Students at York will soon be able to learn about issues of plagiarism and how they can avoid it on York's website. As a collaborative project between the CST and the Computer Assisted Writing Centre, a web–based, interactive tutorial was developed by Olivia Petrie and Cheryl Dickie and is currently being pilot-tested among students and faculty for feedback and commentary.

The primary emphasis of the Academic Integrity Tutorial is to promote the skills that support academic integrity and to help students understand how it applies in their school work. In approximately 30 minutes, students are able to navigate their way through the site to explore issues of plagiarism and how it is detected and dealt with. The tutorial features three case studies, each of which is accompanied by positive strategies students can use to improve their academic efforts and avoid committing an academic offense as outlined in the Senate Policy on Academic Honesty. York's policy is also outlined in detail to help students understand the types of conduct that constitute an academic offense, along with the procedures and penalties that apply to any breach of the Policy.

The tutorial also includes an online quiz where students can gauge how well they understand issues related to plagiarism and academic integrity. Students can elect to receive formal notification of their completion of the test.

This tutorial is available for instructors to use in their courses to supplement the instruction that they already provide on the topic of plagiarism and cheating. Portions of the tutorial might be displayed in class or the tutorial might serve as an ungraded assignment for students to complete. It is not envisioned that this tutorial would replace what instructors are doing now to educate students in this area, rather it is hoped that the tutorial will complement these activities and promote a deeper understanding of the issues.

The tutorial was inspired by a similar site "Plagirism and Honor" developed by Cheryl Ruggerio, at the Department of English, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University < see www.english.vt.edu/%7EIDLE/plagiarism/plagiarism1.html>. Rather than trying to address a range of concerns, the content of the site is limited and focussed on one particular issue, plagiarism. Over the longer term, the CST plans to work with other units on campus to highlight existing modules, such as the Library Research Roadmap, and to develop new resources to promote the development of successful academic skills (i.e. using sources).

The tutorial is still in the pilot stage and feedback from the York community is most welcome. It can be found at < www.yorku.ca/tutorial/academic_integrity/>.