A culture of sharing: transnational higher education students' views on plagiarism in the digital era

Abstract: Higher education has greatly expanded and many transnational campuses have been established. The vast amount of educational material available online and the ease of sharing it electronically appear to have facilitated an increase in student plagiarism. Plagiarism may undermine the learning process of students and the quality of education that an institution provides. A survey was conducted at two Australian university campuses in Singapore to investigate transnational students' views on plagiarism. It was found that many students, while fully aware of obvious cases of plagiarism, would disagree with more complex cases, such as collusion and reuse of one's own work or of a friend's work. This suggests that current strategies for preventing plagiarism are not entirely effective. It is recommended that educative interventions such as induction and follow-up courses on plagiarism be provided to students and staff to ensure that academic integrity is maintained within the transnational education environment.