crutches as aids

2 Significant

 fake ratings of marks

 records

 fraud

 illegal purchase and use of examination materials

3 Major

***Types of plagiarism, as defined in Academic Honesty Policy of NIS:

Intentional plagiarism - deliberate representation of someone else's work / ideas as one's own. Examples of intentional plagiarism include:

1. Copying answers from classmates;

2. Copying all tasks from the students of previous year;

Unintentional plagiarism - the use of someone else's work because of the lack of understanding of what plagiarism is, making incorrect references, making citations and making citation of skills. Examples of unintentional plagiarism include:

1. Refusal to indicate that the text is a direct quote-- using quotation marks;

2. Paraphrasing the chapter-- including the source in the reference list, but without in-text citation;

3. The creation of the section-- attaching suggestions from many sources together but not confirming the source in the text;

Conspiracy:

1. Copying class / homework and turning it in as one's own works, as well as teacher guided assignments during class or that which is given as homework;

2. The implementation of class / homework for the student; students who turn in their work that has been completed by another student;

3. The transmission of information on specific tasks or exams without the direct permission of the teacher to share with others;

4. The different forms of collective deception, misrepresentation and/or collective teacher conspiracy;

5. The execution of the test, examination or other examinations (essays, essay, report, training, laboratory work) instead of issuing another student or someone else's work as his own;

Cheating:

1. The use of materials and items that are not allowed in the exam / test (crutches and other records of various types which include, but are not limited to, printed sources, phones, tablets, computers or other electronic devices) and / or software;

2. Direct copying the work of another student;

3. The use of oral tips;

4. The deliberate and conscious use of these devices in order to obtain an unfair advantage over other students.

Falsification:

1. Inventing and manipulation of data (experiment, survey, report, works cited list and etc. which were not used).

2. Various forms of document fraud (fake medical certificates, fake notes from parents, journal entries, etc.).

To follow the academic honesty policy, entire school community must be guided by the following model for the design of the resources used.

Students and teachers will be given guidelines for citing references.

The purpose of the use of links allows the reader to find the original source, where the used ideas will perform. Students must provide full references in a separate section, i.e. at the end of the paper, but are also required to clearly cite the sources in the main part of the work.

Book (one author)

First reference
( Jon W. Finson, Nineteenth-Century Music: The Western Classical Tradition (Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 2002), p. 65.

Second and additional reference
Finson, p. 71.


Bibliography

Finson, Jon W., Nineteenth-Century Music: The Western Classical Tradition (Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 2002)

Book (two authors)

First reference

Gillyanne Hayes and Jeremy Fisher, Successful Singing Auditions (London: A. & C. Black, 2002), p. 22

Second and additional reference
HayesandFisher, p.22

Bibliography

Kayes, Gillyanne, and Jeremy Fisher, Successful Singing Auditions (London: A. & C. Black, 2002)

Book (three and more authors)

First reference
Jen-yen Chen and others, Three Masses from Vienna: A Capella Masses (Middleton, Wis.: A-R Editions, 2004), pp. 24-25.
Bibliography
Chen, Jen-yen and others, Three Masses from Vienna: A Capella Masses (Middleton, Wis.: A-R Editions, 2004)

Magazine article

Basic Skeleton Used in MLA Citations
Author, 'Title of Article', Journal Title, volume (year), page range, page number

First reference
John M. Jennings, 'French Baroque Chamber Music', Early Music, 36 (2005), 142-48 (p. 142).

Second and additional reference
Jennings, p. 43.

Bibliography
Jennings, John M., 'French Baroque Chamber Music', Early Music, 36 (2005), 142-48.

Newspaper article

Michael Smith, 'Big Sing Tests Talents of High School Choirs', The Press, 12 June 2010, p. 5.

Internet resources

Basic Skeleton Used in MLA Citations
Author name, 'Title of Item', Title of Whole Resource,(year of publication) , [date accessed].

First reference

Margo Schulter, 'Pythagorean Tuning and Medieval Polyphony', Early Music FAQ(1998) <medieval.org/emfaq/harmony/pyth.html> [accessed 20 March 2011].

