Academic Integrity Becomes The Breeding Ground For Ethics

Violations of ethics by one damages the reputations of the many. Public perception, not simply data, affects the teaching field. Currently,

Ethics are the principals that build an individual’s character and integrity. It is the code of conduct that a person lives by; it is the way that a person conducts themselves when no one is around. Stealing, lying, and cheating are wrong, yet every day in the workplace these issues occur. Growing competition lends to the need for people to do what they can to get ahead and stay ahead. Ethics are pushed to the side as people try to gain power or to stay out of trouble, all at the risk of tarnishing their character. This same mindset has spilled over into Academia. A student’s desire to successfully earn a degree by any means necessary has caused educational institutions to address these ethical issues by setting policies in place to combat academic dishonesty.

As defined by the Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Academic Integrity is the moral code or ethical policy of academia. This includes values such as avoidance of cheating or plagiarism; maintenance of academic standards; honesty and rigor in research and academic publishing. Many believe academic integrity to be a strong, pervasive and understood rule when going to Universities and Community Colleges across the globe; however, in the recent decades, abiding to the rules and policies to uphold academic integrity has slowly become more problematic for students across the board. Thesis?

Christina H. Sommers describes ethics and its misperceived conception in the education system through her article Teaching the Virtues . Morality is defined through two concepts, social and self. Social morality is based on the social values and agreements set among the people. On the contrary, private morality originates from within us and is an example of decency, honesty, honor, etc. The education system lacks to discipline students on both aspects of ethics. One of examples given was a significant number of students who cheated on their finals

Prior to completing the Academic Integrity Program, I thought academic integrity was as simple “not cheating.” I considered it a policy solely implemented to ensure that students learned the material. To me, cheating was mostly plagiarism, or trying to pass off someone else’s work as your own. It was not until I completed the program that I began to understand the long-term effects of cheating on the peers, the professor, and the institution. Now, I understand that cheating affects not just me, but also the other students in my courses and the university’s reputation. I also understand the reasoning behind the university’s strict policies regarding academic integrity violations, as they are in place to protect the student, the classmates,

Academic ethics are the moral codes or the shared standards of an academic enterprise and the core of its success (Occidental College, 2016). Basically, academic ethics require each student, to be honest, responsible, fair, respectful, give credit where it is due, turn in their original work, and etc. (Michigan State University, n.d.). Academic integrity requires students to do their own work without unauthorized help from others, cheating, lying, plagiarizing, and stealing (Valdosta State University, 2016). Academic integrity is important because it shows that the student is trustworthy and honest enough to do his or her own work, whether someone is looking or not. “Learning how to express original ideas, cite sources, work independently, and report results accurately and honestly are skills that carry students beyond their academic careers” (Michigan State University, n.d., para. 2).

Academic integrity can be summarized as the pursuance of higher education in a scholarly fashion and the value of learning without

Ethics refers to the standards of our daily actions and behavior, including our communication with family, friends, and the community. It holds a special importance to people as it influences one’s core beliefs and value, ethical conduct, and ethical thinking. Everyone in their life faces a dilemma and must deal with it, so a research was done by the Santa Clara University to test an ethical dilemma which was put forward as a case study. In this case study heading, Picking up the Slack written in 2013, it sets up an ethical dilemma that takes place between two schoolmates, Greg and Natalie. In this dilemma, Greg is faced with the option of whether to give Natalie an honest evaluation, for her part in the group project. Or, if Greg should give

Academic Integrity is significant to the University because we came to school to not only learn education but to learn moral things for the future. Education is very important, but if we do not obtain moral concept we could hardly follow the right path when we graduate from school to be a crew of society; therefore, University should educate people who disobeyed the rule of Academic Integrity and correct their behavior.

The principle of academic integrity stretches beyond the limits of a classroom. Good students are honest with themselves, their professors, their roommates, and their community.

What does education mean if ethics is sacrificed for academic gains? As Aristotle once said, “educating the mind without the heart is no education at all”. Not to mention, ethics is the key in shaping moral identities in people, especially students. This essay examines the importance of teaching ethics to students and the challenges that come with it. Educating students on ethics can minimize academic misconducts, guide students to become self-reliant in decision-making and attain wisdom. Yet, less experienced teachers, ignorance towards the importance of ethics and the increasing pressure on teachers regarding students’ academic standards have become inevitable challenges in the implementation of ethics in education.

Enron, WorldCom and Bank of Credit and Commerce, just to name a few, runs chills up and down the spines of, well, just about everybody. These scandals swirled around several large businesses, and hinged on unethical practices – unethical accounting practices, specifically. The idea of ethics is a hot button these days in all genres. In fact, universities and colleges are including ethics in the curriculum of every discipline instead of offering an ethics major, per se (Kanaiah & Kumar, 2009). It seems that ethical codes of conduct are secondary thoughts after the critical elements of a chosen discipline, when in actuality; ethics are a common thread across the disciplines.

Ethics is always a very questionable topic in society these days, mainly because everyone’s view on the subject is different. One person may have one opinion and the person sitting next to them could be one hundred percent opposed to the same thing. In schools and universities across the country, it is common to have peers and friends ask you about your experience with a test or assignment in hopes to calm their nerves before taking it. However, the ethically questionable part of this trend comes into play when previous materials are given to these peers.

Currently, there are cases of cheating and secret use of unwanted written materials during exam times. They portray unpreparedness and laziness on the part of a student. It is unethical since it does not show faithfulness and integrity in studies. Teaching from this material helps me to be dependable and not to be morally disengaged because of diffusion of responsibility. Unethical conduct can be attributed to the behavior of a particular group. The teaching is important to me because I have learned on how to be responsible for my actions and to act ethically even at a student level. The practice of morals at a young age will help me to remain ethical even at old age.

Ethics and the behaviors associated with them have the highest significance for different reasons within