What Is So Important About Academic Integrity?

OnLine Discussion: What Is So Important About Academic Integrity?. Aug 30, 2020 6:26PM

Berk Agin

Academic Integrity

Berk Agin

This video is a montage of clips taken at the 2008 ICAI International Conference. Video talks about the importance how academic integrity and how academic integrity not only impacts our academic life, but also how it impacts our future. Montage has included different clips of professors and other attendees explaining why exactly academic integrity is important for them.

Issue #1) You cannot have genuine learning without academic integrity. Without academic integrity, the knowledge you receive in educational institutions would not be reliable. Lack of academic integrity would allow lies, false information to thrive and the real information would become very difficult to seek.

Issue#2) Without Academic Integrity diverse ideas would cease existing. In a world where academic integrity does not exist, people would copy ideas and opinions from each other instead of creating their own. Lack of academic integrity would cause creativity to stagger. Without the creation of new ideas progression of the humanity would come to a stop, new inventions would not be created, and humans would be doomed to continuously repeat the same mistakes.

Issue #3) Academic Integrity follows one through their entire life. Academic Integrity does not cease its importance when person’s academic life is over. In many forms academic integrity and the values associated with it follows the person into their work life and personal lives. College is one of the very early steps of life for many and attaching them a sense of integrity early on assures that they keep values like honesty to heart in their future lives. This creates an honesty society that values morals.

Lesson #1) One of the most important lessons I have learned is why exactly academic integrity is so important. It is not just about cheating or submitting someone else’s homework as your own. Especially in college our minds are very open to change, and if we make behaviors such as cheating our habit, it will have negative outcomes for our future selves. Installing a sense of academic integrity assures that our habit will be honesty and trust which are fundamental for an advanced society.

Lesson #2) Academic Integrity can save lives. A sense of academic integrity makes the person honest and hardworking. A person with such values would avoid cutting corners or making decisions that would intentionally harm people. As clip from the video mentioned; an academically dishonest pharmacist can hurt a person or even take their

lives. Same applies to many professions such as engineers, architects or even people who work in the service industry.

Lesson #3) Academic integrity blossoms creativity. Academic integrity guarantees that people create their own thoughts instead of copying from each other. This assures that the outcomes of student’s works are much more creative and unique. It also assures that the work one puts satisfies them which creates a harder working society.

from OnLine Discussion: What Is So Important About Academic Integrity?. Sep 4, 2020 11:11PM

Berk Agin

Hey Argentina, your summary is great and you've mentioned a lot of important issues. I especially agree with you on the ethics part. Academic integrity teaches people values such as honesty, and honesty is very important for the society at large. As you've mentioned a doctor who cheats on their tests or lies to a patient about a treatment in order to profit could lead into horrible outcomes, or even death. The tragic bridge collapse in FIU can be considered another example to what happens when people lack academic integrity and try to ignore important steps. It is very important to teach academic integrity in order to prevent such disasters from repeating.

from OnLine Discussion: What Is So Important About Academic Integrity?. Sep 4, 2020 11:20PM

Berk Agin

Hello Gabriel, I absolutely agree with the points you've made about cheating. Cheating doesn't only affect the person who cheats but also the whole class. Other than being unfair to the students who studied harder, it also prevents the cheater from learning. We pay a lot of money to college, and spend so much of our time. There's no point in doing all of these, if we aren't learning. Sadly, cheating easily becomes a habit and prevents the person from learning. Taking the easier route hardly ever has positive outcomes and this is especially true with cheating.

OnLine Discussion: What Is So Important About Academic Integrity?. Aug 30, 2020 11:47AM

Shooby Dumesil

Academic Honesty

Shooby Dumesil

MAN 3025 P81

Jose Rocha, MBA, MSc., Ph.D.

The purpose of this video is to showcase the importance of academic honesty. The video is done in interview style where many participants were asked what the importance of academic honesty to them. Many points are brought up on why it is important, but a reoccurring theme amongst most was integrity and ethics. Being honest is shown as important not only while in school but very important even outside of school because it gives you a foundation of ethicality that a person who is dishonest does not have.

A major critical issue that participants talked about is integrity and its effects in being honest academically. I agree with the belief that integrity is a prerequisite that we all must have I order to maintain a certain level of trust with those amongst us. Integrity is the belief that we must do the right thing even when no one is watching. Such truer words could not be said when thinking about Academic honesty. Whether the teacher will catch the dishonesty is irrelevant to a person with integrity because it ensures that you have the confidence in knowing your work is yours and can not be discredited.