Bibliography
Schulter, Margo, 'Pythagorean Tuning and Medieval Polyphony', Early Music FAQ(1998) <medieval.org/emfaq/harmony/pyth.html> [accessed 20 March 2011]

Films and TV programmes

The Piano, written and directed by Jane Campion, (Optimum Releasing, 2005) [on DVD]

As you can see from this table, there are many different forms of citation for many different forms of references. The use of this chart is only a basic model, however, but it still can be used as a basic guide for helping students to avoid making simple mistakes in terms of referencing in a bibliographical format.

Application Strategies

The following are the quotes and the ways students may have used them during research. Try to find out why it is incorrect.

1. Humans are a tough and adaptable species. People live on the equator and in the Arctic, in the desert and in the rainforest. We survived ice ages with primitive technologies. The idea that climate change poses an existential threat to humankind is laughable. Richard Toll.

Richard Toll: Humans are a tough and adaptable species. People live on the equator and in the Arctic, in the desert and in the rainforest. We survived ice ages with primitive technologies. The idea that climate change poses an existential threat to humankind is laughable.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Possible answer: According to Richard Toll, "Humans are a tough and adaptable species. People live on the equator and in the Arctic, in the desert and in the rainforest. We survived ice ages with primitive technologies. The idea that climate change poses an existential threat to humankind is laughable."

2. If kids come to us from strong, healthy functioning families, it makes our job easier. If they do not come to us from strong, healthy, functioning families, it makes our job more important. Barbara Colorose.

If kids come to us from strong, healthy functioning families, it makes our job easier. If they do not come to us from strong, healthy, functioning families, it makes our job more important. (Powerful Quotes for Teachers (Printer Friendly Version)." Teaching. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Jan. 2015.)

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Possible answer: If kids come to us from strong, healthy functioning families, it makes our job easier. If they do not come to us from strong, healthy, functioning families, it makes our job more important (Barbara Colorose).

The full source should be shown in the works cited.

3. Primary health care is no longer a set of words; it is something you and I live and breathe every day. Everyone worldwide has a right to this care. Your new executive and I will be working tirelessly with you towards achieving universal coverage in each of our countries, and strengthening our important work with the World Health Organization at global and regional levels. Professor Michael Kidd - WONCA inauguration speech 2013.

Primary health care is no longer a set of words; it is something you and I live and breathe every day. Everyone worldwide has a right to this care. Your new executive and I will be working tirelessly with you towards achieving universal coverage in each of our countries, and strengthening our important work with the World Health Organization at global and regional levels. (no in-text citation)

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

Possible answer: Professor Michael Kidd reports, "Primary health care is no longer a set of words; it is something you and I live and breathe every day. Everyone worldwide has a right to this care. Your new executive and I will be working tirelessly with you towards achieving universal coverage in each of our countries, and strengthening our important work with the World Health Organization at global and regional levels."


Maintaining Academic Integrity

Since the greatest problems lie within a grander scale of information, only a few points of information will be covered here. According to myriad sources, including the University of California and Los Angeles, maintaining academic integrity is as simple as culminating an effective classroom environment and continually reminding the students within that classroom culture to follow the rules of academic integrity. Here we will outline a few of the ideas that are suggested throughout the literature:

  1. At the beginning of each quarter, semester, or bimester, outline the academic integrity plan that is in effect in the school and that that has been modified by the instructor.

  2. Reaffirm often the importance of academic integrity.

  3. Create an environment which encourages academic honesty and fairness.

  4. Address academic integrity from the class syllabus.

  5. Follow up in cases where you suspect academic dishonesty.

  6. Clearly articulate your policies regarding academic dishonesty.

  7. Encourage the principal to take part in the struggle against this as well.

--Modified from the UCLA Student Code of Conduct

In order to properly maintain a classroom that focuses on academic integrity, it is very important that the instructor take ample time to study and follow basic classroom management techniques and procedures. Having focused primarily on the literature of classroom management techniques, it can easily be seen that a student that is prohibited from academic dishonesty is a student that has been previously discouraged by the teacher. So what does this mean? Simply, the teacher was able to avoid a bullet before it was shot from the gun. That is to say that the teacher gave the students an effective plan to help avoid any potential backlash from committing errors in academic integrity. Here are a few simple ideas that can be used to help improve your classroom:

  1. Make multiple forms of tests in order to avoid cheating.

  2. Maintain control of exams by collecting all of them after each exam

  3. Keep exams in a secure place

  4. Before an exam, ask students not to sit near friends

  5. Remind students of any restrictions regarding the use of cell phones, pagers, palm pilots, and other similar devices are in the classroom during an exam.

