Ethics and Integrity in Education: The Problem of Academic Dishonesty Dr. Nancy A. Stanlick Department of Philosophy CNH 411-I

Cheating and Plagiarism Defined: Cheating: unauthorized assistance in graded, for-credit assignments Plagiarism: appropriating the work of others and claiming implicitly or explicitly that it is one’s own. Intentional and unintentional

Methods of Cheating 1. High-tech methods Internet Text beepers Cell phones PDAs and Handheld Computers Walkmans/Tapes/CDs 2. Low-tech methods Water Bottles Mirrored Glasses Body Writing The “Support” Bra Folded Paper/Leg Fans Duplicate Blue Books Phantom Students Test form replacements

Methods of Plagiarism Internet Plagiarism Websites ~200 A Resource: Turnitin.com – see Technologically Undetectable Cases – custom papers Translations Patchwork Papers Plagiarism the Old Fashioned Way

Causes of Academic Dishonesty Lack of Skill, Knowledge or Preparation, Time Constraints Laziness Excessive workload Poorly defined/constructed assignments Lack of instructions, lack of appropriate assistance Competitive View of Education – see esp. Bernard Gert’s Morality: Its Nature and Justification A theoretical orientation: Individual Ascendancy – present orientation, hedonism, duty to self. (See Kibler, Nuss, Patterson and Pavela, 4)

Some Elements of Bernard Gert’s View of Education as a Competitive Activity: An Individualistic Approach Education is Competitive; Analogy to Sports. Cheating is Not Like Breaking a Promise. Cheaters cheat other students and no one else. Faculty referees

An Alternative View: A Cooperative, Community- Based Approach to Education Should we design our courses on a competitive model? Should we encourage student collaboration and cooperation? What are the limits of collaborative student activity?

Why the Competitive Model Fails “The very stress on individualism, on competition, on achieving material success which so marks our society also generates intense pressures to cut corners” Sissela Bok, Lying: Moral Choice in Public and Private Life (New York: Vintage, 1999) 244, emphasis added.

Some Additional Considerations Regarding the Competitive Model of Education: What it lacks is appropriate incentive not to cheat. If education is competitive, it does not follow that the reason not to cheat is that others won’t allow you the opportunity to gain the benefits of the activity if you do. The cheater will, in that case, try to find more and better ways to cheat so as not to be caught.

Preventing Academic Dishonesty Lower-Level Approaches State expectations in your syllabi Explain rules of research Remind students of penalties & honor policy(ies) State clearly what is permitted and what is not permitted in your classes Unique Assignments “Building Papers” an element at a time Limitations/Advantages Conferences with students, in-class essays on papers, explanation of references Proctor actively and avoid distractions Beware (and be aware) of online resources

Community Versus Competition: Thinking of education as competitive does not solve the problem of cheating. It might instead exacerbate it. The way to combat the problem of cheating is to prevent the temptation before it starts. And the way to do that is to build educational communities in which teachers and students interact with each other, not in which they act simply within the confines of an impersonal institution.

Prevention Continued: Higher Level A Virtue Ethics Approach Community Ascendancy – future orientation, takes responsibility, duty to others (See Kibler, Nuss, Patterson, and Pavela, 4). Stating the rules is not enough – understanding Punishment is not the solution A Kantian+Communitarian view of punishment

Academic Integrity Seminars: Proactive and Reactive See these links for the students’ course at UCF: Reaction to Confirmed Instances Educational, not punitive Forward Looking – Utilitarian/Community Oriented Rehabilitative/Responsibility Oriented Backward Looking Retributive A Case of “Giving Up”

Reacting to Academic Dishonesty Confronting the Student Verifying Plagiarism the Old Fashioned Way Making the Best of a Bad Thing

“Trust and integrity are precious resources, easily squandered, hard to regain. They can thrive only on a foundation of respect for veracity” (Bok, 249).

References Bok, Sissela, Lying: Moral Choice in Public and Private Life (New York: Vintage Books, 1999). Gert, Bernard, Morality: Its Nature and Justification (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998). Herman, A.L., “College Cheating: A Plea for Leniency,” Journal of Higher Education, 37(5) May 1966: Kibler, William L, Elizabeth M. Nuss,et. Al., Academic Integrity and Student Development: Legal Issues and Policy Perspectives (College Administration Publications, 1988). McCabe, Donald L, Linda K. Trevino and Kenneth D. Butterfield, “Cheating in Academic Institutions: A Decade of Research” Ethics and Behavior, 11(3), 2001: McCabe, Donald L. and Linda K. Trevino, “Academic Dishonesty: Honor Codes and Other Contextual Influences” Journal of Higher Education, 64(5), Sep-Oct. 1993: Noah, Harold J. and Max A. Eckstein, Fraud and Education: The Worm in the Apple (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2001).

On-Line Resources The Center for Academic Integrity at Duke UniversityThe Center for Academic Integrity at Duke University. UCF Writing Center MLA, Chicago, Other ManualsMLA, Chicago, Other Manuals through UCF Library Plagiarism: How to Recognize it and How to Avoid it. Go to Ethics Updates. Go to