Using Assessment on the front-line in the battle against plagiarism

In recent years there has been a sharp increase in the number of academic offences (cheating and plagiarism) reported amongst students in the Business School at UH. The Business School Faculty Teaching and Learning Committee has acknowledged that addressing any one of these issues alone will not solve the problem and an integrated approach is required. This idea of a holistic approach is recognised by Joyce (2004) who recommends a three pronged attack combining education, detection and institutional responses. The Teaching and Learning Committee at UHBS considers an additional element addressing teaching and learning strategies is essential, thus an holistic approach comprises: informing staff and students about what constitutes an academic offence, designing out opportunities to commit offences through revised teaching, learning and assessment strategies identifying academic offences where they occur constructing effective procedures combined with appropriate penalties for dealing with offences.