Thesis 030414
CHAPTER 1
Introduction
A. Background of the Study
Academic dishonesty in classrooms, is it morally wrong?
Academic dishonesty among schools and colleges is so common. It includes behaviours such as cheating, fabrication, plagiarism, abuse of academic materials, deception and misrepresentation, multiple submissions1, carelessness, and facilitating the act.
The purpose of attending school is to learn. Cheating, plagiarizing, and other acts of dishonesty do not contribute to learning. They are, rather, attempts to avoid learning that defeat the very purpose of education.
Due to different beliefs of society, it is ensuing to ask: Is it wrong?
Why does cheating2 seem right? Why does being involved in the acts of academic dishonesty become common to students?
In a student’s point of view, studying for a long test seems like a waste of time, as test materials only get answered once, and students know that not all lessons that have been reviewed by them appear in exams. However, doing well on tests will have a profound impact on a student’s future. Naturally, grades are concretely used as a measure of what students know and can do, which is in turn, used as a measure of what students may be able to do in the future.3 If students do well on their tests, whether they cheated or not, they will likely be accepted into better colleges. Grades do not define a student’s future success, but somewhat predict them. In general, high school grades are used as a requirement before being accepted to universities; undergraduate grades for graduate school, law school grades to infer how good a lawyer the student will be.
Students engage in the acts of academic dishonesty for a variety of reasons. These include the demands of getting high grades, having to take the easy way out, and because majority of the people does it. The problem is that students are likely to carry the behaviours they learn in the classroom into the workplace.4 The reason why people commit acts of dishonesty and
Introduction
A. Background of the Study
Academic dishonesty in classrooms, is it morally wrong?
Academic dishonesty among schools and colleges is so common. It includes behaviours such as cheating, fabrication, plagiarism, abuse of academic materials, deception and misrepresentation, multiple submissions1, carelessness, and facilitating the act.
The purpose of attending school is to learn. Cheating, plagiarizing, and other acts of dishonesty do not contribute to learning. They are, rather, attempts to avoid learning that defeat the very purpose of education.
Due to different beliefs of society, it is ensuing to ask: Is it wrong?
Why does cheating2 seem right? Why does being involved in the acts of academic dishonesty become common to students?
In a student’s point of view, studying for a long test seems like a waste of time, as test materials only get answered once, and students know that not all lessons that have been reviewed by them appear in exams. However, doing well on tests will have a profound impact on a student’s future. Naturally, grades are concretely used as a measure of what students know and can do, which is in turn, used as a measure of what students may be able to do in the future.3 If students do well on their tests, whether they cheated or not, they will likely be accepted into better colleges. Grades do not define a student’s future success, but somewhat predict them. In general, high school grades are used as a requirement before being accepted to universities; undergraduate grades for graduate school, law school grades to infer how good a lawyer the student will be.
Students engage in the acts of academic dishonesty for a variety of reasons. These include the demands of getting high grades, having to take the easy way out, and because majority of the people does it. The problem is that students are likely to carry the behaviours they learn in the classroom into the workplace.4 The reason why people commit acts of dishonesty and
Bibliography: Butterfield, Kenneth et al. “Cheating in Academic Institutions: A Decade Research.” Ethics & Behavior, Vol. 11, No.3 (2001): 219-232. Danielsen, Randy et al.“The Culture of Cheating: From the Classroom to the Exam Room.” Journal of Physician Assistant Education, Vol. 17, No. 1 (2006): 23-29 Kaufmann, Jeffrey et al Jensen, Lene Arnett et al. “It’s Wrong, But Everybody Does It: Academic Dishonesty among High School and College Students.” Contemporary Educational Psychology (October 2, 2001): 209-228. Jowanna, Camille Burgess. “Academic Integrity: Preventing Cheating with the Implementation of an Honor Code.” Inquiry in Education, Vol. 3, Issue 1 (2012): 1-30. Turner, Gwendolyn. “Promoting Learning Autonomy: Helping Students Become Independent Learners.” Reading Horizons (1989): 110-116. Magazine Articles (Online) Corwin. “What do we know about cheating in classroom?.” Corwin, February 20, 2003. Accessed February 16, 2014. http://www.corwin.com/upm-data/7224_cizek_ch_1.pdf. Oxford Dictionaries. “Morality.” Oxford University Press. http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/morality (accessed February 26, 2014). Yale College. “Academic Dishonesty.” Yale College Office of Web Operations. http://www.berkeleycitycollege.edu/wp/de/for-students/what-is-academic-dishonesty/ (accessed February 26, 2014).