Jason Stephens
Dr. Jason M. Stephens is an Associate Professor at The University of Auckland. His research focuses on academic motivation and moral development, particularly as it relates to cheating behaviour.
Location Auckland, New Zealand
Activity
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Yes, this case, involving a Dutch social psychologist, is among the most awful of cases of misconduct by a professor... Though, sadly, there are many more:
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/240222.php
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/7972604/Marc-Hauser-monkeying-with-the-truth.html -
Jason Stephens replied to Muhammad amani
@khaliltis Please post any questions you have in this forum.
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Jason Stephens made a comment
I really like the range of responses here, and particularly like the way many of you have made an effort to define what integrity means to you. Obviously, integrity is a word that I have read and thought about a lot. One of my favourite ways to describe it is to think about integrity as integration -- an integration of values, beliefs, and action. In other...
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Jason Stephens replied to Kristian Kreeft
Welcome from the Netherlands, Kristian. I have been your country many times, and always with my bicycle! Yes, people take this course for many different reasons. As noted, one of which is to practice English language skills. As an educational psychologist, I can you and everyone out there that one of the best ways to learn is to do so by doing. That is,...
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Welcome, Maria. We've had tens of thousands of learners on this course over the past four years, but not sure we've ever had a professional chef! Glad you've chosen some time to take this course--I only wish you could cook us something;->
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Jason Stephens replied to Chase CA
Good to hear it, Chase!
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Welcome from Ukraine, Oksana, where it is clearly very cold! Thankfully for me, it is summer in New Zealand and we're enjoying a warm, sunny day;->
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Welcome, Lojel. Glad to have you here from Vancouver by way of the Phillipines, which sounds beautiful!
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Jason Stephens replied to Noor N
Welcome, Noor. Good to have a doctor on board!
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Jason Stephens made a comment
Good day, everyone, and welcome from wherever you may be in the world! I'm always delighted by the great diversity--geographic and otherwise--of the learners on this course, and I appreciate the opportunity to be your Lead Educator.
If you have not done so already, please take a few minutes to complete the course survey (mentioned in the Week 1 Welcome...
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Jason Stephens replied to Kristian Kreeft
Indeed, Kristian. I believe that potential employers will appreciate your commitment to achieving with integrity!
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Jason Stephens replied to Donna Mae Caylo
Good to hear it, Donna.
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Yes, you should;->
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Jason Stephens replied to Muhammad amani
Welcome back, Muhammad! We're glad to see you have back for more learning about integrity.
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Great question, Quek! It's a bit of difficult question, but here's the basic idea. When one is writing an academic paper (but especially literature reviews or research papers), one needs to provide a reference (evidence) for any empirical claims or statements. For example, if I write, "most students cheat", I'm making a statement of fact, and I need to...
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Jason Stephens replied to Mark Smith
Welcome to the course, Mark. Good to see someone from Auckland joining us!
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Jason Stephens made a comment
Greetings, one and all. As always, it's great to see so many people from so many places around the world! As you can see, I live and work in New Zealand, but I was born in the USA -- in the very small State of Vermont. I've been fortunate to travel around the world and call Auckland my home for the past five years. I'm delighted you've chosen to take this...
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Yes, a variation on this theme, is the "file draw problem" -- studies that don't support one's hypotheses or return null findings from an experiment, simply get filed away and never published. This creates a bias in the published literature, and is problematic... https://jfedrmb.wordpress.com/2012/02/03/why-is-the-file-drawer-problem-a-problem/
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it does, but quite rare on uni exams. more common, in the USA, on really high stakes tests like the SAT.... http://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-perfect-score-cheating-on-the-sat/
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great quote, richard!
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Well, I don't know if "misleading" is the best word here. As stated above I think one or two of them could be worded more clearly....The point here is that in academia we prize the develop of ideas and research, and this requires building thoughtfully on the work of others. So, when using the ideas, words, or research of others, you should cite/quote and...
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Hi all, thanks for the critiques of the quiz items. I agree Q5 is problematic. It should read "cite" not "quote" and we will edit this question in future runs. Q6 could also be re-worded for greater clarity...
