Third-year international student Abdulaziz Aljedaani comes from a place where sharing academic material with other students is not uncommon. According to Aljedaani, people in his home country, Saudi Arabia, will even pass down test answers to younger students.

But in the United States, Aljedaani has learned that he has to go it alone.

“The old student, when they pass the exams and everything, they give the new students the exams for the test,” Aljedaani said. “If you get this thing, you give it to all your friends because you care about them, you know? You just want them to get good grades.”

Lori Friedman, director of International Student Services, said many countries value collaboration over individual competition, which can lead to unintentional cheating.

“Collectivist cultures like Saudi Arabia and China and some other countries, they are more focused on helping each other to achieve a common goal,” Friedman said. “Here, we’re more individualized and competitive on who gets the good grade and who gets ahead. It’s just different values.”

According to International Student Services’ fall 2014 report on international enrollment, the number of students coming to St. Thomas from around the world has been steadily growing. Of the 489 international students enrolled at the university, 193 come from Asia, and 128 come from the Middle East.

Academic counselor Chirayu Dongre said he has seen instances of international students working together to finish projects assigned individually when one of them is struggling.

“They were coming from the viewpoint where, if your friend asks you for help, you help,” Dongre said. “They come from a culture that’s very communal, and so it was not seen as something appropriate to turn the friend down.”

Friedman said students from other parts of the world also may not have the same understanding of intellectual property as Americans do.

“Several times this fall semester with new students, I’ve just asked, ‘Have you heard of the word plagiarism?’ and they say, ‘Nope,’” Friedman said.

She said when some international students are researching, they assume the professor knows what the source is because he or she knows all of the experts on the topic.

“It would be insulting to cite that source in the paper,” Friedman said, “because the professor should know that.”

As part of orientation, all international students are educated on St. Thomas’ academic integrity policy, but Friedman said it is not always enough, and professors should make sure to explain the concept to their students.

Aljedaani said that when he began studying at St. Thomas, he was assigned to write a paper and turned in material without citing his sources. He said the instructor thought he was cheating, but he didn’t understand the requirements.

“She was nice to me; she explained everything that wasn’t the right thing to do, and then after that, I started to write my own essays,” Aljedaani said.

Dongre said the decision to report plagiarism is up to individual professors, but speaking to students before reporting is always a good idea.

“International students do struggle a lot with this issue, but I think that in most cases, they want to do the right thing,” Dongre said. “They’re not deliberately trying to pull the wool over anybody’s eyes.”

Aljedaani said he is glad he has been working on assignments independently, and he has learned a lot.

“Do not cheat. Just do it on your own in your way,” he said. “Be creative, be special, (and) try to do it in the best way.”

Grace Pastoor can be reached at past6138@stthomas.edu.