Position Paper
In the past decades, we have struggled to maintain our own sense of morals and high ethical standards. It is unfortunate that we sometimes forget to uphold such values when it comes to a professional and academic level. With that in mind, after reading the short story of Lucy Donovan and her academic dishonesty at Cromwell College I oppose her decision to cheat because she used unethical information to help her pass her exam and violated her school’s Academic Honesty Policy.
Cheating on exams is a violation of college standards, it is considered unethical and is the opposite of honesty. While Lucy Donovan might had been struggling to keep her grades high enough for her parent’s approval, her decisions to cheat is not justified. Finding the exam on the photocopying machine, even if it was just a coincidence should not have given her the right to use that valuable information to gain an upper hand on her exam. One might argue that if she began her school year focused and on task Lucy might not have needed to really apply herself in the middle of the
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All of these forms are stated in every schools Academic Honesty Policy. Lucy knew what was in stake when she viewed the exam but she still used that information to help her pass. Every school has some form of Policy when it comes to academic dishonesty, even our own school has one. In our UHD Academic Honesty Policy section 3.2 it states “Cheating includes, but not limited to: using information or devices that are not allowed by the faculty member” and also “obtaining and/or using unauthorized material”. These two statements are what Lucy did she used information that was not authorized for her to view at that time. Obtaining the exam question by coninsidense and using that information to pass gave her an upper hand that other students did not
McCabe, Donald L. “Students Cheating in American High Schools.” The Center for Academic Integrity. 2002. 10 Nov. 2002. .
That stomach churning feeling of guilt for many seems to appear as a small price to pay when completing an act of academic dishonesty. Colleen Wenke wrote an essay on cheating eighteen years ago called “Too Much Pressure”. In the past fifty years, the number of students who admit to cheating has increased fifty to seventy percent(Gaffe). Many people wonder what leads the students to make this unjust decision. Today, the reason for a rise in cheaters is because of how easy it has become, leading many students to the false conclusion that they aren’t breaking any rules; It is simply viewed as a shortcut to success in the classroom and beyond.
Who is hurt by academic dishonesty? Who cares if you steal test answers, falsify experimental data, cheat on an exam, or download information from a web site and turn it in as your own work?
In conclusion, cheating is a dishonest action, and its effects could tremendously impact other people around. Alerting authority figures about dishonesty actions can help motivate students to learn the subjects thoroughly and build meaningful life experiences. Although we might lose a friendship, but in the long run, friends will be thankful, since who knows if they are in a situation, where they actually need to use their knowledge, in the workforce they are
There is an ever broadening problem spreading throughout colleges all across America: cheating. Is it a serious offence or just a harmless crime? Cheating is on the rise, but schools and colleges are not far behind with ways of dealing with it. Mark Clayton deals with this issue in his essay entitled “A Whole Lot of Cheatin’ Going On.”
Another cause as to why students cheat on tests is because of the testing process. A student that notices other students cheating makes th...
Cheating is a big issue that has reached the most competitive campuses around the United States. It is increasing more and more with the new technology that we have in the 21st century because students have easy access to many sources of information. Cheating is something all students have done at some point in their lives, but as they reach a higher academic level, they are faced with more rigorous consequences that can affect their futures in many different ways. Cheating might be seen as an easy way to obtain a good grade, get into a good college, or maintain scholarships or financial aid, but the consequences could affect the life and the future of the student.
The teacher could let the student away with the cheating knowing that his job may be on the line – that is a lot to ask, but letting the student get away with is also could put the student at a disadvantage later on. A lot of ambiguity with this
Academic integrity has been a major concern among many colleges and universities across the world. Many people may ask the question: what is academic integrity? University of Missouri’s Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities (n.d.) states, “Academic integrity is the core set of values and principles that underwrites the very mission of the University itself; integrity, honesty, hard work, and the determination to translate personal and professional principles into behavior.” Some also may view academic integrity as the act of sustaining honest and rightful behavior in an academic setting that avoids, prevent and provide disciplinary actions for those who commits academic dishonesty, plagiarism and cheating of any kind. Majority of college and universities in all disciplines has academic ethics and honesty policies for all students regardless of their academic statues as undergraduate or graduate students. For example, Webster University’s Statement of Ethics (n.d.) for both graduate and undergraduate programs says, “Those who elect to partici...
Honesty and integrity play a large role in academics in different levels of expertise: Elementary, High School, and College. During elementary school, children are not only developing their physical bodies, but there minds as well. They a... ... middle of paper ... ...
...ell out and the name I couldn’t remember was staring me in the face. The teacher had not collected my paper yet and I could have just taken it and written the answer and he would have never known the difference. Whether I cheated or not, I still thought about doing it since I did not know the answer. Simply not knowing the material leads students to cheat all of the time.
Cheating on academic work is a serious issue that most students admit to doing at some point in their academic career. Elite students are surprisingly the culprits of cheating, but hide it well. (Romm, para 5) Cheating is such a large issue that “70% of students from a sample of 1,800 from nine campuses said they had cheated at least once during their college careers.” (Schneider, para 9) Students cheat on academic work because of different, ongoing pressures in their lives. Understanding the student’s motives and pressures are essential to preventing cheating from occurring in the future. Students cheat for different reasons specific to them regarding their priorities, pressures and because of how easy it has become. Even though eliminating cheating will not happen, there are actions that educational professionals can and should take to prevent most of it from happening so often. Therefor cheating problems are minimized and have a positive impact on the student’s education and understanding of concepts.
Modern students face many pressures for academic success. They are often unwilling to disappoint their parents or spouses. Some fear that not cheating will weaken a student’s ability to compete with their peers. They rationalize their unethical behavior, unwilling to accept a poor grade, consequently justifying cheating as the only means to that end.
The reasons for cheating on college exams has many facets, however the behavior not only impacts the cheater but, has unintended consequences, which can affect others as well. Some of the well- known implications or consequences of cheating may involve getting a zero on the exam or failing the course. Furthermore depending how severe the offence, they may be expelled. In fact they can be required to go before a disciplinary board. Depending on the circumstances it may result in academic probation. However, some profe...
The failure of our education system is demonstrated by the fact that students are sacrificing their integrity for a handful of points on an assessment. Despite the efforts of honor codes, scholars have become numb to their purpose; they break such a promise of honesty to themselves, their teachers, and their peers without second thought. America’s children have lost the value of trust, compromising invaluable relationships with excuses regarding societal pressure and their excessive workloads. We cannot let such actions continue; if educators continue to tolerate cheating, our world may transition into one socially, economically, and politically operated by dishonest individuals. Society’s obsession with creating good academic performers has led to the subsequent creation of deceitful children and the possibility of a fraudulent