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Jason Stephens replied to Carol Long
Again, I want to emphasise that this don't mean you cannot use ideas or words (even written pages) from previous courses or publications. It's just that one must do so wisely (building, not recycling, knowledge) and ethically (referencing that work, and getting permissions if the use is extensive). I have had many students over the years that you sought my...
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Jason Stephens replied to Carol Long
Great to see the sustained interest in this important topic. To be clear: I did not say that learning is compartmentalised or that one can not use ideas gained in one course (or other area of life) and use them another course. Indeed, as a lecturer, I strongly encourage such "transfer." However, this must be done ethically. I can not, for example, take an...
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Jason Stephens replied to Carol Long
Hi Carol, I just wrote the following in response to Lindsay (down the discussion stream):
...I find that a lot of my students are also unfamiliar with the concept of "self-plagiarism." But it is exist, and happens all too frequently! So, just to be clear, if I am writing an article and want to use a sentence or paragraph from an article I wrote earlier, I... -
Jason Stephens replied to Lindsay Fraser
Hi Lindsay, I find that a lot of my students are also unfamiliar with the concept of "self-plagiarism." But it is exist, and happens all too frequently! So, just to be clear, if I am writing an article and want to use a sentence or paragraph from an article I wrote earlier, I would have to quote myself (just like I was quoting someone else). Similarly,...
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Thanks for the comments, Barbara and Rachael. Yes, academic dishonesty encompasses a very wide range of behaviours -- copying homework/lab reports, unpermitted collaboration on assignments or exams, use of unpermitted notes during a test or exam, fabrication of data or false excuses, etc. This MOOC will discuss some of these (and some of the skills and...
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Thanks for your comments and queries, Wayne, Jayne, and Carol. Per Wayne's first question, I'm not sure how much academic integrity varies -- at least, conceptually. That is, I think most/all institutions subscribe (implicitly if not explicitly) to the values described in the FVP. The FVP is part of the International Center for Academic Integrity, based in...
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Jason Stephens made a comment
Hi everyone, welcome to the course and thanks for introducing yourselves! It's great to see so many people from so many places -- and each concerned about academic integrity! I look forward to learning more about you and your thoughts on the ideas we'll discuss in the weeks ahead. Thanks again for sharing and I hope you find this course both useful and...
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Jason Stephens replied to Allah Dino Gopang
Thanks for the compliment, Allah. While I'm not sure if my accent is worthy of emulation, but you and all learners on this course should be able to download all the videos and other resources. Thanks again, Jason
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Jason Stephens replied to Cheryl Holmes
Here's how I distinguish the two: You paraphrase a part, you summarise the whole. In other words, if what you've written is meant to describe/overview/review the whole of the article, chapter, book, etc. you've read, then you have summarised something. If you've only attempted to explain a piece of it (an idea or finding), then you've paraphrased.
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Jason Stephens replied to Steven Stone
Good question, Steven. Sorry I didn't address it directly in my response. No, I don't you would be sued. However, if you publish something in a journal or book, you generally sign over your copyright to the publisher. In other words, you no longer own the work, which of course heightens one's culpability for self-plagiarism. Again, I don't you'd get sued by...
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Jason Stephens replied to Steven Stone
Hi all, the concept of self-plagiarism can be a tricky to grasp. Here's the short of it: Writers do not often retain ownership ("copyright") of what they have written. Almost everything you read is owned by the publisher--not the author--of the work. If I, for example, am writing an article and want to use a sentence or paragraph from an article I wrote...
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Hi Alan,
I appreciate your concern with the semantics here. We used the word "should" because those are the guidelines for APA's manuscript style. So, yes, there is a hidden conditional clause: To integrate quotes correctly using APA, you should....
While I make this point very clearly in the opening of the video, it is not spelled out above. Sorry this... -
Hi Santiago, the answer to your questions really depend on the manuscript style being used. The guidelines spelled out above are for the APA (American Psychological Association) style. Other styles have different rules concerning the treatment of quotes (italics, different fonts, etc. such as you've suggested).
Hope this helps,
Jason -
Jason Stephens replied to Ahmet Mesut Ateş
Nice to see some back and forth on this important issue. As Ahmet suggest this set of strategies (divide and conquer!) can be very effective, and, importantly, are often permitted or even encouraged by lecturers/professors. There may a few out there that prohibit such collaboration, so do check if it's in question. As Daniel alludes to in his post, the...
