Amanda McKenzie

Director, Quality Assurance (Academic Programs) and Academic Integrity

My OER projects
Amanda McKenzie

Undergraduate Academic Integrity Module
Academic Integrity for Undergraduate STEM Students | Programme D’intégrité Intellectuelle Dans Le Domaine Des STIM

What prompted you to become involved in OER?

Academic integrity is a topic that is foundation in academia; therefore, information on this area should be open and accessible to all. Moreover, everyone involved in education, be it primary, secondary or post-secondary, should be more aware of the principles of academic integrity. OERs on this topic are an important conduit to help increase awareness and understanding of academic integrity.

What excites you most about your OER project?

My first OER project was completed back in 2018 and featured real life student scenarios around the values of academic integrity from the International Center for Academic Integrity. My latest project also uses real life examples to better educate students in Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) about acceptable and unacceptable practices in academic integrity. I am most excited that the material for both projects is accessible to and can be applied by anyone else around the world.

A lot of instructors are hesitant about OER. Do you share those hesitations? How do you address them?

I am surprised to hear that there is hesitancy - perhaps there are concerns about intellectual property and copyright. These concerns can be allayed by using a creative commons license.

Can other instructors interested in OER reach out to you?

Yes, at amanda.mckenzie@uwaterloo.ca.