New article: “Career development, academic integrity and counterfeit credentials: Understanding the connections”

July 26, 2021

Last year, my friend and colleague, Ann Nakaska, invited me to contribute an article to a special issue of the Career Planning & Adult Development Journal for which she was serving as guest editor.

CPAD Journal

The theme of this special issue is: “How we will work in the future”. This is a robust issue, spanning 291 pages, and is divided into 3 parts:

  • Part 1: The impact of technology on the workplace
  • Part 2: Working in the fourth industrial revolution
  • Part 3: How career practitioners will work in the future

My contribution to this robust publication is in included in Part 2. My piece is, “Career development, academic integrity and counterfeit credentials: Understanding the connections” (pp. 98 – 106).

Ann’s invitation challenged me to write for a different audience: career development professionals. This piece is for a professional practitioner audience, though it may also be of interest to others interested in the topic of fake degrees and fraudulent or faulty credentials.

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to highlight ethical aspects of career development through the lens of academic integrity. I begin with an overview of academic integrity and the fundamental values that underpin it. Then I discuss fake and faulty academic credentials, including degrees, diplomas, transcripts, and related documents. I explore the impact of fake credentials on society, highlighting a few significant examples that have been featured by mainstream media. Finally, I examine the role that career development professionals play in promoting academic integrity and professional ethics to their clients. I conclude with concrete recommendations for career development professionals to inform themselves and their clients, and in doing so, to become partners in integrity and advocates of ethical education.

The issue has just been released and Ann shared with all of the contributors that just before the issue was published, her co-guest editor, Steven Beasley, who had served as managing editor of the journal for 20 years passed away. My deepest condolences to Steven and all who knew him.

The entire issue can be accessed free of charge here: https://files.ctctusercontent.com/56f4bf3f301/4ffe3e3a-9252-46b4-b19c-c9913e1fec19.pdf?rdr=true

 #AcademicIntegrity #FakeDegrees

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Sarah Elaine Eaton, PhD, is a faculty member in the Werklund School of Education, and the Educational Leader in Residence, Academic Integrity, University of Calgary, Canada. Opinions are my own and do not represent those of the University of Calgary or anyone else.

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Academic Integrity (AI) Tutorials in Canadian Post-Secondary Institutions: A National Overview

March 11, 2019

I’ve been working on a national research project with my colleagues, Jenny Miron and Laura McBrearity, at Humber College to look at what programming and supports Canadian post-secondary institutions provide to students to help them learn about academic integrity. We reviewed the websites of public higher education institutions across the country to better understand how academic integrity information is shared with students and faculty across campuses. We recently presented our findings at the conference of the International Center for Academic Integrity in New Orleans. Here’s a quick overview of our session:

Miron, J. B., Eaton, S. E., & McBrearity, L. (2019). Academic Integrity (AI) Tutorials in Canadian Post-Secondary Institutions: A National Overview. Paper presented at the International Center for Academic Integrity, New Orleans, LA.

The team at Humber College created this excellent visual infographic highlighting our methods (search strategies), lessons learned and key findings:

JPG (small) - Miron, Eaton & McBrearity - 2019 Final Infographic copy

We have not published the full findings yet, though we plan to do so soon. Because there is so little research available about what kind of support (e.g. education, tutorials, modules) offer on academic integrity to Canadian post-secondary students, we wanted to make these preliminary results available now.

You can download a high quality version of this infographic here:

Miron, J. B., Eaton, S. E., & McBrearity, L. (2019). Searching Public Websites within Canadian Higher Education: Academic Integrity Tutorials [Infographic]. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/1880/109916

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Sarah Elaine Eaton is a faculty member in the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, Canada. Opinions are my own and do not represent those of the Werklund School of Education or the University of Calgary.

 

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Multilingual Essay Mills: Understanding Contract Cheating among Second Language Learners – Workshop

February 1, 2019

U of C logo - 2015As many of you know, I’ve been developing a research program on academic integrity over the past few years. Last year I began collaborating with my friend and colleague, Dr. Roswita Dressler, on a project that brings together our combined expertise in academic integrity and language learning.

