Education remains to be among the most significant components in the development of an active civil society. Despite Ukraine’s considerable potential in the respective sphere, Ukraine is not among the most developed countries in the sphere of education. After 2014, the changes, which appeared at the legislative level, fostered other spheres and education changes. The term “Academic Integrity” has become widely used in the academic community. Although academic integrity was signed in the Law “On Education” in 2017, we still can record brutal violations of its core values.<\/p>\n
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What is academic<\/strong> integrity?<\/strong><\/p>\n Academic integrity is a complex term that defines the general vision and core principles of having a quality educational process. Article 42 of the Law of Ukraine “On Education” defines academic integrity as “ethical principles and rules stipulated by the law, which should be followed by participants of the educational process during the study, teaching and implementation of scientific (creative) activities in order to ensure confidence in learning outcomes and\/or scientific (creative) achievements” [1]. International Center for Academic Integrity established six core values of academic integrity: honesty, trust, fairness, respect, responsibility, and courage” [2]. The adherence to these six values is a basis of moral and ethical behavior of students and professors. To be honest with yourself and before others, trust in the educational process, trust in students and professors, equitable assessment, respectful attitude for others scholar theories and academic works, and last but not least \u2013 courage in maintaining all of the assignments and overcoming challenges by your own.<\/p>\n It is vital to implement the core values of academic integrity in the learning and teaching system. Set of mechanisms for text checking on detecting plagiarism in students’ assignments, enhance the communication between students and professors, upheld principles of academic integrity by Universities administration, will establish the path for assurance of quality educational sphere in Ukraine. The main task that the administrative staff of Universities and professors is facing is developing an efficient learning and teaching system, where the focus will be on the quality of education.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Sociological research on academic integrity\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n At the American Councils for International Education initiative, in 2016 and 2018, Ukrainian analytical center CEDOS hold research on students’ attitudes to various forms of contract cheating. Three thousand students from 10 different higher education institutions participated in the survey. The outcome was the outline of the main reasons why students commit to one or another form of cheating (plagiarism, receiving help on exams, receiving help from commercial providers, obtaining a completed assignment to submit it as their work). The survey responses showed that the primary reasons for cheating were: curricula congestion, overloaded educational programs, the need to perform large volumes of work, lack of motivation to perform specific tasks through incomprehensibility of the requirements of work and the relationship between the work performed and future needs in the labor market” [3].<\/p>\n Academic integrity is not a new problem and widespread in the global academic community. However, there are a set of rules and activities, which the University’s administration and professors should adhere to decreasing the level of contract cheating across the University and elevating students’ motivation to learn.<\/p>\n Primarily, Universities should implement the required academic writing course in students` curricula, with a detailed description of the citation rules of authors in academic works, what the formula of good academic text is, how and where you can search for literature familiarization. Teachers should also design their courses so the focus would be on the students` motivation to receive the best learning information and skills, rather than obtaining the required assessment to pass the course. Course\/assignments designs, as well as assessment design, are essential for increasing students` motivation. However, communication between students and teachers remains sufficient to prevent students’ academic integrity violations. The relationship between student-teacher should consist of the ongoing open dialog about the course’s practical necessity, clarification of assessment requirements, clarification of requirements for various types of assignments, and teacher should provide constructive, meaningful, and timely feedback to students.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n American Councils for International Education experience with academic integrity<\/strong><\/p>\n To tackle the occurred situation with academic integrity in Ukraine, in 2016, American Councils for International Education launched four years project on Strengthening Academic Integrity in Ukraine Project (SAIUP). Ten Ukrainian universities became the beneficiaries of this project. SAUIP goals were to integrate academic integrity principles in the system of higher education in Ukraine, sharing with Ukrainian scholars’ community best practices in the sphere of academic integrity, establishing the course of Academic Writing and et.c.<\/p>\n Raising the awareness of students, faculty, and administration about the core values of academic integrity is an essential step in improving the quality of education in Ukraine. However, it is essential to inform secondary school teachers and students about academic integrity. Thus, the project “Seeding Academic Integrity in Secondary School ” (SAISS) appeared.<\/p>\n American Council for International Education will continue to integrate core principles of academic integrity in Ukraine. Therefore, on September 1st, 2020, the American Council for International Education, in partnership with the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv, the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, and the National Agency for Higher Education Quality Assurance (NAQA), launched a new project Academic Integrity and Quality Initiative \u2013 Academic IQ. The project aims to institutionalize the core values of academic integrity into Ukrainian secondary and higher education systems. 60 Ukrainian Universities will become participants of the project. The American Councils will work with universities’ internal education quality assurance center\/their structural counterparts by developing a toolkit to survey teachers’ and students’ awareness about academic integrity. The American Councils, together with international consultants, will give recommendations for conducting an accurate survey of students and teachers, assisting in strengthening universities’ capacities to comply with academic integrity principles. Under the project components, American Councils for International Education with experts from the International Center for Academic Integrity (ICAI) and local advisers will help NAQA develop its academic integrity capacities. In partnership with consultants from ICAI, American Councils will provide support to the NAQA’s Accreditation Committee to develop an academic integrity evaluation rubric and implement it in their education program accreditation process. Besides, American Councils will educate members of the Ethic Committee with best practices and mechanisms of searching for plagiarism in academic works, how to examine such cases, and correctly applying penalties for them.<\/p>\n As we are talking about ensuring academic integrity in Ukraine, it is crucial to integrate academic integrity in Ukrainian universities, implementing academic integrity in the system of secondary education going in parallel. Hence, the American Councils for International Education will continue to raise awareness among Ukrainian teachers and parents about academic integrity by empowering secondary schools principals to support academic integrity by adding an academic integrity module to the recommendations for building an internal system of quality assurance in education. Together with experts from the International Center for Academic Integrity, American Councils plan to develop teaching methods and lesson materials with integrated academic integrity features. Surly, integrating core values of academic integrity in the system of secondary schools and increasing the quality of education will be beneficial for pupils, their parents, and teachers.<\/p>\n Overcoming the Soviet legacy, the integration of academic integrity in the education system is the key to improving Ukraine’s quality of education. The principles of academic integrity in the educational process, in return, form a responsible and independent approach to learning, critical thinking, and analytical skills. In today’s globalized world, a world of fake news and post-truth, critical thinking skills are crucial for modern people. Quality education shapes human values and intellectual potential. By institutionalizing academic integrity principles in secondary and higher education, we will create a high-quality and effective educational sphere in Ukraine, bring up professionals with values, and a proactive and conscious civic position.<\/p>\n By enhancing the quality of education – we develop our civil society.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n References <\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The material has been prepared by the Project Assistant\u00a0 at “Academic Integrity and Quality Initiative” project Moskalevych Eugenia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Education remains to be among the most significant components in the development of an active civil society. Despite Ukraine’s considerable potential in the respective sphere, Ukraine is not among the most developed countries in the sphere of education. After 2014, the changes, which appeared at the legislative level, fostered other spheres and education changes. 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