  6. Tell students that your department may be using plagiarism detection software.

** From the Report of the Academic Dishonesty and Plagiarism Subcommittee (June 18, 2004) UCLA IRVINE

Constructing the Academic Integrity Classroom

Through research and common practice, teachers, as well as college professors, have seen many reasons to create an environment in which they can encourage academic integrity. But in order to create this type of model, we need to expand just a bit further on some of the ideas already mentioned. A brief study of the student conduct models of universities and high schools in the United States, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom resulted in a plethora of different tips, tricks, and educational models that will aid any teacher in the quest for academic integrity, but in the light of keep a simplistic model, only a few of the elements of the literature will be discussed.

Once again, it is important to discuss in great detail all of the points of student conduct and explain, while enforcing, the consequences of not maintaining it. This is a crucial first step for any classroom as it establishes the very foundation of the class and what the students, as well as the teacher, can expect. If there is little foundation, the teacher cannot expect that the students will be able to follow a plan. Further, it is just as important that no matter how the culture of the school is developed, a teacher must follow the disciplinary actions no matter how much prestige a student has, a family has, or any other reason why a teacher or school would hesitate to enforce such a rule.

Another great tip that can be used is the integration of contracts. Here, and this has been carried out in multiple classrooms all over the world, a student is holding him/herself completely accountable for his or her actions. By signing a simply worded promise of following the models of academic integrity planned by the school or the classroom teacher, a student will have very little recourse when it comes to battling a plagiarism claim from the teacher or the school. The easiest way to make this is to add it to the class syllabus that is given at the beginning of the year. It is also suggested that the teacher make a copy of it for a teacher's file and tape a generic form of the contract to the wall.

A clever way to maintain this discipline is by making random checks of work as it is being completed. If students are working on computers, the easiest thing to do would be to stop the student for a moment, ask them to highlight a paragraph they are writing and submit it to a website that checks for plagiarized materials. The important thing here is to make sure that other students see what you are doing. This will cause the other students to follow the lead and pay closer attention.

One of the most common ways to avoid plagiarism is to provide the students in the class with limited secondary source materials. Here, then, the focus becomes on finding primary source materials that they are forced to cite. By limiting the secondary source materials, the teacher can better monitor the student progress as he or she floats around the classroom and checking student process. Again, make this tactic a broadcasted one in which the teacher announces that he or she will be ardently checking for plagiarism.

A steadily and a bit more interestingly motivating approach has recently been suggested by the Yale University professors. They suggest that students be given the opportunity to follow a bit more of a constructivist approach to their writing. This takes a bit more understanding on behalf of the teacher in the assignment giving process. Here, the teacher must give a topic and describe the topic which allows the students to add to the conversation instead of finding and regurgitating information from the sources that they have been researching. Tactics such as these will allow students to complete the assignment while making sure that their thinking is completely original. They use the sources, and cite them, but, more importantly, they are expressing their ideas and making an argument.

When assigning topics, do not give topics that are not interesting reading. If a student is given a topic that is not interesting to you, the motivation factor can decline sharply. The main pedagogy behind this idea is in the motivation of the instructor. An excited instructor should voice the interest in order to help the students make better educated choices. This will also allow the teachers and students to find ways to better invest themselves in the materials which will increase better time management practices.

A final common practice among educators, as found in the literature, is staggering deadlines. This process is common for many reasons that include time management, grading management, and efficiency. In order to include the idea of academic integrity, this will not encourage those last-minute plagiarizes who will wait until midnight the night before to complete their work. Furthermore, it is crucial that the plan be revisited quite often so that the students are always aware of when things are due and allow them to budget time, even class time, accordingly.

Developing Research Methods in the Global Perspectives Classroom

One of the growing challenges teachers new to Global Perspectives and Research Work may face in the classroom leads not in the direction of recalling facts and information, but, rather, more in the direction of integrated student research skills being practiced. Students already know how to use the internet to find information, but an underlying question becomes how to teach students to utilize time efficient, all-incorporating methods that will ultimately lead them to conduct their own research methods learned from the teacher. Our main goal in all of this, of course, is application skills in proper citation, avoiding plagiarism, analyzing information from context to deepen understanding, and how to interpret what it is they are researching.

