This module is designed to support instructors in creating a culture of academic integrity in their courses at the University of Oregon. Students learn best when we develop a shared understanding of what academic integrity is, how to support it, and what university resources we can draw on together. Instructors are encouraged to import and adapt the module to suit their teaching needs, including adding disciplinary customizations.

Please use the following attribution when using this work:

"Ducks Have Integrity: Academic Conduct at UO" by UO Libraries, TEP, and UO Online is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0"

This module, Ducks Have Integrity: Academic Conduct at UO, is a part of IntroDUCKtion for all incoming first-years and transfer students at the University of Oregon. Module content is based on current research around why students engage in academic misconduct and what strategies have effectively increased academic integrity (we were particularly informed by The Handbook for Academic Integrity, edited by Tracy Bretag).

The module was developed in collaboration between UO Libraries, the Teaching Engagement Program, and UO Online, and in consultation with Student Conduct and Community Standards. We are grateful to the instructors who shared their experiences and challenges, as this informed the design, and those students who gave feedback, as that feedback was invaluable.

This module was not designed for use in individual classes at the University of Oregon, but rather for all students to go through as part of their new student experience. Response from students so far on the module has been overwhelmingly positive (we sought anonymous feedback from participants), and student reflections about why academic integrity matters and how they can plan for it are insightful and heartening. We encourage other institutions to adapt the module for similar new student experiences.

Please include the following attribution statement in all adaptations:

"Ducks Have Integrity: Academic Conduct at UO" by UO Libraries, TEP, and UO Online is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 | This work is a derivative of Exploring Academic Integrity in Your Research by UO Libraries, and Academic Integrity by Ulrike Kestler

A no-tech card game designed to give learners an insight into how assessors and examiners use Turnitin's originality checking service to identify potential plagiarism.The game uses two decks of cards.  The first simulates the decision making process, presenting a series of extracts from Turnitin reports and asking students to judge whether they show examples of plagiarism or not.  These are then compared to a model answer (which is open to debate - many of the examples are borderline) and students asked to reflect on and challenge any disagreement.The second deck of cards is introduced, these show descriptions which match up to the first deck, and provide a competitive element as groups compete to solve a word puzzle by correctly matching the pairs of cards.  This emphasises how nuanced the inferences that can be drawn from the report are.Uses of the resourceSimilaritySim can be used in several ways.Teaching how to understand Turnitin reportsWhere learners are given access to reports on their own work, this activity can be used as part of a session introducing them to how the reports are interpreted, and how to avoid common mistakes (eg paying too much attention to the % score).It can also be valuable in staff development sessions, to train staff who will be interpreting the reports in a scaffolded way that can be more engaging than simply showing examples on a screen.Academic integrity trainingSimilaritySim can be used to show students the range of types of unoriginal work which Turnitin can detect, which can help them to understand the difference between switching out a couple of words and proper paraphrasing.  (Although care should be taken the importance of not plagiarising, rather than merely beating Turnitin).Reducing anxietySome learners are quite nervous about submitting high stakes work to Turnitin, mainly due to misunderstanding the way in which Turnitin is used.  This activity shows them that their assessor will need to spend considerable time working with the report, rather than it being a "computer says no" scenario.