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The importance of academic integrity to students
The importance of academic integrity to students
The importance of academic integrity to students
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Competition in schools may be the main cause of cheating and plagiarism. Putting in effort to enter a college with a good grade point average or sufficient credits can be difficult, it is why many would prefer cheating from others work. Honor codes could prevent the act of cheating or plagiarism along with building trust within students. Students should feel comfortable in their environment, not having to worry about someone looking at their paper. Which is why I believe an honor code system should be established in every school. Honor codes should be presented to students not as another rule to obey, but as a lesson to be learned (Source B). Writing a pledge of honor on every assignment is excessive, though it is simply reminding the student …show more content…
While this is true, if an honor code were established, it can be made to accommodate the students, allowing it to be handled by an all-student court (Source C). Having the system be handled by an all-student court can build trust within other students, allowing them to feel comfortable writing their paper without having someone look over their shoulder. However, the success of the honor code, as Source C claim, depends on the expectations that students have and how much the college reinforces honesty. If honesty were to be reinforced, this would raise the academic integrity and honesty in the school. Trust should also be built between students and teachers. Source A claims that a spycam can greatly improve honor code, but students will surely feel uncomfortable and untrustworthy. During a test, relying on peer monitoring can increase that trust between a teacher and their students. Research shows, according to source F, “that significantly lower levels of cheating reported at honor code schools do not reflect a greater fear of being reported or caught.” They’d simply be embarrassed to have other students find out they were
The article Cybercheats clearly shows the cause/use of plagiarism. Students of all ethnic backgrounds use plagiarism. However it also shows how most schools are trying to crack down. Two employees from National Institutes of Health actually have a program that can decode essays that may have some sort of plagiarism. It is clearly obvious that the students who do indeed use this from of cheating have no real values. As Michael Miller, a teacher at Georgetown University, says, "It's really up to the individual reader to do with the information what they will, good or evil. I belong to a school that says teach people to do the right thing and then turn'em loose." It seems that if you are adult enough to actually attend collage then you are adult enough to handle the pressures and responsibilities that come along with it. For most cases the use of plagiarism is clearly used by students who don't know the value/capabilities of there own. They also aren't usually aware of the consequences.
More and more students are showing bad academic integrity for numerous reasons. To put a stop to this, I believe that teachers and parents should make a bigger deal about being honest in their work, rather than pressuring students to end up on top. Students need to learn how to take pride in their own work. They need to realize that being honest in your achievements is much more rewarding than achieving something higher, but cheating your way through
However, this may stem from a lack of enforcement of the rules. Even at the most prestigious schools, such as Harvard University, students are not upholding the rules implemented: “The possibility that 125 Harvard students ‘improperly collaborated’ on an exam in the spring has galvanized … discussion about … honor codes” (Source: C). In this case, people may argue that the only party at fault consists of the students. However, the faculty may be partially guilty as well, as their lack of care towards the rules has created a situation that jeopardizes the school’s integrity. Revision may then seem like the least of the school’s priorities, as they must show they seriously consider educational integrity. Likewise, at the University of Virginia, “157 students have been investigated by their peers in the largest cheating scandal in memory” (Source: D). Again, the school and all those who work there hold at least part of the fault for this ignorance because, theoretically, they should preserve and enforce the rules provided. The fact that the scandal exists means that they were not doing their jobs to their fullest. Although revision may seem simpler to carry out, the school’s staff must show an attempt at intervention within the student lives to keep them on a path towards
Honor Code has evolved over the years and its becoming more strict in its ways and flaws. “Taggert accused the administration of using the code to punish rather than to help students improve themselves” (Bergera). It lists of forbidden acts are antiquated and invade the students’ sense of privacy without truly defining the quality of honor. Other seemingly arbitrary codes such as no herbal tea, no short skirts and no beards are strictly enforced. Even Jesus Christ could not have attended BYU without shaving first. As a m...
In “Why Colleges Should Ditch Honor Codes” Susan Greenberg is trying to inform the audience as to why society does not require the honor code anymore. The rules that lie behind this regulation are becoming outdated and more students are finding themselves punished for disobeying it. A lot of honor code schools are trying to get rid of this process because it only brings the students more pressure. Typically, students that are in honor code schools tend to cheat more than schools that do not possess it. If a student is enrolled in a more prestigious school, he/she is more tempted to cheat in order to maintain his or her good grades. Greenberg explains a situation that took place in Stanford University that led more than 100 students in academic
Despite the world being full of diverse people with varying accomplishments and skill sets, people oftentimes assume the qualities and traits of an individual based purely on the stereotypes set forth by society. Although these stereotypes are unavoidable, an individual can be liberated, empowered and ultimately overcome these stereotypes by obtaining an advanced education.
Across the nation, schools, colleges and universities have established honor codes in their campuses to discourage cheating and promote academic integrity. Whether or not their honor codes are effective is a topic well debated and both sides have merit. At my school, Brookwood High School, the honor code should be revised, for only in an environment where the students are involved, consequences for cheating are high, and a culture of honor and integrity are established, can such as system thrive and succeed.
Television has affected every aspect of life in society, radically changing the way individuals live and interact with the world. However, change is not always for the better, especially the influence of television on political campaigns towards presidency. Since the 1960s, presidential elections in the United States were greatly impacted by television, yet the impact has not been positive. Television allowed the public to have more access to information and gained reassurance to which candidate they chose to vote for. However, the media failed to recognize the importance of elections. Candidates became image based rather than issue based using a “celebrity system” to concern the public with subjects regarding debates (Hart and Trice). Due to “hyperfamiliarity” television turned numerous people away from being interested in debates between candidates (Hart and Trice). Although television had the ability to reach a greater number of people than it did before the Nixon/Kennedy debate, it shortened the attention span of the public, which made the overall process of elections unfair, due to the emphasis on image rather than issue.
