An Analysis of Academic Misconduct Taking Place in Student Discord Servers
Introduction
In every class, students gather to form communities. We discuss the nature of the classwork, and we explore the subject matter of the course in greater depth by sharing thoughts and bouncing ideas off each other. We keep each other up to date on due dates, deadlines, and exam formats. We promote personal projects and class assignments we need to gather participants for. And, occasionally, we witness academic misconduct. Most of this happens on Discord servers created for each course, and in almost all class Discord servers, academic misconduct occurs.
This is dangerous for many reasons. First, of course, it harms the integrity of the class and means that students are not experiencing a fair academic playing field. Second, that this academic misconduct is occurring in a relatively public space means that every student in any given Discord server (which is typically most of the students in any given class) is at risk of being implicated simply because they wanted to create a community with their classmates.
This report explores how academic misconduct occurs and how it can be prevented while preserving an entire category of beautiful, wonderful student communities that overall immeasurably improve the wellbeing of the students within them.
Audience
This report is intended for professors and TAs who seek to rid their classrooms of academic misconduct but still support their students in fostering academic communities and building networks among their peers. It is also for all students who wish to gain the benefits of said robust community of peers without potentially being exposed to consequences of an activity one has not even participated in (or, perhaps, is even aware of).
Definition of Term
Discord: A messaging platform that revolves around ‘servers’, specific communities of users, broken up into several different text threads (‘channels’) usually by topic (i.e.: one for homework questions, one for discussions about the material, etc).
Methods
Participants consisted of 6 undergraduate students across a variety of majors and school years. They were polled on how often they used Discord as a tool for interacting with classmates, and how often (or if) they witnessed academic misconduct in class Discord servers.
Results
Every single participant reported seeing academic misconduct in class Discord servers. and remembered feeling concern over whether they would be affected by any disciplinary action that might be taken simply because they were present in the Discord server.
Conclusion
Culture
That this occurs across disciplines, across years and classes, and across Discord servers is deeply concerning. However, the answer is not to limit student involvement in these spaces. For one thing, student-created spaces where people can discuss the course without worrying about being professional in front of teachers and classroom leaders are extremely important for learning retention, class cohesion, and bond-building among students. This is a very very valuable experience that cannot be completely wiped away.
Solutions
A student agreement not to engage in academic misconduct could have significant effects. One reason students commit academic misconduct in Discord servers is that they are not aware they’re doing it — explicitly and clearly stating what constitutes academic misconduct before students enter a space makes it far less likely that they will engage with it. Another possibility is to directly foster a ‘call-in’ culture in student Discord servers. Initiatives encouraging students to feel empowered to comment when they see the seeds of academic misconduct being laid can be extremely valuable — by giving the involved students a chance to cease their actions before elevating to the level of a more serious formal report, an inclusive and safe community is fostered while the negative behavior is reduced.
Discord is a crucial tool for students. We just need to know how to use it.
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