Technology and cheating to be featured in the FCMS fall faculty workshops

Technology and cheating to be featured in the FCMS fall faculty workshopsSeptember 26, 2005Judy Holmesjlholmes@syr.edu

Technology’s role in academic dishonesty is the focus of a series of workshops to be presented by Elletta Callahan LAW’84, professor of law and public policy in Syracuse University’s Martin J. Whitman School of Management. Callahan is the Fall 2005 faculty technology associate for Faculty Computing and Media Services.

Callahan will present “Technology and Cheating: Using Technology to Detect Plagiarism,” Oct. 11 from 2-3:30 p.m., and Oct. 12 from 10-11:30 a.m. She will also present “Technology and Cheating: ‘ne1 could TM in ur test’ (anyone could text message in your test,)” Nov. 16 from 9:30-11 a.m., and Nov. 17 from 2-3:30 p.m. The workshops will be held in Room 272 of Newhouse II. Registration information is available athttp://www-fcms.syr.edu/fac_dev/fta/index.shtml or by calling 443-2604.

A year-long study by the Vice Chancellor and Provost’s Committee on Academic Integrity (VPCAI), which Callahan chaired, found that 37 percent of SU undergraduate students and 23 percent of graduate students have used material from an electronic source without citations. Online suppliers of student papers abound. “Technology and Cheating: Using Technology to Detect Plagiarism” will focus on the question of whether the University should purchase an institutional license for plagiarism detection software. Participants will also have an opportunity to test a plagiarism detection system.

The second workshop, “Technology and Cheating: ne1 could TM in ur test,” will look at the issues surrounding improper classroom use of such common devices as cell phones, which can be used to exchange text messages during examinations. The workshop will include demonstrations of the ways in which such devices can be inappropriately used and identify strategies for reducing and deterring high-tech, classroom cheating.

Callahan’s research in the areas of whistle blowing, environmental policy and academic integrity has been recognized by the Academy of Legal Studies in Business, which named her Master Teacher in 2002 and presented her with the Holmes-Cardozo Award in 2001 and 1999, and with the Ralph C. Hoeber Award for Excellence in Research in 1992. Her articles have been published in the American Business Law Journal, the Virginia Journal of International Law, the Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law, the Washington University Journal of Urban and Contemporary Law, the Villanova Law Review, the Hastings Journal of Communications and Entertainment Law, and the Journal of Business Ethics, among others.

She has been a member of the Whitman School’s Academic Integrity Committee for 15 years, and served as its chair from 1990-99 and 2001-04. During that time, the committee developed and implemented a new policy that has had a significant impact on students’ understanding of and adherence to the school’s academic integrity expectations. She has also served on a number of University task forces and committees, addressing such issues as nonconsensual sexual activity, employee benefits and athletic compliance.

Callahan holds a J.D., magna cum laude, from SU’s College of Law, where she was the senior notes and comments editor of the Syracuse Law Review, and a bachelor’s degree from Wellesley College.