Correlational and path analyses were used to examine the effects of four situations on self-reported ethical behaviors on four primary ethical dimensions among undergraduate communication students. The four situations are: students' ethical beliefs, students' perceptions of professors' ethical beliefs, and students' perceptions of ethical beliefs…

A series of highly publicized cases of alleged fraud in the Australian academic community are described. Each case reveals an apparent failure of peer review. The right to pursue investigations and make comments that may offend powerful figures within the scholarly community is precarious. (MLW)

A survey of 549 biomedical trainees (graduate and postdoctoral students, medical students, residents, fellows) investigated training in research ethics, observation of scientific misconduct, and willingness to select, omit, or fabricate data to win a grant or publish a paper. The efficacy of current ethics instruction is questioned. (Author/MSE)

This digest organizes the complex and interrelated issues concerned with student discipline into four questions, and suggests ways in which colleges and universities can deal with the issues raised. In answering the first question about what might be a proper role for institutions to play in student discipline, it suggests that an appropriate…

Some of the major research in the area of assessment, concentrating on distance learning, is reviewed, and a strategy that can be used as a guideline for assessment of distance learning, and particularly World Wide Web-based courses, is introduced. A review of assessment strategies confirms that a balance between knowledge acquisition and…

Some examinees' test-taking behavior may be so idiosyncratic that their scores are not comparable to the scores of more typical examinees. Appropriateness indices, which provide quantitative measures of response-pattern atypicality, can be viewed as statistics for testing a null hypothesis of normal test-taking behavior against an alternative…

Giving tests and assigning grades are stated to be important aspects of teachers' responsibility for facilitating student learning. Opposition to testing is discussed, objections are criticized, and beneficial consequences of evaluation are listed. It is maintained that tests do not cause cheating, or excessive discouragement, competition, or…

This legal compendium focuses on the difficult and volatile issues of student discipline in cases of both academic and nonacademic misconduct. Part I lists non-academic codes from University of Michigan, Yale College, Vanderbilt University, University of Iowa, City University of New York, Baylor University, Columbia University, George Washington…

Standardized test scores are used to determine outcomes at national, state, and local school district levels; and teachers feel pressure to raise their students' scores on high stakes tests. This study evaluated score enhancing strategies most likely used by student teachers and their perceptions about the degree of appropriateness of these…

An AAMC ad hoc committee on research fraud identified three steps institutions might take to combat fraud in medical research: determination of the magnitude of the problem by a formal study; institution of guidelines for research, publication, and promotion; and establishment of policies for investigating allegations of fraud. (Author/MLW)

The annotated bibliography contains 26 citations of books, monographs, and articles that may be useful to faculty and students in courses on scientific integrity. Topics addressed include ethical and legal considerations, fraud, technical writing and publication, intellectual property, notetaking, case study approach, conflict of interest, and…

This book offers specific how-to advice to college faculty on every stage of the testing process, including planning the test and classifying objectives to be measured, ensuring the validity and reliability of the test, and grading in such a way as to arrive at fair grades based on relevant data. The book examines the strengths and weaknesses of…

This study assessed whether the Academic Misconduct Survey (AMS) can distinguish groups of teacher education students relative to their propensity toward various forms of misconduct. Focus was on identifying clusters of persons within each school who had a propensity toward the various academic misconduct constructs. The AMS includes 41…

An instructional resource handbook for graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) at Old Dominion University (Virginia) is presented. Attention is directed to: the student and teacher roles of GTAs; 10 myths about teaching; the international GTA; choosing instructional approaches and media; preparing lessons, preparing support materials (syllabus,…

A survey of 365 college students identified circumstances likely to increase both planned and spontaneous cheating behavior, those likely to discourage both kinds of cheating, factors underlying planned cheating, most common types of cheating, and student demographic characteristics associated with greater cheating behavior. (MSE)