Working from the centre: supporting unit and course coordinators to implement academic integrity policies, resources and scholarship

A key area of concern in higher education is academic integrity, which involves the adherence by students to standards of honesty, originality, and attribution. The literature indicates that plagiarism is widespread in Australian higher education institutions and that plagiarism, collusion and cheating are increasing. To maintain institutional credibility it is necessary to advance academic rigour and integrity as well as deal with breaches of academic integrity, especially by reducing instances of plagiarism. The current project is one of four academic integrity priority projects commissioned by the OLT in 2012. The aim of this project was to develop a national academic integrity resource for those with policy responsibilities and who are also at the front-line of teaching in the classroom, namely, unit/course coordinators. In accord with the funded proposal, the project outcomes and outputs: Include pedagogical resources, which support the development of academic integrity in students, for educators in a wide variety of academic fields of study, across undergraduate and postgraduate study, and across different types of institutions, Support unit/course coordinators to drive curriculum renewal in a manner that reinforces the scaffolded development of academic skills and academic integrity, and their own professional development, and Include resources and materials to help busy unit/course coordinators contribute to the scholarship of academic integrity