The basic principles of academic ethics are not among the topics in which each university or its component should develop specific criteria and procedures. This is partly because problems with their observance at one institution strongly threaten the reputation of the entire higher education system. It is therefore desirable that the most important Czech universities unify their criteria for assessing plagiarism and the rules of academic ethics in connection with internationally common practice.
Project Results in 2023
Twenty six universities have joined the Preventing Unethical Behaviour on Campus and Promoting Competence in Victim Care project, in which we came to the following results:
At the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen, a report was prepared as part of a project based on qualitative research. The studied population included institutional actors involved in the issue of social safety and students who have experienced its disruption. The research focused on sexual and gender-based harassment.
A total of 36 semi-structured interviews were conducted across 10 public universities, including 10 interviews with institutional actors and 26 interviews with current or former students who had experienced various incidents of social danger, resulting in different degrees and forms of harm.
The aim of the recommendations is to help university leadership and their departments navigate this area, consider various aspects of the ombudsperson’s role, and clarify what can and cannot be expected from their work. The text is based on a content analysis of available documents and websites, as well as interviews and data collection from participating universities.
After defining the concept of "workplace bullying," the publication focuses primarily on risk factors for its emergence and possible solutions. Prevention and intervention tools are presented both at the institutional level, i.e., within the university workplace, and at the individual level, concerning each employee. The text thus provides a comprehensive overview of how universities can address this issue.
As part of the project, educational videos titled "YOU DON’T HAVE TO – YOU CAN!" were created as educational materials on social safety at universities. Each scenario is portrayed by professional actors alongside students of the University of Ostrava and is followed by expert commentary from a social safety specialist.
In 2023, a team of authors from participating universities, led by the University of Economics in Prague, developed a Moodle course on the topic of Academic Ethics. The course offers students a comprehensive overview of various topics related to academic ethics and integrity. The individual sections focus on academic writing, social safety at universities, and potential violations of academic ethics and integrity. Emphasis is placed on current issues such as bullying, gender-based violence, plagiarism, contract cheating, and artificial intelligence. Each section includes review questions and a final test.
Universities have the option to adopt the course in its entirety or select individual sections, which they can modify as needed and make available to their students within their own online environments.
Course sections:
- Introduction
- Academic Writing
- Social Safety at Universities
- Violations of Academic Ethics and Integrity
- Final Test
In the didactic part of the project, participants focused on opportunities for education in academic integrity using experiential methods – including the Dilemma game developed by Erasmus University Rotterdam. Based on workshop activities, a translation of the game was created, and the Czech version will be available to partner universities.
In 2024, the training of instructors for using the method will continue, along with the development of a new series focused on social safety.
Project Results in 2022
Twenty six of Czech and Moravian Universities has joined the project called Social safety and Security at Czech University in the Context of Academic Ethics, in which we came to the following results:
Analysis of existing examples of good practise of strengthening of social safety and security at Czech Universities was created. It is an internal document, shared by all associated universities, that will serve as a basis for setting out next steps of strengthening the social safety and security.
Within the framework of the topic, working groups were created across partner universities mapping the issue. Experience was shared in the form of workshops implemented by chosen universities and through continuously published thematic articles (in Czech language).
This outcome was continuously implemented not only within the organized events and articles in Universitas magazine, but strengthening the perception of the importance of topics related to the academic ethics and social safety and security took place at the level of individual partner universities in the form of training and promotional events.
The brochure with recommendations for public universities in the area of social safety. The brochure follows on from the article prepared by the author team of the University of West Bohemia. However, it war enriched with the knowledge of the project team as well as experience obtained thanks to the sharing of good practice from abroad.
Project Results in 2021
Twenty of Czech and Moravian Universities has joined the project called Strengthening the Academic Integrity of University Students with a Focus on the Risks and Opportunities of Distance Learning and Assessment Methods, in which we came to the following results:
- Analysis of the regulations of the participating universities and their components in relation to the ethical aspects of distance education
- Analysis of the existing practice of Czech and foreign universities from the COVID-19 pandemic with online testing with an emphasis on the emerging needs of academics and students in this area
- A set of practical recommendations aimed at supporting teaching and verification of results in an online environment and examples of good practice from Czech and foreign universities
- A set of recommendations for prevention of contract-cheating
- Manual for the use of non-textual resources in student works
- Workshops focused on the topic of plagiarism prevention in student works
- Workshops on the issue of academic ethics in non-contact teaching with a focus on online testing
- Conference focused on the issue of distance education and online teaching with an emphasis on the area of online testing and prevention of student cheating
- Support of teaching and verification of results in an online environment and ethics in contactless teaching with a focus on online testing - articles in the online magazine Universitas
Project Results in 2020
The team of the project Strengthening the Prevention of Plagiarism in Student Works project came to the following shared definition of plagiarism, which it presents for discussion:
Plagiarism is defined as the use (of ideas, content, or structure) of another work without properly referring to the source to gain some advantage where the original work is expected.
This definition is set in a broader context in the methodological materials prepared by the project team in the form of a handbook for academics and a handbook for students. Both manuals were published by Karolinum in Czech and English and are free to download.