Abstract:

In an era of mis- and dis-information, advancing generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) and increasing reports about plagiarism and other forms of academic misconduct, finding a way to navigate these challenges in undergraduate education is important. I argue that combining a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) approach to learning with metacognitive strategies for building critical and complex thinking will assist in preventing plagiarism and encouraging students to be aware of the benefits and challenges inherent in the use of GenAI. UDL offers well-established strategies for instructors to use in their day-to-day teaching and planning and overlap with methods for encouraging critical and complex thinking. Using them together can afford opportunities to require students to engage in metacognition as they complete written and oral assessments. Student engagement has been shown to be important to student success and ethical actions in their studies.

Methodology:
I draw on data from two research projects: “Diversities of Resilience: Understanding the Strategies for Success used by Underrepresented Students in Canadian Universities” (2016-2019; DofR) and “Partnership on University Plagiarism Prevention (PUPP)” (2021-2028). For each project, data was collected via e-surveys and in-person interviews; both focus on undergraduate students. Data from the DofR project includes 690 survey respondents and 27 Interview participants. The PUPP project data includes 6021 survey responses (4664 students and 1357 instructors), and focus groups and interviews with 431 students and 130 instructors. Quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS, and qualitative data analyzed using Dedoose.

Results:
The DofR project showed that students use a range of strategies to succeed in their studies. The PUPP project reveals students’ research and writing skills and their knowledge of plagiarism and academic integrity. Together, students’ comments on their skills and their research and writing processes illustrate awareness of their capacity for research and writing and where they are verging into grey areas of academic misconduct. Instructors can use these data to design courses that build critical thinking and reduce the likelihood of student plagiarism. Using a UDL approach to course and assessment design can benefit all students in different ways while offering critical thinking opportunities.

Conclusions:
A “one size fits all” approach is not effective. For example, the DofR project findings demonstrate that universities provide varying levels of student supports, which may or may not be accessible to certain groups of students (i.e., mature with family vs direct entry), and that students have different needs (e.g., high school preparations are not equivalent). University provision of accessible and appropriate student supports and access to professors can play a significant role in student success. Continuing questions of equity related to class, geography, race/ethnicity, culture, gender, age, and family status are apparent in the data. It is important for instructors to design courses and assessments understanding that students come with a variety of backgrounds and experiences. This exploratory paper uses data on undergraduate student experience and academic integrity to better understand how instructors can help students build complex and critical thinking skills, which, in turn, may help prevent plagiarism.

Keywords:

Plagiarism, critical thinking, UDL, artificial intelligence.