It started when I noticed that almost all of the research that I’d seen about contract cheating was focused almost exclusively on services provided in English. That led us to ask ourselves what the market was students of second languages. We undertook a rapid review to help us get a general sense of the landscape. We wrote up the results and they have been accepted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal. I’ll post about it when the publication comes out later this year.

We are also doing a workshop at the University of Calgary’s Language Research Centre  to help teachers of second languages build their understanding of what the contract cheating industry is and why they need to pay attention.

Workshop description

Contract Cheating_Poster - LRC WorkshopContract cheating happens when students have a third party complete academic work on their behalf. The term was coined by UK researchers Clarke and Lancaster (2006). It includes, but it not limited to essay mills and homework completion services. Suppliers of this form of “black market” academic work exist mainly online. Students can simply upload a digital copy of their assignment instructions to a website, insert a delivery date and pay for the work by credit card. Contract cheating is big business. Owings and Nelson (2014) found the essay mill industry in the United States alone to be valued at a minimum $100 million USD. Estimates show that over 71,000 post-secondary students in Canada buy academic work online (Eaton, 2018). There is growing evidence to suggest that contract cheating is not limited to academic work completed in English, but also in a variety of world languages.

In this workshop, you will learn more about what contract cheating is, how it happens, and how second language learners can order homework tasks, essays and even theses from online providers, customized to the exact instructions of an assignment. We will discuss strategies for prevention and detection, along with an examination of what to do if you suspect a case of contract cheating among your students.

Date and time: Friday, February 15, 3:00 – 4:00 p.m.

Location: Craigie Hall, 4th floor, Room D-420

This workshop is open to the public and is free to attend.

References:

Clarke, R., & Lancaster, T. (2006). Eliminating the successor to plagiarism: Identifying the usage of contract cheating sites. Paper presented at the Second International Plagiarism Conference, Gateshead, United Kingdom.

Eaton, S. E. (2018). Contract cheating: A Canadian perspective.  Retrieved from http://blogs.biomedcentral.com/bmcblog/2018/07/24/contract-cheating-a-canadian-perspective/

Owings, S., & Nelson, J. (2014). The essay industry. Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Economics, 15, 1-21. http://www.mountainplains.org/articles/2014/General%20Research/Mountain_Plains_Journal_of_Business_and_Economics_Volume_15_2014_1-21_General_Research_Owings.pdf

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This blog has had over 2 million views thanks to readers like you. If you enjoyed this post, please “like” it or share it on social media. Thanks!

Sarah Elaine Eaton is a faculty member in the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, Canada.

Opinions are my own and do not represent those of the Werklund School of Education or the University of Calgary.

 

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Call for Proposals: Canadian Symposium on Academic Integrity

January 2, 2019

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We invite submissions for the Canadian Symposium on Academic Integrity. All submissions will undergo double-blind peer review. Successful proposals will be invited to submit full papers for peer-reviewed proceedings.

Submit your proposal here: https://ocs.ucalgary.ca/index.php/CSAI/2019CSAI/about/submissions#onlineSubmissions

Abstract

500 words, maximum. Summarize the scope, purpose, results and educational implication of your work. Indicate the value of your proposed submission to symposium participants.

Include 5-10 keywords. We encourage the use of  “Canada” as one of your keywords.

Types of submissions

Paper: We welcome a variety of formats including but not limited to: Empirical research, conceptual scholarship, policy analyses, evidence-informed position papers, community outreach and case studies. Submissions should be substantiated with high quality evidence (e.g. references). Time: 20 minutes, with and additional 5 minutes for Q & A

Poster: We welcome posters that showcase one of these particular kinds of contributions:

  • institutional initiatives (departmental, faculty or institutional)
  • student inquiry / research

All presenters are expected to register for the conference and pay the registration fee, even if only one presenter shares the work on behalf of a partnership or a group.

We regret that we are unable to accommodate virtual presentations. Presenters must attend in person to share their work.

Author Guidelines

We request that authors attend to these submission guidelines:

  • Submit in Word format.
  • English is the primary language of the conference.
  • Submissions should be approximately 500 words, including references.
  • 2-3 Key learning outcomes. “At the end of the session, participants will be able to…”
  • How to make your session interactive.
  • Include tables and figures within the body of your submission, labelled as per APA.
  • Use APA 6th edition for style, formatting, citations and references
  • Double-spaced
  • 12-point font
  • 1-inch margins on all sides
  • Title: Maximum 12 words
  • Use concise headings
  • Use up to three levels of headings.
  • Organize your submission with key elements such as: Introduction; Conceptual/Theoretical Framework; Methodology / Approach; Results / Findings; Significance/Implications; Conclusion; References. (These are just suggestions.)
  • Author bios – 50 words each.