Due to a number of factors including their personal lives outside of school; extra-curricular activities, boredom, or simple writer's block, students seldom will reach that point of personal motivation that is so very crucial to the creative process. Nor will they be able to strengthen the tools required to become a self-directed, life-long learner. So, then, the question should become, "how do we teach them research skills in such a way that their motivation increases and they are practicing these valuable research skills they need in other disciplines?"

Discussion

If these questions are the ones we are holding in mind, then we need to review some of the more active strategies that are being used in Western classrooms no matter the project or the activity. Of course, these methods are a bit deeper than having the students just go to the internet and looking up some material to regurgitate later, but up-to-date research in the proper ways of involving students in their own responsibility for learning and conducting research for academic reasons. This current research explains myriad examples that educators can put in their teacher's toolbox or toolkit that have been proven to work for any research discipline and could very easily be applied to the new Global Perspectives and Project Work course. Let's take a look now at some of these new methods and how a teacher may be able to reproduce these activities in their classes.

Before diving into the methods and practices of conducting research, it is first very important to dissect research components into its main forms and purposes. In order to do this, we must first look at the different types of research that can be used by students in the classroom. Now keep in mind that these are not the only methods that can be used, but they can be used as a guide. These different types of research include exploratory research, descriptive research, analytical research, and predictive research. This main focus should be step number one in the process of teaching your students research methods. Some common questions that should be asked by the teacher at this step of the process of planning may be, "what kind of research do I want them to do?" or "what plan of action do I want to help the students make towards their research project?" Each of these for types should be explained a bit more in detail in order to better understand their meanings. Please have a look at the table 1.1.


Different Types of Research

Exploratory

Descriptive

Analytical

Predictive

Exploratory research is done when no previous information exists on a particular question or topic. The aim is to look for patterns, develop hypotheses, etc. Typical research techniques include case studies, observations, reviews, and any other related forms of data collection.

This can be used to identify and classify the elements or characteristics of the subject. These techniques are most commonly used to collect, analyze, and summarize data.

This approach is often used as an extension of the Descriptive type of research but aims to describe the how and why something is happening. An important element of this research model is to locate and identify varying factors and variables.

This aims to drive students to speculate over various topics and situations based on close analysis of situations and cause and affect analysis.

Table1.1
*Adapted from Neville, Introduction to Research Workbook; page 2.

Methods in Action

There are two main approaches to research methods that stem from the previous ideas in Table 1.1. These include deductive and inductive research methods. Let's take a look at these together with an example:

A current discussion over a complex topic such as conflict in the Middle East, teachers ask students to define a simple, yet complex, term such as conflict. Here is how the two approaches would work:

DEDUCTIVE:

First, the teacher must elicit the students to form a special opinion on the term as it is related to the topic. Then invite the students to do a basic search of the term and think of ways to apply it to the main topic of the Middle East. Then, have the students do a questionnaire to discover for themselves if they have come to a successful conclusion based on their research. The data can then be collected, analyzed, and presented as part of the students' research projects.

INDUCTIVE:

First, invite the students to go out and get as much information from others as possible before even going on to the internet and look for the answer that way. Have the students make questionnaires, studies, etc., that would allow them to ask their peers for the definition and application. Then the students can actively piece together data and formulate their own conclusions. This approach is highly recommended in the classrooms where the teacher has already made the students aware of social learning principles.



Teaching Research Methods

The ideas that follow come from a very wonderful book, highlighted in the bibliography, written by a team of researchers answering the question of finding the most effective ways to develop research strategies on behalf of their students while keeping them motivated and dedicated to their work and allowing their students to produce well-rounded results. Some of their conclusions will be discussed here in which they describe two main methodologies to conducting research. Teachers can take these methods teach them through the ways that follow.

***POSITIVISTIC APPROACH:
Positivistic approaches are founded on a belief that the study of human behavior should be conducted in the same way as studies conducted in the natural sciences (Collis & Hussey, 2003, p.52).

***PHENOMENOLOGICAL APPROACH:
Phenomenological approaches however, approach research from the perspective that human behavior is not as easily measured as phenomena in the natural sciences. Human motivation is shaped by factors that are not always observable, e.g. inner thought processes, so that it can become hard to generalize on, for example, motivation from observation of behavior alone (Neville, 2007, p. 6).

