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Papers by Dr. Stella-Maris Orim

This report sets out the results from a study conducted during 2017-18 for the Council for Higher... more This report sets out the results from a study conducted during 2017-18 for the Council for Higher Education Accreditation / CHEA International Quality Group (CHEA/CIQG). This study builds on recommendations from the IIEP/UNESCO and CHEA/CIQG Advisory Statement prepared by Sir John Daniel (IIEP & CIQG 2016), consolidating contributions from a panel of expert witnesses1. The study was designed to capture information about actions and responses of accreditation and quality assurance bodies (AQABs) for addressing different forms of corruption in higher education. The results, recommendations and conclusions in this report are based on the findings of the study.

A global study conducted during 2017-18 for the Council for Higher Education Accreditation Intern... more A global study conducted during 2017-18 for the Council for Higher Education Accreditation International Quality Group (CHEA/CIQG) builds on the Advisory Statement for Effective International Practice, Combatting Corruption and Enhancing Integrity: A Contemporary Challenge for the Quality and Credibility of Higher Education (Advisory Statement) by IIEP / UNESCO and CIQG (IIEP & CIQG 2016). This study captured information about actions and responses of accreditation and quality assurance bodies (AQABs) to address different forms of corruption in higher education.

Results, recommendations and conclusions based on the findings from the study are presented in the main report, targeting people interested in quality and standards and concerned with discouraging corruption in higher education. The findings are specifically addressed to organisations with responsibility for assuring quality and integrity of education or research, and those responsible for overseeing and funding their operation.

“Corruption” is a very broad term with many connotations and interpretations. We have adopted a rather narrower interpretation of the definition included in the Advisory Statement (IIEP &CIQG 2016: 1). Most examples of corruption in this study focus on intentional actions of individuals or groups rather than misconduct through accident, incompetence or ignorance.

Information Technology & People, 2019

Purpose-The study complements the scant macroeconomic literature on the development outcomes of s... more Purpose-The study complements the scant macroeconomic literature on the development outcomes of social media by examining the relationship between Facebook penetration and violent crime levels in a cross-section of 148 countries for the year 2012.

Design/methodology/approach-The empirical evidence is based on Ordinary Least Squares (OLS), Tobit and Quantile regressions. In order to respond to policy concerns on the limited evidence on the consequences of social media in developing countries, the dataset is disaggregated into regions and income levels. The decomposition by income levels included: low income, lower middle income, upper middle income and high income. The corresponding regions include: Europe and Central Asia, East Asia and the Pacific, Middle East and North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America.

Findings-From OLS and Tobit regressions, there is a negative relationship between Facebook penetration and crime. However, Quantile regressions reveal that the established negative relationship is noticeable exclusively in the 90th crime quantile. Further, when the dataset is decomposed into regions and income levels, the negative relationship is evident in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) while a positive relationship is confirmed for sub-Saharan Africa. Policy implications are discussed.

Originality/value- Studies on the development outcomes of social media are sparse because of a lack of reliable macroeconomic data on social media. This study primarily complemented five existing studies that have leveraged on a newly available dataset on Facebook.

The study assesses the relationship between terrorism and social media from a cross section of 14... more The study assesses the relationship between terrorism and social media from a cross section of 148 countries with data for the year 2012. The empirical evidence is based on Ordinary Least Squares, Negative Binomial and Quantile regressions. The main finding is that there is a positive relationship between social media in terms of Facebook penetration and terrorism. The positive relationship is driven by below-median quantiles of terrorism. In other words, countries in which existing levels of terrorism are low are more significantly associated with a positive Facebook-terrorism nexus. The established positive relationship is confirmed from other externalities of terrorism: terrorism fatalities, terrorism incidents, terrorism injuries and terrorism-related property damages. The terrorism externalities are constituents of the composite dependent variable.

