Academic integrity in the HyFlex learning environment.

Area of Science:

• Educational Psychology
• Higher Education Studies

Background:

• The rise of HyFlex (Hybrid-Flexible) learning environments necessitates understanding factors influencing student behavior.
• Academic integrity remains a critical concern in diverse educational settings, including online and face-to-face (F2F) modalities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between students' personality traits and their academic integrity within a HyFlex course structure.
• To determine how different attendance preferences (F2F, online, hybrid) interact with personality to affect academic integrity.

Main Methods:

• Survey research involving 535 undergraduate STEM students.
• Utilized the Big Five Inventory and the Academic Integrity Inventory via online questionnaires.
• Analyzed data considering personality traits and chosen attendance modes (F2F, online, hybrid).

Main Results:

• Emotional stability and agreeableness positively correlated with academic integrity across all attendance modes.
• Conscientiousness and agreeableness were specifically linked to higher academic integrity in the hybrid environment.
• Extraversion and a preference for F2F attendance were associated with significantly lower academic integrity.

Conclusions:

• Personality traits play a crucial role in maintaining academic integrity in HyFlex settings.
• Tailoring HyFlex course design based on personality insights can foster ethical behavior and improve educational quality.
• Understanding personality-integrity links is vital for designing effective and ethical learning environments.