According to Neville, there are a series of methods that you can use in the classroom for teaching students these research methods. Take a look at the following table, adapted in Neville's workbook:

Positivistic Approach

Phenomenological Approach

  • Surveys

  • Experimental Studies

  • Longitudinal Studies

  • Cross-sectional Studies

  • Case Studies

  • Action Research

  • Ethnography (participant

  • observation)

  • Participative Enquiry

  • Feminist Perspectives

  • Grounded Theory

*Adapted from Neville, 2007, p. 6

Activities for Teaching Research Adapted from Neville, pp. 15-19

Use some of the following activities to help you in your classroom. Many of these activities follow a lot of the information previously discussed. But in order to complete this, the plan must be well laid out. One of the basic patterns for research includes:

  1. Establishing a General Field of Interest

    1. Use general brainstorming activities such as:

      1. Beginning, Middle, & End

        1. Teacher finds between 3-5 topics that are relevant to the unit or overall topic and have the students make a chart that resembles a table with six rows and four columns.

        2. Have the students write what they know, what they don't know, and what they want to know about each topic, and, finally, who, where, what, etc., they may ask in order to find the information they want.

        3. Students complete the table for all of the potential topics. A variation of this activity would be to have the students come up with their own topics that relate to the overall theme of the unit.

      2. Venn Diagrams

      3. Concept Mind Mapping (webs)

      4. T-Charts and Flow Charts


  1. Background and Preparatory Reading

    1. This is a vital step of the process that begins with just a few little pieces of information and then floods upon further delving into the project.

      1. Checklists for analysis

        1. Basic tables that list out the following information:

          1. The purpose of the information

          2. How was the research conducted?

          3. What were the conclusions?

          4. How does this contribute to the previous studies listed?


  1. Gathering Information

    1. This is a lot more than just gathering as much information as possible from the internet. Here are some more ideas from Neville that could help you teach research:

      1. First-person interviews

      2. Focus groups

      3. Questionnaires

      4. Surveys.


  1. Principles of Questioning

    1. Asking the right questions for gathering information is crucial. If you want your students to be asking the right questions, you could try some of these ideas:

      1. Creating a Survey

      2. Developing a questionnaire

      3. Interviewing a classmate activity

      4. Dual role playing activities

Even though this is not an extensive list of ideas, the basic principles, after being understood by the professional teacher, will be of great and beneficial use. The whole purpose of conducting research, remember is to promote critical thinking skills that students must develop in order to succeed not just in the academic environment, but the growing global community. When giving your classes a topic to research, please keep in mind that they may not have had an actual chance to learn how to do research. It may seem simple enough to just go on to the internet and look for some information, but we are now equipped with some ideas that are going to help our students remove the blinders over their eyes and aim for the research targets and goals that are so very important for our academic subject. With all of these things becoming such a huge issue in classes all around the world, what are some basic ideas that can be used in order to avoid plagiarism in classes? The University of Irvine outlines many different strategies that can be used. Here they are listed, but if you would like to understand more, please see bibliographical information.

1) Know your students' abilities

2) Make your policies clear

3) Develop, maintain, and encourage effective time-management techniques

4) Avoid usage of recycled assignments that would encourage plagiarism

5) Guide students through the writing process

6) Teach students how to use resources

7) Teach students how to paraphrase effectively

8) Explain disciplinary (academic) differences

Please keep in mind that all of this information given in this investigation is not the only source of information. Please see the bibliography for guided reading materials and further research help.

Works Cited

Collis, J. & Hussey, R. Business Research: a practical guide for undergraduate and

postgraduate students, second edition. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. 2003.

Denscombe, M. Ground Rules for Good Research, Maidenhead: Open University Press.
2002.

Leigh University. Plagiarism Proofing a Course: Leigh University Library Services
(library.lehigh.edu)

Neville, Colin. Introduction to Research and Research Methods. Bradford City University Press.
United Kingdom. 2007.

Rogers, Spence, et al. Motivation & Learning: Practical Teaching Strategies & Tips
for [Teachers]. Peak Learning Systems, Inc: Evergreen CO. 1999.

University of California at Los Angeles. "Faculty and Teaching Assistant Guide to Academic
Integrity," September 2002, and from Barbara Gross Davis, Tools for Teaching (Jossey-Bass,
San Francisco, 2001).

"Teaching to Academic Standards: Explanation." Teaching to Academic Standards: Explanation.

N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Jan. 2015.


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