A B S T R A C T This study investigates whether mobile phone penetration modulates the effect of ... more A B S T R A C T This study investigates whether mobile phone penetration modulates the effect of different indicators of gov-ernance on some indicators of the ease of doing business in Sub-Saharan Africa with data from the period 2000–2012 by employing the Generalised Method of Moments. Three broad concepts of governance are explored: (i) political (comprising voice & accountability and political stability/no violence), (ii) economic (involving government effectiveness and regulation quality) and (iii) institutional (including corruption-control and rule of law). Ten dimensions of entrepreneurship are considered. Two main findings are established with respect to the net effects of the interaction between mobile phones and governance dynamics. They are (1) reduced cost of business start-up procedure, the time to build a warehouse and the time to resolve an insolvency and (2) increased time to enforce a contract, to register a property and to prepare and pay taxes. Implications for theory and policy are discussed. Some of the engaged policy implications include the following. (i) Measures on how to leverage on the potential of mobile phone penetration for entrepreneurship opportunities by addressing challenge of access to and affordability of mobile phones on the one hand and on the other hand, improving on the role of the mobile phone as a participative interface between emerging entrepreneurs and governance. (ii) The relevance of the mobile phone in mitigating information asymmetry between entrepreneurs and government institutions, notably by: reducing government inefficiency (which potentially represents an additional cost to doing business) and decreasing informational rents, bureaucracy and transaction costs.

This paper presents a conceptual review on student plagiarism focusing mainly on International po... more This paper presents a conceptual review on student plagiarism focusing mainly on International postgraduate Nigerian students. The aim of this review is to provide an insight to issues that relate to the concept, which will present information for the Higher Education Institutions in Nigeria and those overseas where the students decide to further their studies. The paper reviews studies on eight themes: the origin of plagiarism, forms of plagiarism, possible consequences of student plagiarism, general views on student plagiarism, possible causes of student plagiarism, Methods of detecting, deterring and mitigating student plagiarism, and proposed solutions. The author concluded that a lot of Nigerian students struggle with the right perception of plagiarism and in most cases, do not understand the long-term consequences, besides the implementation of a holistic approach at managing student plagiarism, the higher institutions need to monitor and evaluate results and adapt measures to the institutional context. Also, there is a need for overseas universities to adjust their management framework in a way that will cater for international students. In addition, there is need for more empirical studies to be carried out in Nigeria and other African Higher institutions.

This paper is about the pilot to a much larger study of student plagiarism in Nigerian Higher Edu... more This paper is about the pilot to a much larger study of student plagiarism in Nigerian Higher Education Institution (NHEI) which is an extension to the IPPHEAE (Impact of Plagiarism Policies in Higher Education across Europe) project. The IPPHEAE is a European wide study of thirty-two Higher Education Institutions (HEI) focusing on policies and procedures for the mitigation of plagiarism. level study skills students. An analysis of the findings revealed prior levels of plagiarism awareness, several themes of perceptions and attitude to plagiarism. This pilot study reveals a need for more training on scholarly academic writing for Nigerian students who have come to study in the United Kingdom for the first time. This will help them understand the need to write and cite appropriately and acquire the relevant skills particularly in summarising and paraphrasing which will help them avoid plagiarism. An insight into the awareness, perception and attitude of Nigerian Students to plagiarism

In light of the high number of Nigerian students who gain admission to overseas universities for ... more In light of the high number of Nigerian students who gain admission to overseas
universities for postgraduate studies, there is an increasing need to understand their
background and previous study experiences. There are few studies of the
experiences or views of Nigerian postgraduate students about the concept of
plagiarism. The occurrence of plagiarism in the writings of some Nigerian students
who travel overseas for graduate studies, like that of other students studying in a new
academic context, has become a concern in recent times. This paper aims to
contribute to the current research on student plagiarism around the world by exploring
the concept of plagiarism of Nigerian postgraduate students studying in a United
Kingdom university. It presents results from a phenomenographic study which utilised
semi-structured interviews to acquire data. In analysing the data, the views expressed
by participants, the manner in which these were expressed and the context in which
the views were expressed were paramount. Preconceived ideas were put aside while
analysing the data, letting the data speak for itself rather than viewing the data from
existing theoretical structures or presuppositions. The emerging themes were noted
and comparative views of experiences were arrived at from pooling and comparing
quotations across several participants. An outcome space was identified and the
emerging overarching theme relating to their experiences was found to be the fear of
not understanding the underlying concept of plagiarism. The students expressed
deep concern about the simultaneous awareness of the need to acquire the requisite
academic writing skills and utilising them, while being faced with coursework and
looming submission deadlines. The results and their implications are discussed with
regards to the students’ adaptation and a way forward is proffered.