Another critical issue raised in the video is being academically honest is ethically correct. I agree with the statement because if you are willing to steal someone else’s work to display like it is yours, there is an endless number of other things in life that you are willing to take for others. A person that has no morale and ethics is not a person society can trust. Without any foundations of ethics or low ethical expectations of oneself, one can does not get very far. It would be only a matter of time before you are discredited. Being academically honest is to be ethically aware of why it is a pivotal part of our academic experience.

A final critical issue in the video is being academically honest set the path for our future goals. It is not something that only impacts us while we are in school, it will continue even outside of school. I find this statement to be true because, I do recall a senator candidate that wanted to run in an upcoming election only for him to be disqualify because his thesis statement was plagiarized. Although this man had may great accomplishment after graduation college, more than two decades later is dishonesty not only ruined his hopeful political career, but it tarnished his reputation. Had he been academically honest, this would have been avoided. His story is one of many that is out there to show us why academic honesty is important not just in school but later in life as well.

This video was very informative, and I learned many lessons from it. One being that I must be honest in my work because if I hope to accomplish my goals in life, being academically dishonest may very well be the reason that I do not get the chance to reach my goals. Academic Dishonesty is too high of a risk for me to take. Another lesson I learned is in being academically honest is another way for me to maintain my integrity. I cannot have any integrity if I am being academically dishonest. The two go hand and hand. The last lesson that I took from this video, is academic dishonesty is never worth it. Being an honest person is something that we all should strive to be in life and that also applies to our education.

Citation:

International Center for Academic Integrity, director. What Is So Important About Academic Integrity?, 23 May 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSfmWIlEhSg.

from OnLine Discussion: What Is So Important About Academic Integrity?. Aug 30, 2020 12:11PM

Shooby Dumesil

Hi Clive,

I agree with you about the metaphor, it also caught my attention too. When it comes to academic dishonesty we rarely think of what those who were dishonest turn out to be. I don't think anyone would be comfortable with the knowledge of knowing the professional that is helping them cheated their way through school. Another perspective is when we cheat, were not really cheating anyone but ourselves. A passing score that is not earned is a future worker that is subjected to mistakes. Excellent notations!

from OnLine Discussion: What Is So Important About Academic Integrity?. Aug 30, 2020 12:20PM

Shooby Dumesil

Hi Miguel,

Your point on "It will not be possible to have a strong, moral, and ethical society without academic integrity" is head on on why it is important for us to be academically honest. We not only owe it to ourselves for being honest but to our community as well. I love that you've brought the community into it because many of us we'll graduate and work within our community. we will be the professionals that service them which is why it is important that we are honest in our work, to ensure accuracy and legitimacy later on.

OnLine Discussion: What Is So Important About Academic Integrity?. Aug 30, 2020 3:49PM

Mauricio Haughton

The content of the video is an important discussion of academic integrity at the 2008 Annual Academic Integrity Conference. The video highlighted the mindset and insights of scholars and experts on the topic of academic integrity. This setting provides truly fascinating perspectives on the definition of academic integrity from a global worldview.

3 Most Critical Issues of Academic Integrity Video

1. During the video, I found one of the issues to be the somewhat lighthearted nature of the responses. When the question is first presented to the speakers of the conference, they were a bit taken a back at the at the simple question. Some of the responders reply with honest embarrassment, while others were somewhat quicker to the draw. While is understandable answering a sudden question while being filmed will be difficult at first for most people, I believe the initial responses are emblematic of the greater population. Majority of the world has heard of integrity and to a lesser extent academic integrity; meaning that most have a general understanding of it. Yet when asked to define it, it becomes much more difficult even though the general understanding of the Concept is there.

2. The lighthearted nature of the video leads to the next critical issue it presented to me. It is the general assumption that everyone has academic integrity or at least starts with it. It may seem obvious that is the case, presumption of innocence is vital to our society, but watching the video truly drove home how key the assumption is to education and the advancement of humanity. I believe the speaker, Gina Cinali of the American University in Caro, stated it best, “Academic Integrity matters because Integrity matter and the violation and infraction against one and one person is an infraction against all as well.” This assumption of Academic Integrity given to all is fundamental to the world at large and can be summed up in one word: trust. More on that later.

