It begins with the admission of students and permeates throughout their learning journeys. Ultimately, we must be sure that our graduates acquire their engineering skills and knowledge honestly and reliably – qualifications defined by academic integrity.
EIT is committed to ensuring students understand how critical integrity is to their academic and career success. As this alone is not necessarily enough, EIT has invested in tools which ably invigilate student assessments and examinations, remotely and in the classroom.
The assurance of academic integrity is becoming increasingly challenging, particularly with the introduction of Generative AI. The technology certainly presents some incredible opportunities for teaching and learning but has the ability to undermine the honest attainment of qualifications.
During 2023, for instance, Turnitin (one of the tools used by EIT) reported that its AI scanners reviewed more than 200 million papers and that of those, 80% of six million papers were most likely generated by AI.
The concerns voiced by many universities and colleges, on the veracity of qualifications achieved, are therefore well-founded. This situation can be further impacted when students undertake qualifications online. It was this knowledge that motivated EIT, back in 2008, to develop and continuously improve IRIS: Intelligent Remote Invigilation Software. It is an astute and all-seeing invigilator. EIT students complete a module on its use before they can proceed with their studies.
Our students and their employers can be sure that EIT’s graduates have undergone a rigorous and exhaustive program of study, where they have been taught and examined to the highest possible standards.