Academic Integrity And Its Importance:
The interdisciplinary notion that serves as the foundation for all aspects of education at all levels is known as academic integrity. It is also referred to as the academic community's moral code or ethical guidelines. Academic integrity entails avoiding plagiarism, cheating, and other forms of academic dishonesty. In most educational institutes, academic integrity is taught in classes and acknowledged in syllabi. It is mentioned in the mission statement, policies, processes, and honor codes as well. These six core values of academic integrity include honesty, respect, fairness, trust, courage, and responsibility.Academic honesty is the core principle that is critical to the academic success of the students. It is everyone’s responsibility to protect the ASU community against the educational integrity infrastructure. In this relation, Academic honesty plays a significant role because it gives students and faculty the flexibility to develop creative ideas, knowledge, and work. It is also appreciating and acknowledging of others' efforts. Furthermore, ensuring academic integrity is critical in any educational setting as by ensuring academic integrity, students effectively achieve their course objectives and meet the institutes' standards. Academic honesty also assures the reputation of the university regarding academics.
Violation Of Academic Integrity And Its Consequences:
The violation of academic integration and academic dishonesty is any action that may result in an unfair academic advantage or disadvantage for the student. Violation of academic integration or academic dishonesty includes plagiarism, as well as misuse of scholarly work by students providing false information. Furthermore, it includes cheating, copyright infringement, credentials misrepresentation, theft or property damage to university documents, and the alteration of the documents of the university. There are many factors that lead students to violate academic integrity, which include;- Demographic characteristics (socioeconomic status, gender, and college year).
- Character quality (no self-control, many other-oriented purposes of life).
- Academic experience (involvement in extracurricular activities, extra work, poor academic preparations).
- Perceptions of student.
Under the district standards of disciplinary penalties, students may receive a warning or notice from the instructor or teacher that if the student is repeatedly found in such activities, further disciplinary action may be taken against them. If the student is found violating academic honesty, he/she will face severe consequences. In case of violation regarding academic integrity, discipline penalties may be applied against students. Depending upon the severeness of the academic dishonesty, the student may get poor grades in the examination or test. Moreover, the teacher removes the student who violates the student conduct guidelines during the lecture or activity when the violation took place. The consequence of violating academic integrity can also be severe. The student service and vice president may expel the him/her from the university or college for a period that is not more than one semester.
Measures Taken To Avoid Academic Dishonesty:
The academic faculty and the students take several measures and steps to avoid academic dishonesty. The faculty, in general, prefers that the student understands integrity on their own. However, when the faculty takes a different step to deal with academic dishonesty effectively, they will encounter a majority of academic integrity violation cases. The faculty can take various proactive measures to prevent students who involve in academic dishonesty, which include;Knowing The Resources And Policies:
The teachers and faculty members should be aware of the college, departmental, and university policies regarding the handling of academic dishonesty. The faculty should also know about the resources that are used for violating academic integrity. The advisors and instructors should be aware of the software and websites for detecting detect plagiarism.Engaging Students Proactively:
Associative faculty should engage the students in the first week of the semester, and discuss issues regarding academic integrity in their classes. They should also encourage the students to ask questions and discuss their concerns regarding academic dishonesty. Teachers should engage their students in developing an honor code for each subject and course. When students should be encouraged to create policies about academic dishonesty, they must avoid committing various acts that violate the academic integrity.Also Read This: Tips on How to Understand Dissertation Requirements
Students can also take various measures on their own to avoid academic dishonesty. Many cases of violation of academic integrity occur because the students are not fully aware of the correct and honest ways of doing something. They don’t even know how to cite various sources and how to work with the information available on the online websites. There are some steps that students can follow to avoid academic dishonesty highlighted below;
Students can also take various measures on their own to avoid academic dishonesty. Many cases of violation of academic integrity occur because the students are not fully aware of the correct and honest ways of doing something. They don’t even know how to cite various sources and how to work with the information available on the online websites. There are some steps that students can follow to avoid academic dishonesty highlighted below;
- The student should not rely on the information of the other fellows; they should carefully read their syllabus. They should seek clarification from their teachers about the policies of class and also when the instructions of the assignments are unclear.
- The students should always keep track of the resources, and learn adequately how to cite.
- During exams, they should be cautious of where to sit. They should cover the answer sheet from others to avoid the temptation for the look. The student should not use their phone during the exam.
- If the assignment is not completed on time, the student should not ask for an extension. If the student has not completed their assignment, it is better to accept failure rather than submit other assignments and become involved in academic dishonesty.