3. The third critical issue that I found within the video was the use of morality and ethics when defining Academic Integrity. This was a key standout issue for me due to the nature of morality and ethics. While ethics and morality are very much tie to an individual and their choices, the core beliefs and rules of one’s ethics stem from their society/culture. Due to the varying nature of culture across the world, it can quickly become understandable why academic institution have to procure their own guidelines for Academic Integrity. This is to reinforce their institutional culture, creating a new understanding of what is ethical. An explanation of cultures at work in the term of academic integrity is work done in east Asian countries such as South Korea, China, and Japan. In East Asia, the culture is very collectivist, focusing on the community, family, and those who have come before. In those cultures, it is a sign of respect and honor to use the work of those who came before them, sometimes using that work in its entirety.

The 3 most relevant lessons learn from the Video

1. The most important lesson I learned from the video is how fundamental trust is to the process of Academic Integrity. This stems back to an idea presented earlier, the presumption of innocence and honesty until proven otherwise. This trust is so helpful in the building of a healthy learning environment, where the collaborators don’t have to worry about foul play, constantly looking over their shoulders, fearing the loss of their work. Without this core, the entire academic community loses its credibility.

2. One of the speakers in the video, Todd Laufenberg of Waubonsee Community College, stated that academic integrity is about self-respect, and I completely agree with him. Having academic integrity is a sign of self-respect; a person is showing themselves that they trust their ideas, their work process and their skills to get the job done.

3. The takeaway is that academic integrity is not just one single idea but a combination of lifelong skills, such as taking responsibility, pride in what you produce and building trust in others. Practicing academic integrity refines the skills that are most valued in society.

from OnLine Discussion: What Is So Important About Academic Integrity?. Sep 2, 2020 3:16PM

Mauricio Haughton

Hello Barbra!

I admire how likeminded we are! The truly interesting aspect of academic integrity that your

response showed me is the battle between the desires of an Individual and that of a community.

Academic Integrity exists for the benefit of society as a whole. While people who do practice

academic integrity benefit from doing so, academic integrity largely exists to push the world

forward, and highlight those who should not be given the presumption of innocence. On an

individual level, breaking academic integrity or just everyday integrity, tends to yield more results

for those doing so, but only for the earliest ones to do so. Take one of the biggest names in fraud,

Berine Madoff. This American “investment advisor” spent most of the early 90’s living with

billions of dollars of wealth because he choice to violate the trust given to him by millions. This is

a prime example of the desires of one vs the desires of the many, and why integrity matters. Let

me know what you think!

from OnLine Discussion: What Is So Important About Academic Integrity?. Sep 4, 2020 9:30PM

Mauricio Haughton

Hello Fahd,

I love the point that you made about the future transgressions of breaking academic integrity. It may sound cliche but once a person shatters their academic integrity the first time, they are more likely to do so again, due to not understanding the vital information they skipped. A short term advantage turns into an long term disadvantage, not only for the integrity breaker but also for those that rely on them.

OnLine Discussion: What Is So Important About Academic Integrity?. Aug 29, 2020 7:35PM

Vanessa Miceus

Academic Integrity

What Is So Important About Academic Integrity?

The video speaks about the importance of academic integrity, and how we should apply it not only in school but also in our daily activities whether professionally or socially. Within the video, we could see how several people have different point of view in their explanation of what is academic integrity, and why is it essential to always put it in application.

Three critical issues of this video:

One critical issue of the video is the following assertion, a culture of honesty earns a degree of respect. I highly stand for what this statement is trying to communicate because in a society where an individual is unable to apply a minimum of trueness in what he does, fights for or projects is not worth of an ounce of respect. Some people master the act of projecting or trying to impose some things to others that they don't even apply themselves; as a result, they lose all credibility. In one word, everything one does or says is a reflection of himself. Without implementing integrity, responsibility, trust in our principles we're not ready for the real world.

Another critical issue is, it sets a pattern for life-long integrity in all areas of life. As it is well stated in the video, if we don't care about the academic part, do we really care about the personal and professional? I believe that this sentence explained it all which means that if we don't utilize it academically, are we even going to do it in our personal and professional life? Integrity is a value that all individuals should always look to apply into their lives, because it speaks and shows how ethical, trustworthy you are, what you represent in society, and who you truly are as a person, as well as a professional.

