THE STATE OF AWARENESS OF THE STUDENTS OF THE PROFESSIONAL PRE-HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS IN THE ZHYTOMYR REGION ON ACADEMIC INTEGRITY ISSUE

Abstract

In the context of the processes of adopting the Law of Ukraine �On Academic Integrity�, all possible studies on the need to introduce academic integrity in the educational process of an educational institution, in particular a professional college, seem relevant, since it acts as a moral guideline for the professional training of future specialists. The article is aimed to identify the current state of compliance with the principles of academic integrity by students of professional colleges. The empirical basis of the article is the results of the author�s research �Compliance with the principles and norms of academic integrity by students of a professional college� conducted from December 2021 to February 2022. The study was based on the professional pre-higher education institutions in the Zhytomyr region that train specialists in the field of education. The respondents (428 students) were asked to answer 20 questions in an online questionnaire created using a Google form. The results of the study showed that 84,3% of the surveyed students are aware of the concept of academic integrity, and they were informed about it by their teachers (78%). The main manifestations of academic dishonesty among college students are: writing off (77,3%), academic plagiarism (76,9%), cheating (67.8%), and biased evaluation (53,3%). In their educational activities, students use several tools to comply with the principles of academic integrity, including 29% � citation, 33% � citation only in some cases, 18% � paraphrasing, etc. However, about 30% of respondents take materials, mostly from the Internet, disguising them as their own. The study also revealed that students have a low level of conscious behaviour regarding the need to comply with the norms of academic integrity. There is a lack of motivation among students by teachers regarding the need to observe the principles of academic integrity in a professional college. The problem of providing a system of regulatory and methodological support for the process of introducing the principles of academic integrity into the educational process of professional colleges is also observed. Taking into account the results of the study, it seems reasonable to develop a roadmap for the implementation of a system of ensuring academic integrity in professional pre-higher education institutions, which will not only contribute to the introduction of innovative solutions to this problem but also contribute to the professional development of students as competitive specialists in the labor market.