Ilana R. Azulay Chertok, Emily R. Barnes, Diana Gilleland
Volume 34, Issue 10, October 2014, Pages 1324–1329
Background
The online learning
environment not only affords accessibility to education for health
sciences students, but also poses challenges to academic integrity.
Technological advances contribute to new modes of academic dishonesty,
although there may be a lack of clarity regarding behaviors that
constitute academic dishonesty in the online learning environment.
Objective
To
evaluate an educational intervention aimed at increasing knowledge and
improving attitudes about academic integrity in the online learning
environment among health sciences students.
Design
A
quasi-experimental study was conducted using a survey of online
learning knowledge and attitudes with strong reliability that was
developed based on a modified version of a previously developed
information technology attitudes rating tool with an added knowledge
section based on the academic integrity statement.
Setting
Blended-learning courses in a university health sciences center.
Participants
355
health sciences students from various disciplines, including nursing,
pre-medical, and exercise physiology students, 161 in the control group
and 194 in the intervention group.
Method
The
survey of online learning knowledge and attitudes (SOLKA) was used in a
pre-post test study to evaluate the differences in scores between the
control group who received the standard course introduction and the
intervention group who received an enhanced educational intervention
about academic integrity during the course introduction.
Results
Post-intervention
attitude scores were significantly improved compared to baseline scores
for the control and intervention groups, indicating a positive
relationship with exposure to the information, with a greater
improvement among intervention group participants (p < 0.001). There
was a significant improvement in the mean post-intervention knowledge
score of the intervention group compared to the control group
(p = 0.001).
Conclusion
Recommendations
are provided for instructors in promoting academic integrity in the
online environment. Emphasis should be made about the importance of
academic integrity in the online learning environment in preparation for
professional behavior in the technologically advancing health sciences
arena.
