1. Introduction
It is well documented that students enter South African higher education institutions (SAHEIs) underprepared for the rigors of tertiary education
(van As, 2020; van As et al., 2016; van Wyk & Yeld, 2013). According to
the Council on Higher Education (CHE, 2016), there has been substantial growth in the number of African first-generation students1 entering the postapartheid education system, but it still bodes ill that this group of students
has the highest failure and attrition rates in higher education (HE)
(CHE, 2016: 63). Various aspects contribute to the attrition and failure
rate such as the articulation gap between secondary and tertiary education
(van As et al., 2016), the difficulty with transitioning to HE (Lombard,
2020; Maila & Ross, 2018), epistemological access (Maphosa et al., 2017),
possible language barriers (van Rooy & Coetzee-Van Rooy, 2015), and the difficulty of acquiring academic and disciplinary language (van Wyk &
Yeld, 2013), to name but a few. These aspects as well as socio economic pressures can lead to unknowing and knowing (as a coping mechanism)
practices of academic misconduct.
The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted virtually all
aspects of human life; including the way we do business as usual (Corbera
et al., 2020; Zhao, 2020) and the difficulties with understanding, navigating,
and applying the principles of academic integrity at the university
were further compounded by the sudden move to emergency remote
teaching and learning (ERTL). This added an extra layer of difficulty for
students, learning to navigate online learning as all academic activities had
to be moved online and they were expected to adhere to the principles of
academic integrity in this new environment. Thus, students’ learning,
navigation, and application of content knowledge as well as concepts such
as academic integrity were affected by access to devices and data, poor
connectivity in rural areas, failing electrical infrastructure in the country, a
lack of digital literacy, and in the case of first-generation students, almost
no academic support structures. Students were also expected to adapt to
online pedagogies with no prior knowledge or experience of how to learn
online. This led to high levels of stress and cognitive overload. The quick
ERTL pivot also meant that lecturers adapted their curricula to the best
of their abilities, with little or no prior knowledge or instruction regarding
online/emergency pedagogies. Unknowingly, certain cohorts of students
were placed at a disadvantage due to this quick transition leaving them
more vulnerable to failure (Czerniewicz et al., 2020).
Even though issues linked to academic integrity/misconduct have
always been present in the academic system, the move to ERTL magnified
and intensified this conundrum with more instances of intentional and
unintentional misconduct being reported. This is because with all learning
taking place online (1) students felt overwhelmed, (2) students were not
trained properly for remote and online learning as well as academic integrity,
and (3), Google became an easily accessible tutor and advisor who
helped students find websites and companies that can support them in their
learning journey. In some instances, students found predatory companies
that threaten to blackmail them if they stop using their services. Students
were also offered unsolicited “support” through personal messaging services
and social media. This brings to the fore the complexity of academic misconduct
in online spaces as these instances illustrate that students may
unknowingly participate in questionable behavior.
As our institution moves out of ERTL to a blended approach to
teaching and learning, we, as the researchers, have an opportunity to question and reflect on the academic practices, administration, and available
student support structures (Fig. 3) within our institution and reflect
on how academic integrity/misconduct can be reframed for the postpandemic
SAHEIs taking into consideration the additional layers that the
online teaching and learning space bring.
As part of this reflection, we acknowledge that students have been too
often positioned as the decontextualized learner2 without recognizing the
diverse needs and life experiences (Corbera et al., 2020) or the various discourses
with which students enter tertiary education and we need to
acknowledge students’ experience and background as part of this reflection.
Furthermore, it also helps us understand the underlying causes of
why students are dishonest, which can help us build in support mechanisms.
As part of learning excellence, students need to be seen as social
beings rather than decontextualized learners, SAHEIs need to recognize
that students arrive at university through a schooling system of varied educational
quality (Spaull, 2015). Practices such as rote memorization and
copying have been used, and in some instances, taught as learning strategies,
which stands in contravention with the idea of how knowledge
works at the university level. Thus, the primary discourses that students
enter university with might stand in direct opposition to the expected and
implicit secondary discourse of the academe. Therefore, to cope with the
expectations of HE, institutions have a responsibility to induct students
into their learning and teaching approaches. Furthermore, institutions
should provide explicit guidance, support, and learning opportunities to
induct students into the expected academic culture linked to academic
integrity.
Other external factors (Fig. 1) can also lead to academic misconduct.
Many students at SAHEIs are heavily dependent on bursaries (NSFAS,
2022), where poor performance may lead to bursaries being taken away,
students may also be first-generation students with the responsibility to
better their entire family’s financial situation through obtaining a degree,
or students have to navigate the pressures placed on them by the institution
such as possible academic exclusion or certain mark related program
requirements to continue with their studies. Learning context also plays a role. Less than 10% of South African students are English first language
speakers (South Africa Gateway, 2018) Furthermore, the foundations for
the literacy practices required at university are not developed at the school
level. Another learning context issue students need to face is institutions’
reliance on high-stakes testing. Massification can also affect students’ use
of dishonest practices as the staff-to-student ratios are extremely high, providing
little opportunity for checking and asking questions about academic
content or academic behavior (integrity). And, as has already been mentioned,
the move to ERTL due to the pandemic has also played a role as
students struggled to access material and find support.