Then, one last critical issue is academic integrity is important because it provides educators with teachable moments. Through that line, we can see by means of experiences in life or with colleagues, professors are able to apply the lesson learned out of them to their students. Normally, professors represent a figure model for students and they usually try to relate all life experiences to whatever they are teaching in course. From there, we can conclude that every experiences made and they've learned something significant out of them they will always try to teach them to their students.

Three most relevant lessons learned of this video:

The first lesson I got out of this video was integrity speaks to who we are as in what we stands for. It is a way of doing things, being ethical and acting with integrity. As I previously stated it in the second paragraph, being integrated speaks high of who we are in society. Overall, academic integrity is what we need to learn and apply from the get go in order to be able to face what is out there. We'll be put in situations where we're

going to be tested or tricked in the professional world by other individuals in so many different ways, we'll face different scenarios and this is when we'll need to identify what is presenting before us, and how we should react or handle it.

The second lesson learned is academic integrity matters because integrity matters and the violation and infraction against one principle and a person is an infraction against them all. Basically, this passage clearly means that once we violate the principal of the academy we basically violate all principles, which includes the personal and professional. Violating academic integrity will always remain engraved in all memories, but also in your academic records. It is an etiquette that cannot be taken off. Once you cross that direction, there is no turning back and it'll be very difficult for someone to trust you again.

Finally, the last lesson learned of this video is we cannot have genuine learning without academic integrity. Therefore, how one expects of becoming a doctor if he continuously cheats on his exams? What is going to happen once admitting in medicine school? What about physically practices? Those patients' state is obviously going to worsen or they may even die. So, without implementing integrity in our learning process, we won't get far and generate the results that we would want.

Reference

International Center For Academic Integrity. (2012, May 23.) What is so important about academic integrity? [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSfmWIlEhSg (Links to an external site.)

from OnLine Discussion: What Is So Important About Academic Integrity?. Sep 4, 2020 8:36PM

Vanessa Miceus

Hi Nandini,

To begin, great content and this is a very well thought analysis you have here. So, you're absolutely right when you mentioned that this video is more than just academic integrity, and indeed it goes beyond that. Academic integrity is an infinite education, rule and we consistently have to remind ourselves of what it is consist of and the area in our life that we need to apply it. Having integrity makes us a better person, more precisely a person of ethic, and reliable that one can blindly trust.

from OnLine Discussion: What Is So Important About Academic Integrity?. Sep 4, 2020 8:55PM

Vanessa Miceus

Hi Kristy,

You're absolutely right about what you said of cheating, and I actually wrote something about it as well. Basically, when one cheats on his exams thorough a school year he basically is violating his self-respect, principles and truth, and eventually one day the mask will fall. As I clearly mentioned it, how can we learn effectively if we're not making

efforts in exams in order to test ourselves, our capabilities and knowledge. Integrity says a lot about who we are and academic integrity is to be applied early in our lives so it stays engraved in our mind.

OnLine Discussion: What Is So Important About Academic Integrity?. Aug 29, 2020 1:27PM

Barbra Palacios

The video clip provides a collective meaning for academic integrity through different angles. The participants had to define academic integrity and its importance.

In the video, the people exposed different critical issues that could arise if academic integrity was not present.

In order to analyze appropriately, the issues that a violation of academic integrity pertains is what it entails on an individual level, which is a lack of self-respect. If one keeps maintaining this behavior on several occasions, then one's work and words have no real value. However, before condemning and determining if a person lacks academic integrity, he/she should put on probation and have the chance to redeem themselves. It was quite interesting that viewpoint was not projected on the video, even though that is endorsed in almost all institutions. Giving a chance to redeeming themselves after a violation of academic integrity would demonstrate a sense of community from the authority party as a sense of understanding and forgiving but not forgetting.

If the person keeps an improper behavior, then the second critical issue occurs, which means that these individuals would be individuals in society, considering that there is no individual value on their work nor words. Having this kind of person present would do more harm than good because they would not have a sense of community, instead just personal gain under a roof of lies.

Then the third critical issue rises; it would represent no trust between individuals in society. This lack of values and trust would heavily affect and slow the progression in the community. For example: how could someone feel safe in a city where you cannot trust others' work like how could you trust a doctor (if you doubt his/her studies) or even walk on a bridge (if you suspect the engineers and workers that built it).

To avoid the issues mentioned, we must understand the lessons of having a proper set of morals, including academic integrity.

The first lesson would be that a person that portrays academic integrity is setting a long- term pattern and earning genuine learning. It would construct the ideal foundation of skills and proper behavior for an individual's personal, educational, and professional life.

