Academic Honesty and University Teaching: A Triangulation Study on University Teachers

Abstract

A study was undertaken to identify honest teachers possessing trust, fairness, responsibility & value academically, and to examine their conceptions on university teaching. Quantitative data was gathered through academic honesty scale from the university teachers. The t-test was calculated to know the significant differences between government and private university teachers on academic honesty. This result was used to identify the academic honesty teachers. Qualitative data from academically honest teachers were collected through written narratives about the conceptions of teaching. Triangulation of the survey on academic honesty was done with the combination of the written narratives on the conceptualization of teaching of academically honest teachers. Through thematic analysis of narratives, it was revealed that the meanings of university teaching were dynamically approached under eight categories of themes such as academic, employment, transformative, teacher development, value inculcation, innovation, professional development, and lifelong learning. Each theme of university teaching was traced to know how academically honest teachers understand. Academically honest teachers narrated dynamic conceptions about the university teaching which elucidates their trust, responsibility, and values in teaching. This study highlighted that while teachers move with certain academic expectations of students, they learned to understand student’s thinking. If the students sense that the teacher is fairly interested in their experiences of freedom, integrity, and honesty, then they are likely to participate enthusiastically.