Integrity and Academic Dishonesty

Educational Integrity and Academic Dishonesty

Educational integrity requires students to be creative in the work they present to their schools. A student's grade should be a fair reflection of his or her efforts. Furthermore, academic integrity is a quality that prepares students to be truthful in their future employment. Academic dishonesty and cheating, on the other hand, are on the rise in the modern world. Notably, there has been a rise in students duplicating their colleagues' work with little alteration or purchasing the rights to unpublished works that they present to their schools as their original work. This undermines their credibility in the learning process. Furthermore, academic dishonesty is driven by the need by many students to earn higher grades with minimal effort(Bleeker, 2008). The exaltation of higher grades at the expense of skills that a student needs to gain is further fueling academic dishonesty within the learning institutions. In some incidences, learners go to school, not to study, but to earn certifications that would facilitate their promotions in the workplace.

The Importance of Evaluation Procedures

Therefore, eliminating academic dishonesty would require a shift in the evaluation procedure that is used by many institutions of higher learning. First, there is need to make learning a participatory process rather than giving lectures and expecting the students to do take away evaluation tests to establish their understanding of the key concepts taught (Bleeker, 2008). Therefore, lecturers need to lay more emphasis in class attendance, participation, consultations and random assessment tests as a means of exterminating academic dishonesty. Many students engaging in academic fraud often face a fear of failure and do not seem to enjoy the course that they are studying.

Reference

Bleeker, K. C. (2008). To be honest: Championing academic integrity in community colleges. Washington, DC: Community College Press.