2nd Asia-Pacific Educational Integrity Conference
Abstract
Plagiarism and academic culture: voices from international students and researchers of university learning and teaching
Julianne East - La Trobe University
In this paper I explore the idea that plagiarism can be understood as being embedded in Australian academic culture. Being culturally embedded explains why until recently plagiarism was rarely clearly defined, and why university lecturers as members of this academic culture ‘know’ what plagiarism is, while their students by contrast are concerned and confused. In the light of Australian academic culture being ‘highly contexted’, so that for those within this culture much interrelated information is implicitly understood and taken for granted, this paper presents the insights of a group of international students in their first year at an Australian university. I also review how plagiarism is discussed by writers working in the area of university learning and teaching. From the student insights and the discussion about plagiarism, I conclude that students’ learning interests could be better served if the teaching in Australian universities allowed for the cultural nature of learning and offered the possibility of learning beyond the constraints of the prevailing academic culture.Keywords: plagiarism, international students, university learning, Australian academic culture