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Jason Stephens replied to Maria White
Hi Maria, sorry for the delay in responding to your great question! As Teacher Faith describes in her post on 13 FEB, there are several strategies that one might use to support a student with a disability. There are, of course, many types of disabilities (physical, learning, etc.) and each requiring different types of management to negotiate. For example, I...
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Great stuff, Netta and Kelly. I think many students (particularly those just starting university) feel they have to be original -- to be first to say or do something -- but academia (and being educated) is much more about understanding the works (and words) of those that came before you and building on them -- extending them to new realms or contexts,...
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Hi Teacher Faith, what you're describing here is "contract cheating." Sadly, this happens a lot these days, typically via online essay writing sites, where students pay a fee for someone else to write original, individually-tailored essay for them (a "shadow scholar"; see http://chronicle.com/article/The-Shadow-Scholar/125329/) This kind of...
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No. It might be collusion (unpermitted collaboration) if you were instructed to do all the work independently (then the discussion you mention would be cheating, even if you wrote up the solution independently).
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Jason Stephens replied to Keke M
Good question, Keke. Lecturers/professors will vary greatly in terms of what is expected (and what is prohibited) when working in groups. Thus, the best way to ensure AI is to seek clarification from your lecturer/professor about their expectations (and prohibitions)....
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Jason Stephens replied to Raven Aisling
Most welcome, Lauren. Hopefully, you don't have to pay for it! I'm not 100% but I hope it's free...
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Yes, pretending to be sick, is not altogether uncommon. And, yes, it is a form of academic dishonesty -- you misrepresented the truth of circumstances (i.e., you are not sick) and you've done so to be granted more time to study (a competitive advantage).... So, basically, you've lied to lecturer/professor and been unfair to your peers. That's at least two...
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Jason Stephens replied to jenny R
I hear you, Jenny. It is impossible to have read everything on any given subject (even if your area of expertise!). Accordingly, I scan my own papers (with Turnitin) before submitting to an editor. I even had an editor REQUIRE all submissions be accompanied by an Originality Report (this is what Turnitin calls it reports with the Similarity Index I mentioned...
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Jason Stephens replied to Raven Aisling
I, too, have used Turnitin in my courses. As Ally suggest it can be a great learning tool (and not just a policing one). That is, you can set up a course site in Turnitin and allow students to submit and scan their work for plagiarism. It is best to do this with your students and make it's use part it part of the writing process. On another note, when Ally...
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Jason Stephens made a comment
Hi all, the concept of self-plagiarism is often a tricky one for learners to grasp. Here's the short of it: Writers do not often retain ownership ("copyright") of what they have written. Almost everything you read is owned by the publisher--not the author--of the work. If I, for example, am writing an article and want to use a sentence or paragraph from an...
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Jason Stephens made a comment
Great to see everyone responding here, and many with such confidence! I've noticed that the thing that most people are neutral or not confident about concerns the values that underpin academic integrity. This isn't surprising and one of the reasons we created this course! We'll explore the definition of integrity and the six "fundamental values" that underpin...
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Jason Stephens made a comment
Hi everyone! Great to see you introducing yourselves and seeing the wonderful diversity of "learners" enrolled in this course -- people of all ages and from all regions of the world! Welcome one and all. I hope you find this MOOC both interesting and useful. Many thanks for joining the course. I look forward to learning with you over the next four weeks!
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Jason Stephens replied to Sandrasari Irwan
Well, I don't know if references are the "most important part" of an assignment, but they are integral part of the whole.... Sorry about referring to you as a "he" -- a bad assumption on my behalf....
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Jason Stephens replied to Sandrasari Irwan
I think Malghalara forgot to mention that he references all of the material that he copies from the Internet. Otherwise, wouldn't that be plagiarism?
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Jason Stephens replied to Gilbert Wells
I think what Gilbert is describing here is a form of "contract cheating" -- or would be if the Masters student had paid the Ph.D. Sadly, this happens all the time via online essay writing sites, where students pay a fee for someone else (a "shadow scholar"; see http://chronicle.com/article/The-Shadow-Scholar/125329/) to write original, individually-tailored...
