College of education lecturers’ conceptions of academic integrity: Implications for teacher education

Abstract

This study sought to determine the conceptions of academic integrity held by lecturers in Colleges of education. Eighty-six lecturers from four Colleges of education in Kwara State took part in the study. The researcher used a self-designed questionnaire to gather relevant data. The study employed quantitative and qualitative statistical techniques for data  analyses. Findings indicated that many lecturers held appropriate  conceptions of academic integrity. However, one in every three lecturers held misconceptions of academic integrity, primarily due to inadequate
knowledge of the basic tenets of academic integrity. Indeed some were unable to identify academically dishonest practices such as plagiarism, unauthorized collaboration, fabrication and examination misconduct. The study advocated introduction of a compulsory general course on academic integrity into teacher education curricular and other tertiary education curricular in the nation. The use of software programmes to detect plagiarism in academic papers can also improve the standard of academic integrity in the nation’s education industry

Keywords: Academic integrity, Academic dishonesty, Teacher education, Misconceptions, Alternative conceptions