Ensure all sources cited in the body of your submission are also listed in the References. Limit self-citations to a maximum of 3 sources.

Submissions should be blind, meaning that author information should not appear anywhere in the paper. Author information should also be stripped out of the metadata (i.e. document properties).

Ensure your submission clearly shows the value-add your submission would have for symposium participants.

The submitting author is responsible for ensuring that any and all co-authors have read and approved the final submission.

Check out the full symposium details here: . Registration fees apply.

Deadline to submit proposals: Extended to February 15, 2019!

Check out our Quick Guide with tips on how to submit your proposal – csai – proposal submission quick guide

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This blog has had over 2 million views thanks to readers like you. If you enjoyed this post, please “like” it or share it on social media. Thanks!

Sarah Elaine Eaton is a faculty member in the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, Canada.

Opinions are my own and do not represent those of the Werklund School of Education or the University of Calgary.

 

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Research Assistant job posting – Canadian Symposium on Academic Integrity – April 2019

October 24, 2018

University of Calgary logoWe are planning a national symposium on academic integrity at the University of Calgary. I’ll be sharing more details about the symposium soon. Right now, we are looking for a Research Assistant to help us with the planning, organization and management of the Canadian Symposium on Academic Integrity – April 17-18, 2019.

A job description is below. We are expecting this role to have an increasing time commitment as we approach the actual event in April, so availability during March and April 2019 is critical.

This position is open to both undergraduate and graduate students, currently enrolled at the University of Calgary. Being currently enrolled as a student at the University of Calgary is a requirement for this position.

There is one position available and the person must be available to work in person on campus. A full job description follows.

Research Assistant – Job Description

Project: Canadian Symposium on Academic Integrity – April 17-18, 2019

Start date: Immediate

Maximum: 12 hours/week (3 hour shifts) – Scheduled as per project needs.

Work term: Fall 2018 and Winter 2019 terms

Work location: University of Calgary, main campus

Job Description:

The Research Assistant is responsible for working as part of the symposium planning team that supports the Canadian Symposium on Academic Integrity

Duties include:

  • Attend and actively participate in team meetings.
  • Assist with symposium planning and logistics.
  • Assist with symposium promotion, including social media.
  • Maintain detailed and organized project documentation, including reports, team meeting notes, etc.
  • Manage a team of student volunteers.
  • Assist with the preparation and publication of peer-reviewed conference proceedings.
  • Communicate with conference participants, as needed.
  • Assist with clerical work as needed.
  • Other duties as assigned.

Previous Experience/Qualifications:

  • Must be currently enrolled as a student at the University of Calgary.
  • Previous experience with event planning and/or volunteer coordination is an asset.
  • Independent and self-driven candidate is ideal.
  • Ability to function independently yet collaboratively within a team.
  • Attention to detail is critical.
  • Exceptional communication skills required to interact with other staff members, conference participants.
  • Excellent oral and written skills in English.
  • Commit to being fully available in person for conference preparations April 8—16, 2019.
  • Commit to attending the symposium in person for full-days on April 17-18, 2019.

Additional Information:

This is a part-time, casual position. We anticipate this role will include a maximum of 175 hours, distributed over shifts of not less than 3 hours and not more than 7 hours, with a maximum of 12 hours per week. There will be no hours scheduled on weekends or statutory holidays.

This is an on-campus position and the successful individual must be available in person for team meetings.

Application deadline: Friday, November 16, 2018

Please submit your cover letter and c.v. to the Symposium Co-Chairs:

Dr. Sarah Elaine Eaton, Dr. Jennifer Lock, and  Dr. Meadow Schroeder

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This blog has had over 2 million views thanks to readers like you. If you enjoyed this post, please “like” it or share it on social media. Thanks!

Sarah Elaine Eaton is a faculty member in the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, Canada.

Opinions are my own and do not represent those of the Werklund School of Education or the University of Calgary.

 

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