With digital technologies replacing the previous source of entertainment and communication and be... more With digital technologies replacing the previous source of
entertainment and communication and becoming the primary means by
which we are informed and entertained, there is a need to be informed
and competent with the relevant skills. Also, there is a greater need to
use the digital devices that are employed by students using these
technologies, which tend to keep them captivated at all times. The aim
of this study is twofold: to enhance student performance by improving
the approach to feedback and enhance student engagement by
improving student class participation with the use of their „disruptive‟
devices. We hypothesize that student engagement with the digital
devices lead to better and overall student performance. The areas
identified for research were in relation to student feedback and
engagement through the encouragement of their participation. The
approach adopted in this research was the evaluation of the use of
Tophat as a tool in the creation of an enhanced student-centred learning
experience by creating an active learning environment. The strategy was
to adhere to the usual idea of student tutorial and after an hour the first
research activity started. This involved the use of the disruptive devices
(mobile phones, iPads and Android devices) in a constructive manner.
At the end of the session, Tophat was used to provide additional
feedback and prepare them for their coursework. This was achieved
through the use of „Tournament‟ to find out each week those that
engaged and performed well. The results showed that 74.8% of the
students are of the view that the use of Tophat enhanced their
engagement in the module and 71.9% students perceived that higher
level of feedback was received through Tophat. The impact of digital
technology in higher education was discussed in this study.

Keywords: Tophat; Technology enhance learning; Digital classroom;
Students‟ engagement; feedback.

Innovation in Teaching and Learning in Information and Computer Sciences, 2011

Conference Presentations by Dr. Stella-Maris Orim

Abstract: In the last ten years, there has been much research into academic integrity with a focu... more Abstract: In the last ten years, there has been much research into academic integrity with a focus on plagiarism in developed countries. There is still a dearth of such research in developing countries like Nigeria.
This paper presents the results from a larger exploratory study on student plagiarism in Nigerian Higher Education Institution of Learning (Nigerian universities), which is associated with the Impact of Plagiarism Policies in Higher Education Across Europe (IPPHEAE) project.
It seeks to contribute to the body of knowledge by focusing on the experiences of previous institutional interventions on student plagiarism issues and their impact on student experience when they study elsewhere.
Nigerian students studying abroad had to adapt to diverse teaching, learning and assessment styles under a different institutional system. This resulted in the students struggling when they had to apply skills they had not acquired during their previous study.
This study adopted a mixed method approach; 25 Nigerian Postgraduate Students studying in a United Kingdom University were interviewed for the qualitative data and 171 IPPHEAE student questionnaires were completed for the quantitative data.
Results from the data suggest that the previous institutional system experienced by the students was quite different from what they met in their present institutions of study in England.
As a result, the students struggled to cope with their studies when they had to apply skills they had not acquired.

Books by Dr. Stella-Maris Orim

Integrity or honesty is crucial to the pursuit of academic knowledge in learning institutions suc... more Integrity or honesty is crucial to the pursuit of academic knowledge in learning institutions such as those in the Nigerian educational system. In recent times, this system has been replete with reported and unreported cases of academic integrity breaches, making the goal of achieving academic integrity a major challenge. This could be, in part, as a result of various perspectives of what constitutes academic integrity in the Nigerian context. A number of factors have been identified as being responsible for this variation, including the education system, pedagogy, sociocultural environment, economic environment, infrastructure, technology, institutional policies, and management systems. This chapter provides a synopsis of the different perspectives of academic integrity in Nigeria. It then examines the present academic climate, policies and practices, and their impact on academic integrity-related issues. It also provides an overview of the development of research and practice in the field of academic integrity in Nigeria, highlighting the unique issues relating to academic integrity. It concludes by presenting an overview of the major challenges associated with academic integrity and possible ways of instituting a culture of integrity in the Nigerian academic system. http://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-981-287-098-8_9

Thesis Chapters by Dr. Stella-Maris Orim

Plagiarism is a worldwide problem that is widely recognised in developed countries. There is incr... more Plagiarism is a worldwide problem that is widely recognised in developed countries. There is increasing plagiarism awareness in developing countries such as Nigeria. Problems can arise when students with a low level awareness of plagiarism move from developing to developed countries for further studies. Given their previous academic background which differs from that of the western education system, some students contend with issues of plagiarism for most of the period of their study overseas.
This thesis identifies a need to explore issues related to the Nigerian university system including Nigerian students studying in Nigerian universities and those travelling overseas for further studies.

Information Technology & People, 2019

Keywords: Tophat; Technology enhance learning; Digital classroom;
Students‟ engagement; feedback.

Innovation in Teaching and Learning in Information and Computer Sciences, 2011