Academic integrity
Academic integrity requires knowledge and acknowledging the contributions of other people, it is a commitment and a demonstration of moral behavior as well as honesty in an academic setting. Honesty will always be the foundation of good academic work, but there will be times where, whether working with a problem , project, research or paper, ”to cheat or be cheated” might be encountered.
According to Denise Pope, Ph.D. “Stories of cheating in schools often make national headlines and are frequently met with widespread” because of that she said that this is a part of a culture desperation. 80 to 95 percent of high school students admit to cheat, today’s generation cheat in different new ways and the famous one is using technology, like internet to plagiarize essays or paper. Pope also stated that, when they justify their actions they say “didn’t have a choice – it’s cheat or be cheated”. Students feel pressured to get high grades believing that they’ll need it for future purposes like getting a job, putting up a business or feeling that what they get might reflect who they are.
To end the cheating behavior of the students, Pope came up with five steps to help create and build the academic integrity of each student. First, Strive for buy-in of Honest Academic Practices, it is to encourage the students, parents and teachers to work together like having an open-forum, peer-to-peer counseling, discussing ethical behavior and it is to establish clear and consistent policies. Second, Emphasize mastery and Learning Over Performance and grades, students must focus on mastering skills and be able to develop and demonstrate their knowledge in multiple ways. Third, Establish a Climate of Care, the teachers must let the students know that they care for them and cares for their integrity. Focusing on students' social and emotional learning might improve better learning and will be less likely for them to cheat. Fourth, Revise Assessment and Grading Policies, try to use different ways to test the ability or skill, and knowledge by giving them an opportunity to show their strength. Lastly, reducing Workload without Reducing Rigor, to lessen the homework and activities is really necessary, workloads can cause stress to students and might exhaust them which may lead to make them cheat.
Pope said that it’s easy to blame societal issues when a person commits academic dishonesty. She also said that breaking the mentality of students “cheat to compete” must be gone and with those five steps is the key in helping the schools change it.
The article of Denise Pope Ph.D. helped me understand what’s driving us, the students, to commit academic dishonesty. Realizing that the academic work we do is part of an expectation and later on will drive the students to make choices that’ll reflect our integrity and also the behavior. Academic integrity is about trusting and being honest to your own work. It is about showing your own ability and establishing your own achievement. Committing a mistake is part of the learning process, but doing it over and over again is somehow becoming a habit and later on be part of the culture and mentality. Pope might not have used the word plagiarism, but it clearly tells that because of pressure and stressors some just steal someone’s work and fail to provide acknowledgement to the owner. Even failure to give a proper credit to the person even if you “borrowed” his or her idea is still considered plagiarism.
In avoiding academic dishonesty, we must maintain the academic honesty that is learned in any other skill and welcome strategies that will help you perform better. Academic integrity doesn’t just occur in academic settings, but in all fields. It must be carried with you at all times because honesty will always be the best policy.