Studies have shown that, “…many schools with academic honor codes allow students to take their exams without proctors present, relying on peer monitoring to control cheating…a more important factor seems to be the peer culture that develops on honor code campuses—a culture that makes most forms of serious cheating socially unacceptable among the majority of students” (Source F). By using peers to uphold the honor codes, students are embarrassed if they are caught cheating. Therefore, they are less likely to defy the honor code at their school. However, if they break the honor code they should be punished by the same students and teachers who revised the honor code. Honor codes will be revised and enforced differently. For example one school’s, “honor code is strictly enforced, and the enforcement is handled by an all-student court. Students convicted of lying or cheating can expect to receive punishments ranging from suspension to expulsion” (Source C). If the honor code is in place, it needs to be enforced by the same people who follow it. This creates trust between the students and teachers which is how an effective honor code should
Some exclaim that an Honors Code does little to none to prevent cheating for example it’s discussed in Source C that, “ signing a piece of paper will suddenly cause a cheater to change his ways.” (Source C) While these assumptions make sense, the article ends with an explanation of “students convicted of lying or cheating can expect to receive punishments ranging from suspension to expulsion.” (Source C) Not only does cheating or plagiarism come with consequences but most students will stay away from cheating but the embarrassment of being caught prevents students from cheating as well.
When walking into school, students, more often than not, would like to know that their teachers entrust them to complete an assignment faithfully. However, if a student does cheat or plagiarize, it is up to the teacher to take action. In order for the honor code to work, students should know their teachers trust them to complete an assignment faithfully. For instance, Bacall’s cartoon in Document A demonstrates actions of stronger honor codes to stop plagiarism and cheating with the use of cameras. Meanwhile, this action of inserting cameras in classrooms would only make students tense, feel pressured and intimidated, which ruins their education and comfort in their school environment. This is the opposite of what students expect when coming to school. On the contrary, when entering a class on the first day of my high school, students read the honor code, which entitles each student the right to speak up but does not only bestow the responsibility on them; students are expected not to cheat but also to speak up if you feel uncomfortable doing so. Therefore, students feel comfortable in the school environment and the honor code works
That is not always the case, if the students’ belief is set to always do the right thing it will be done without any hesitation. “Despite the detailed testimony of the student who reported the infraction, the accused student walked free. The student reporting the infraction was socially stigmatized but also didn’t regret taking action.”(Gabor, 1). This also proves that if honor codes are added it can work effectively. Many students want to do the right thing, but sometimes need a little help in the right direction. If cheating is not reported the integrity of the honor code gets damaged severely. If people cheat and they do not report the cheating, the cheater will start to believe that it is okay to cheat and it will become a habit that is not good to have as a
This form of cheating occurs more often than it should because students may not feel confident in their own work; they are constantly being reminded by society that they must do their best and receive the highest academic achievements. So why has society shamed students for taking such actions when society is partly to blame for the situation. But society is not to blame alone; students themselves are also held at fault, because it is their self-doubt and lack of time management that result in them plagiarizing. If students had the experience of submitting actual personal work, they would understand that being praised by their peers is more appreciable and could add to their overall self-worth. Students would also be proud of the grade they receive because it is one they truly deserve for their hard work and not for the work what someone else has already done. Students do not see how easy they could commit plagiarism without knowing they are plagiarizing. It is as simple as using a quote and not giving credit to those who deserves it. Students also do not seem to know that there are different forms of plagiarism, that there is not just one, but five types of
From a young age we are taught the differences between right and wrong, but as we get older the line between moral and immoral is often blurred. Things that were once thought of as unacceptable are now perfectly fine in our minds. Have you ever seen anyone cheat on an assignment or exam? Do you know anyone that’s been expelled from school for cheating? What if it was discovered that a U.S. senator plagiarized his college thesis paper? Imagine if it got out that one of the most respected universities in the U.S. was involved in a huge fraud scandal that involved thousands of students. Academic cheating is a terrible offense because it is unethical, self-degrading, and can be detrimental to the learning environment.
Plagiarism is a serious offense and a growing trend in our society today. Some may associate plagiarism with the idea of taking someone else’s writing and making it their own. In fact plagiarism involves anything that is copied or taken and said to be of your own work. Dictionary.com defines plagiarism as “the unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work, as by not crediting the author”. In fact this definition covers all types of cheating and misrepresentation of ones own work. There are many numbers and statistics that can be found on the amount of individuals that have admitted to cheating. Perhaps the most astounding number is one that was reported by Moeck in 2002 aloft of 40% of higher education students commit academic dishonesty. This number I’m sure has grown since this report and will continue to grow with the development of the Internet. There are a number of ideas and strategies that can be employed in order to stop this ever-growing phenomenon. As teachers and adults, we are responsible for stopping this trend and educating students about the consequences and dangers of plagiarism. I believe there are a variety of reasons individuals plagiarize. First, students are insecure with their own ability; they don’t believe they can do the work therefore they take others. Second, students believe they can get away with the act because they know others who have plagiarized, and there were not any consequences. Lastly, students are uneducated on what plagiarism is and do not know the consequences of their actions if they commit an act. These ideas will be the focus of the position taken on plagiarism in today’s academic society.