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Jason Stephens replied to Khazim Diop
Good job, Khazim, pointing out that using something that "no longer belongs to you" is also plagiarism -- specifically, self-plagiarism. Many people do not realise that writers do not often retain ownership ("copyright") of what they have written. Almost everything you read is owned by the publisher--not the author--of the work. For example, if I am writing...
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Great observation, Gorka. Yes, this short course focuses on student academic integrity, but its values are institutional ones and should be reflected in all institutional decision- and policy-making. Lecturers and other teachers are also obliged to exemplify the fundamental values as well -- in their research or scholarly activity as well as in their teaching...
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Jason Stephens made a comment
Great to see everyone responding here, and many with such confidence! I've noticed that the thing that most people are neutral or not confident about concerns the values that underpin academic integrity. This isn't surprising and one of the reasons we created this course! We'll explore the definition of integrity and the six "fundamental values" that underpin...
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Jason Stephens replied to Amos Omofaiye
Good question, Amos! We didn't intend suggest that men lack or aren't interested in academic integrity through the gender imbalance of our team (;->), but generally speaking males do cheat more than females. The difference isn't usually very large, and most often manifest itself in higher risk cheating behaviours, such as test or exam cheating as opposed to...
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Jason Stephens made a comment
Hi everyone! Great to see you introducing yourselves and seeing the wonderful diversity of "learners" enrolled in this course -- people of all ages and from all regions of the world! Welcome one and all. I hope you find this MOOC both interesting and useful. Many thanks for joining the course. I look forward to learning with you over the next four weeks!
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Jason Stephens replied to Elizabeth May
Right on, Elizabeth. Paraphrasing is much better why to show your understanding. I only should only use direct quotes, when someone has said something especially poetic or profound (that cannot be paraphrased without doing degrading the beauty of the words or their meaning).
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Jason Stephens replied to Jelyn Samillano
Hi Jelyn, I find that a lot of my students are also unfamiliar with the concept of "self-plagiarism." But it is exist, and happens all too frequently! So, just to be clear, if I am writing an article and want to use a sentence or paragraph from an article I wrote earlier, I would have to quote myself (just like I was quoting someone else). Similarly,...
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Good question, Angel. The answer depends on the instructions for the assignment -- for example, sometime collaborating with others is permitted, sometimes it is prohibited. You should also read the instructions carefully and, when in doubt, ask your instructor about what sort of external help (if any) is permitted.
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Jason Stephens made a comment
Good to see the thoughtful comments on this video. As some of you have pointed out, letting another person copy your work is not really "helping" them. It may be positioned (by those soliciting the "help") or construed (by those "helping") as such, but such cheating does not further that person's learning (only their dependency on further cheating). That's not...
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Jason Stephens made a comment
Great to see everyone responding here, and many with such confidence! I've noticed that the thing that most people are neutral or not confident about concerns the values that underpin academic integrity. This isn't surprising and one of the reasons we created this course! We'll explore the definition of integrity and the six "fundamental values" that underpin...
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Jason Stephens replied to Aaron O'Reilly
Nice eye, Aaron. I hadn't noticed our "fantastic brain connection pipe" before, but suspect we should seek some professional help concerning its removal!
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Jason Stephens made a comment
Hi everyone! Great to see you introducing yourselves and seeing the wonderful diversity of "learners" enrolled in this course -- people of all ages and from all regions of the world! Although I now live and work in Auckland, New Zealand, I am originally from the very small but immensely beautiful state of Vermont in the United States. Vermont is famous for...
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There's nothing wrong with engaging in "peer review" processes, or other types of sharing aimed at garnering useful feedback/constructive criticism/suggested revisions/etc. In the list above, it was says that is unacceptable to "provide other students with your work"--implied, but not explicitly stated here, is that this provision of your work is followed by...
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Jason Stephens replied to Jamaatun Rohmah
Great response, Bridget. I often say my ideas are based on or inspired by others. Indeed, it is really hard to have a truly original thought -- most of what we think (and ultimately write) is in some way derivative of or inspired by the thoughts and work of others. That said, not every source of "inspiration" needs to be referenced, but if your work/words...
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Jason Stephens replied to Jason Stephens
Hi Umme, If you use someone else's words, ideas, theory, research findings, organisational framework, etc., then you should reference/cite that person/piece of work. If you're presenting your own ideas ("new thoughts" as you say), you don't need a reference.
