Ethics

The Technology of Cheating
University of Phoenix
Abstract

      What do ethics have to do with the Academic environment? In order to understand what the term ethics means one must look at the root word. Ethics comes from the Greek “ethika” stemming from ethos, meaning “character.” Today, the term “ethics” is synonymous with standards or principles of human conduct, often called morals, from the Latin “mores.” Such principles, habitually regarded as conduct, are reinforced in our daily lives.  In an academic sense, a code of conduct is a set of rules, principles, and standards for behavior. This paper is concerned with Ethics in the academic Environment and therefore, pertains to the latter definition. Within the spectrum of ethics in an academic environment, also referred to as the code of conduct, this paper is concerned with the breaking of the code of conduct through the use of technological advancements.
      Often scholars wonder what drives a student to cheat and have developed many theories and speculation surrounding the subject.  Academic stress can drive an honest student to cheat; moreover, academic dishonesty has become a widely discussed and practiced phenomenon due to the use of technological advances.  
      Although the opportunity to cheat using technological means has become prevalent in recent years, the study of opportunistic dishonesty involving student integrity has been studied and empirically approached for decades. These studies, according to Journal of Economic Education (2008), tend to be more descriptive and less concerned with the quantitative approach. Early studies based themselves on such work as Gary Stanley Becker (1968) who researched the economics of crime. These researchers made the assumption students are rational, calculating people who weigh the cost of cheating against the consequences of being caught. The assumption today is that students “do” make a concise decision to break school conduct. Consequently, teachers... [continues]

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