Starting the dialogue: Promoting information literacy through academic integrity workshops for faculty

Karen Nicholson, McMaster University
Darlene Canning
Lorie Kloda, McGill University

Abstract

This session will offer an overview of a new initiative by McGill University librarians to promote information literacy through a series of academic integrity workshops and lunchtime roundtable discussions for faculty and librarians, offered through the University's Teaching and Learning Services' unit. While the concept of information literacy may be less familiar to many faculty members than librarians might like, academic integrity and plagiarism are issues of major concern for faculty. Academic integrity workshops and discussions provide a platform for librarians to open a dialogue with faculty about students' information literacy skills in familiar terms. Faculty may have false assumptions about their students' information literacy skills and this may have an impact on students' plagiarism and academic dishonesty.

The first part of the session will provide an overview of cheating and plagiarism in higher education in Canada and elsewhere, strategies to promote academic integrity at the campus and course-levels, and the specific context at McGill University that brought about this partnership between the Library and Teaching and Learning Services. In the second part of the session, participants will have the opportunity to experience some of the academic integrity workshop activities, including small group work, case studies and large group discussion. These activities will stimulate debate about cheating, plagiarism, collusion, and the concept of intent. Questions about how the issue of academic integrity can be addressed on campus, the requisite knowledge students and faculty need to promote academic integrity and avoid plagiarism, and the role of the librarian in promoting academic integrity will also be explored. Possible strategies for fostering academic integrity and promoting in formation literacy through librarian-led workshops and roundtables will be proposed.