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Jason Stephens made a comment
Hi all,
I've noticed that are some questions arising concerning the concept of self-plagiarism, which is often a tricky one to grasp. Here's the short of it: Writers do not often retain ownership ("copyright") of what they have written. Almost everything you read is owned by the publisher--not the author--of the work. If I, for example, am writing an... -
Jason Stephens replied to cristina cordova
Informal speech and formal writing are two very different modes of communication. Generally speaking, there is no expectation of providing an attribution for every idea or statement you utter in information conversation that could be attributed to someone else. That said, I often find myself providing vague reference in such situations--e.g., "I recently read...
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Jason Stephens replied to Jamaatun Rohmah
Great question, Jamaatun. Any one want to help make the distinction between the plagiarism and being influenced/inspired by?
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Jason Stephens replied to jane turner
yes, you must reference your previous work -- failure to do so would constitute self-plagiarism....
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Great point, Dr. Dev, about possessing an "informed" judgment. There's an excellent article on "rational ignorance" that might be of interest to you and many others. Here's the reference:
Dee, T. S., & Jacob, B. A. (2010). Rational ignorance in education: A field experiment in student plagiarism (Working Paper 15672). National Bureau of Economic Research.... -
Jason Stephens made a comment
Great to see everyone responding here, and many with such confidence! I've noticed that the thing that most people are neutral or not confident about concerns the values that underpin academic integrity. This isn't surprising and one of the reasons we created this course! We'll explore the definition of integrity and the six "fundamental values" that underpin...
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Jason Stephens made a comment
Hi everyone! Great to see you introducing yourselves and seeing the wonderful diversity of "learners" enrolled in this course -- people of all ages and from all regions of the world! Welcome one and all. I hope you find this MOOC both interesting and useful. Many thanks for joining the course. I look forward to learning with you over the next four weeks!
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Jason Stephens replied to Nick Eyley
Hi Nick, see my comment above for more details, but proposals for research funding are different. Such proposals are internal, unpublished documents -- if the proposal was rejected, you can reuse the text. This kind of "self-plagiarism" is not unethical. It's like having a manuscript rejected by one publisher/journal/editor, and then submitting it to another....
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Jason Stephens made a comment
Hi all, I see there's a lot of confusion (and some good laughs;->) concerning the concept of self-plagiarism. Here's the short of it: Writers do not often retain ownership ("copyright") of what they have written. Almost everything you read is owned by the publisher--not the author--of the work. If I, for example, am writing an article and want to use a...
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Jason Stephens replied to fredrick neqo
Great question, Frederick. The best way to prevent unintentional plagiarism (which all us, myself included, could easily become guilty of) is to use a plagiarism-detection program. I use (and have all my students use) Turnitin. It’s Originality Check produces a Similarity Index indicating the percentage of material in a paper that matches material in...
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Jason Stephens made a comment
Good to see the thoughtful comments on this video. As some of you have suggested, letting another person copy your work is not really "helping" them. It may be positioned (by those soliciting the "help") or construed (by those "helping") as such, but such cheating does not further that person's learning (only their dependency on further cheating). That's not...
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Jason Stephens replied to MD MONJUR HOSSAIN
So long as such group discussions are not prohibited, this is not dishonest....
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Jason Stephens replied to fredrick neqo
see my response below to James Ong....
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Jason Stephens replied to James Ong
Yes, I'm afraid so -- this is plagiarism, even if unintentional. It happens a lot, and I think increasingly. There has been many times (particularly when I was PhD student designing my thesis study) that I thought I'd come up with original idea/theory, only to discover (sometimes months later) that some one else beat me to it. Thankfully (to my knowledge)...
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I agree with both Husham and Julia. As you've described the situation, Mohammed, neither example is a violation of academic integrity. With respect to the first question, you are allowed to use the same ideas (ideally developing them further in this case) across papers. However, if these had been published manuscripts (and not an unpublished MA thesis and...
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Jason Stephens replied to Sophie Kenny
I think you're right, Sophie. To a great extent, all six of the fundamental values are intertwined--each relying on or reinforcing the other.... Being honest means being truthful which is (almost always) the fair, responsibility and respectful way to be, but it often takes courage!
