One of the main purposes of the INTEGRITY project is to empower students for responsible research conduct through evidence-based, scaffolded learning. According to the INTEGRITY H2020 website, this will be achieved by combining “high quality training in research integrity with innovative modes of engagement.”  In addition, there is an aspiration to “detect and mitigate gaps in teaching, and to help build tailor-made curricula and tools for students in the whole range of research areas and in three levels of studies.”  These are certainly ambitious aspirations, particularly when curricula and tools are required to be designed and developed for three distinct cohorts of students at high school, undergraduate and PhD levels across a variety of European countries. Trinity College Dublin (TCD), Science Gallery Dublin, Universidade do Porto (IBMC), and the University of Ljubljana have been working to develop such tailor-made and innovative tools for the high school student cohort. This blog post will describe the work carried out designing and developing these tools.

The high school tools originally took inspiration from a variety of sources including the TCD EthicsLab initiative, the Science Gallery Open Mind Studio, the STE(A)M Junior Cycle programme, and the iWish programme for showcasing STEM to female high school students in Ireland. In addition, a number of other national and international policy documents including the European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity and the EU Framework for Key Competencies on Lifelong Learning were relied on for philosophical and pedagogical scaffolding of the tools (the full list of documents are given at the end of the blog post). Based on this, a research integrity course for high schools made up of twelve separate modules was developed. The course and each of the individual modules have been designed around the core INTEGRITY principle of ‘empowerment’ of the student and also the three main themes which emerged from INTEGRITY WP2 i.e. drawing on the work of others; collaboration and authorship (e.g. of homework and group assignments); and the collection, analysis and presentation of data.

TCD & Science Gallery Dublin developed a total of eight of the high school modules, with IBMC and Ljubljana developing two modules each. The modules developed by TCD & Science Gallery Dublin include modules on Technology, Fast Fashion, Music & Arts, Space, Culture & Ethics, Human Rights & Climate Action, and a wrap-up module including reflection on all that has been learned. IBMC developed modules on Animal Experimentation and Genetic Testing, and Ljubljana developed a module on Collaboration, Solidarity, & Competitiveness as well as a module on Future Generations. The importance of getting teachers involved in the design and development of the modules was recognised from an early stage, and this was done throughout 2020 with a number of focus group discussions being held with teachers in Ireland during the Summer. Various modules were also tested as part of other events such as the STE(A)M programme (early 2020), various public engagement events run by the ADAPT Centre in TCD and Dublin City University (throughout 2020), Science Week Ireland (November 2020) and European Researchers night in TCD (November 2020). All feedback received was considered carefully and further extensive testing is planned throughout 2021 and as part of the European Student Convention which will take place in April 2021.

The full research integrity high school course is designed to be completed in one full school week, with each of the modules taking approximately 2-3 hours to work through fully. The course and each of the modules can also be delivered more flexibly and over a longer period of time depending on the requirements of the school (e.g. one day each week over 5 weeks, or one half day per week over 10 weeks etc). Each module adopts a variety of pedagogical approaches and is closely tied to the content and learning outcomes of similar high school modules in Ireland, Portugal and Slovenia where possible. This ensures that a variety of teachers (as opposed to subject specific teachers only) can be involved in the delivery of the modules, and also that a whole-school approach can be adopted for the course. This is important as it allows flexibility in how the course and modules are organised and timetabled by each individual high school.

All tools and modules were originally devised in a pre-COVID world where it was envisaged that the module material would be delivered by the teacher in-person in a typical classroom setting. As a result of the restrictions imposed by COVID many high schools across Europe have been either subject to strict social distancing regulations or fully closed. Thus, delivery of the modules by the teacher in-person in the classroom has not been possible. As a result, all modules were redesigned over Summer 2020 so that they are more suitable to being delivered online or in a blended format. When schools are operating normally post-COVID the research integrity course can be delivered by the teacher in-person as originally envisaged.

As already mentioned, the modules cover a variety topics of relevance to high school students and adopt a number of different philosophical and pedagogical approaches. These approaches include discussion-based scenarios, walking debates, reflective practices, games, videos, co-creation and traditional teaching. The focus is to ensure the tools be made as relevant and topical as possible to high school students. This was done by focussing on the ethical dilemmas students might face in their daily lives in high school. This blog post does not allow the space to discuss all pedagogical approaches used and all module content, but it is worthwhile providing some detail on the discussion-based approach as utilised in the Technology, Music & Arts, and Fast Fashion modules. This approach presents the student with a variety of discussion scenarios concerning research integrity issues and dilemmas which are of specific relevance to them when completing their school work.

The scenarios are designed to facilitate deeper exploration of these issues and dilemmas, and are tied to an existing high school subject learning outcome where possible. One of the discussion-based scenarios in the Technology module is centred around using AI and voice assistants (such as Amazon Alexa or Google Home) to complete school work and assignments. This discussion scenario begins with questions asking whether it is acceptable to ask parents or a sibling for help with homework. The discussion then evolves into asking whether it is acceptable to ask Amazon Alexa for the answer to a math problem, and ultimately the issues with using advanced AI to complete an assignment. The teacher facilitates this discussion and students have the opportunity to state their opinions. Each scenario concludes with guidance from the teacher on the most appropriate way to act in any particular situation. The Technology module also presents scenarios based on driverless cars, the Chinese “social credit” system, and fake news & deep fake technologies.

Each module is accompanied by a variety of resources, presentation material and a teacher handbook. In addition, teachers will have the opportunity to participate in a training workshop prior to the course, and a variety of other teacher support material and resources will also be available. All materials and workshops will be available online, and the option to have the workshops in-person may also be available post-COVID. It is envisaged that the high school tools their final form will be available before the end of 2021.

Philosophical and pedagogical scaffolding documents used include:

• European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity

• EU Framework for Key Competencies on Lifelong Learning

• Irish Universities Association Research Integrity Forum

• Irish Educate Together document on Ethics in Education and Ethical Education at Second-level

• The CGMA Competency Framework on Ethics, Integrity and Professionalism

• The LITTLE Project (download PDF)

• Educação para Cidadania – Education for Citizenship