By Erin Alcock and Dr. Jane Costello

Librarians and instructional designers have a long history of collaboration with instructors at Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador. In the past few years, our efforts have often focused on the topic of academic integrity, one of the pillars of higher education.

Academic integrity is of paramount importance to all members of the academic community, instructors and students alike. While instructors expect academic integrity to be upheld in students’ work, they do encounter instances wherein infractions occur.

Fortunately, instructors are not alone when dealing with academic integrity issues or misconduct. Academic support units, such as libraries or teaching and learning centers, are advocates for both instructors and students. They provide instructional material and support on academic integrity in a proactive manner and as remedial assistance. The units work both independently and collaboratively with instructors and students.

The Role of Librarians and Learning Designers

In 2024, Erin Alcock from Memorial’s QEII library and Jane Costello from CITL were the authors of a chapter titled, Librarians and Learning Designers on Academic Integrity: A Proactive Approach. The book, Academic Integrity and the Role of the Academic Library, was edited by Josh Seeland and Jason Openo.

The chapter explores how librarians and instructional designers collaborate with faculty to design and deliver courses to reduce and prevent academic misconduct. We share practical advice that instructors can use to promote academic integrity in their courses, such as outlining course expectations in the syllabus, holding an information literacy session with a librarian, providing guidance on accurately citing and referencing others’ work, holding open discussions with students, reminding students of integrity expectations, following through when suspected infractions are found, and designing assessments to minimize potential for misconduct. These approaches are discussed in further detail in the chapter.

Some of the theoretical underpinnings that guide our work are explored, namely the ICAI Fundamental Values of Academic Integrity, the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy and the Quality Matters Course Design Rubric.

The ICAI values — honesty, trust, fairness, respect, responsibility and courage — are grounded in a position of honesty and align with Memorial’s student code of conduct. The ACRL Framework for Information Literacy provides guidance on how to develop information literacy from novice to expert. It centers around six threshold concepts: Authority is Constructed and Contextual, Information Creation as a Process, Information has Value, Research as Inquiry, Scholarship as Conversation, and Searching as Strategic Exploration. These frames are discussed in the chapter, in how they stress the relevance of building a critical thinking disposition in students. Elements of the Quality Matters Course Design Rubric are discussed as relates to providing sound instructional design advice for courses and assessments.

The latter part of the chapter focuses on how librarians and instructional designers collaboratively promote academic integrity in our daily work with instructors and students. Discussions on how to design for and support academic integrity in courses are included throughout the chapter.

This chapter, and the full book, can be read online through Memorial’s library system.

Erin Alcock and Jane Costello

Erin Alcock is the head of public services and a science research liason librarian at Memorial's Queen Elizabeth II Library. Jane Costello is a senior instructional designer with CITL at Memorial. She holds a Doctor of Philosophy in e-Research and Technology Enhanced Learning from Lancaster University.

References

Alcock, E., & Costello, J. (2024). Librarians and Learning Designers on Academic Integrity: A Proactive Approach. In J. Seeland & J. Openo (Eds.) Academic Integrity and the Role of the Academic Library. Ethics and Integrity in Educational Contexts (Vol. 7). (pp. 125-138). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-65731-3_7