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Jason Stephens made a comment
Great to see everyone responding here, and many with such confidence! I've noticed that the thing that most people are neutral or not confident about concerns the values that underpin academic integrity. This isn't surprising and one of the reasons we created this course! We'll explore the definition of integrity and the six "fundamental values" that underpin...
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Jason Stephens made a comment
Hi everyone, I'm delighted to see your comments below and grateful for the kind words about the introduction. The team and I have worked hard to make this course (all it's videos and activities) as clear and concise as possible. We hope you find it both useful and interesting. Once again, welcome to the course!
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Jason Stephens replied to Alicia Dubisky
Thanks for the comment, Alicia. As an ed psychologist, I believe firmly in focusing on creating opportunities for "positive youth development" -- and not just trying to "police and punish" -- when it comes to academic integrity. Thanks again and welcome to the course!
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Jason Stephens made a comment
Hi everyone! Great to see you introducing yourselves and seeing the wonderful diversity of "learners" enrolled in this course -- people of all ages and from all regions of the world! Welcome one and all. I hope you find this MOOC both interesting and useful. Many thanks for joining the course. I look forward to learning with you over the next four weeks!
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Jason Stephens replied to Reda Sinus
Good idea! Confronting plagairism (or any form of academic dishonesty) isn't an easy thing to do -- not even for those of us who study it! In the past year, I've had to deal with many cases of cheating, but the worst one involved plagairism by an another academic. Like you, I reported the case to the editor of the journal and suggested that he report the...
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Jason Stephens replied to Alejandro Baez
Great, Alejandro! I, too, really like "mind maps" (also known as concept maps). They're a great way to organise (even visualise) what's inside your head (i.e., what you know about a given concept, theory, topic, event, person, etc.). For examples of very artistic mind maps, see http://www.mindmapart.com/tag/tony-buzan/
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Good question, Jocelyne. I think there might be more than two "approaches" discussed or modeled in the video... Can anyone help out and name one?
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Jason Stephens replied to Reda Sinus
Well, I suppose there are many "appropriate" reactions -- outrage and upset (that someone has stolen your words and/or ideas) but also satisfaction or pride (that someone felt your words and/or ideas worth stealing!). Of course, those are emotional reactions, and you're probably asking me about what an appropriate behavioural reaction. So, here's what I think:...
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Jason Stephens replied to Sarah Gee
Me, too, Sarah! I use MS Outlook and use blue for teaching related events (lectures and student meetings), orange for committee meetings, red for important deadlines/due dates, green for personal events, fushsia for cultural events, etc. This really helps me "see" what's coming up more readily and plan accordingly!
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Jason Stephens replied to Jennie Miron
Great additions, Jennie -- all common and important!
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Jason Stephens replied to Loreta Tauginiene
Here's how I distinguish the two: You paraphrase a part, you summarise the whole. In other words, if what you've written is menat to describe/overview/review the whole of the article, chapter, book, etc. you've read, then you have summarised something. If you've only attempted to explain a piece of it (an idea or finding), then you've paraphrased.
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Great question and response. Glenda's response and demonstration is also valid for APA...
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Good question, Anne-Pia. For the APA, quotes that are 40 or more words are considered long and need to be displayed as a freestanding block (no quotation marks). APA calls this a "block quotation" (see p. 171 of the 6th edition). As Glenda indicates, other styles may differ on this rule, so check their manuals.
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Thanks, indeed, for this kind of feedback. This our first run of this course, so it's very useful to receive constructive criticism that we can use to revise the course for its next run in February. Thanks again!
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Hi Hong, I like the way you used one of the six fundamental values -- respect -- to answer question two. Can you or anyone else, think of other fundamental values that might be invoked to explain why it's important to acknowledge the work of others?
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I agree, Oscar. We need to do a much better job teaching the knowledge, skills, and values associated with academic integrity well before students reach university.
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Great response, Beth. The success of scholarship in any field is contigent upon writers (from students to seasoned scholars) building on the ideas/findings that have come before them. Demonstrating knowledge of that prior work and using it effectively in your own work (through a quote, paraphrase or summary) not only provides evidence of your understanding but...
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Thanks for sharing this resource, Fiona.