The second lesson would be a sense of trust in every individual and every institution, validating then all the graduates' credentials, studies, and individual opinion. This sense of trust would encompass many values and morals, including but not limited to, honesty, respect, trust, responsibility, and professional ethics; which is all essential to building a foundation in a community that leads to progress.

The third lesson could be how it [academic integrity] is seen on a personal level as it relies on the core ethics of an individual and their position in society. Every person would feel proud of their work, and it would conform to the ideal society, where everyone does their best, making it a positive feedback system.

It is crucial to see the examples set in other communities to understand the importance of academic integrity and not just see it as a set of fancy words. For instance, the Japanese have a robust set of ethics and morals that allow them to have a strong sense of community, which was vital to enable them to progress into a world power after the atomic bombs' deployment. Another great example could be the Germans after WWII. Their country was in ruins, extreme poverty, and with their perseverance and strong morals, they rise as another world power and Europe's most powerful economy.

References:

International Center For Academic Integrity. (2012). What Is So Important About Academic Integrity?. Retrieved 29 August 2020, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSfmWIlEhSg

from OnLine Discussion: What Is So Important About Academic Integrity?. Aug 30, 2020 6:18PM

Barbra Palacios

Hey Gabriela, I agree with your view on the importance of honesty and trust, and I would like to discuss a little over it. I believe the same as you that if you cheat, you are cheating yourself and also others indirectly, considering that once one is employed, one is expected to fulfill great expectations that could only be done if one has studied. These impossible expectations of unprepared people would set an imbalance in their surroundings. They would become more a loss for the employer rather than an asset, which creates a negative cycle. When many of these cases arise, they would eventually set back or slow the community's progression, which would create a less sense of community based on a lack of trust.

from OnLine Discussion: What Is So Important About Academic Integrity?. Aug 30, 2020 6:23PM

Barbra Palacios

Hey Nandini, I agree with your view on the importance of academic integrity at the value of education. As you mention, if there is no academic integrity, then degrees and grades would be a lie, meaning they would be valueless. I think the same because academic integrity is the base for education, which creates room for genuine knowledge, critical thinking, and fairness worldwide. It represents the core of the whole education system. I really like to see that you brought that point because I forgot to mention it.

OnLine Discussion: What Is So Important About Academic Integrity?. Aug 30, 2020 11:13PM

Agetina Zoto

The video clip is about the importance of academic integrity and how different people perceive and describe it. Different people with different backgrounds and education, give their point of view about academic integrity and how they’ve implemented it in their life.

One critical issue of this video clip is that making ethical choices benefits society at large. Despite our careers, one “little” unethical action will have a negative effect at large. On the video clip, one lady said something that caught my attention. She said: “Would you like to go to a doctor who cheated his way to medical school?”, and it really made me think what a powerful impact academic integrity has in our lives. I can personally relate with her question because I’ve seen plenty of cases in my country that were wrongfully diagnosed by an unethical doctor, and a lot of people lost their lives because of it. No matter the career or education, our choices speak for what we are, what we stand for and how we want to present ourselves. Making ethical choices not only benefit the society at large, but it also builds responsibility and respect.

Another critical issue is that academic integrity sets a pattern for life-long integrity in all areas of life. Making academic integrity part of our everyday activities (work, school etc.), it’s making a huge impact in how we improve ourselves and grow to be more ethical and think critically when it comes to making the right choice. Academic integrity is based in beliefs and values, that what we learn in college doesn’t end there, but we carry it for the rest of our lives and implement it in our professional and personal life, and in our community.

The third critical issue is that academic integrity is important to all academic community because it provides the legitimacy to the pursuits of all scholars. When students and professor show high level of integrity, there is a different, more successful interaction and communication between them. It builds a culture of honesty which earns a degree of respect.

The first lesson I learned from this video clip is that trust, respect and responsibility are very important in academic integrity. Being trustworthy and respected by the others takes honesty and accountability. These core values are the fundamental building blocks.

The second lesson I learned is that academic integrity speaks to who we are, the things that we do and the things that we stand for. Our character is distinguished by academic integrity. The things we do, affect our reputation first, then our surroundings and the way the world sees us. I believe in the saying that people see us the same way we see ourselves. We see ourselves based on our choices and actions. Doing everyday something ethical or right, counts. Continuing to do so for a long period of time and being able to not only motivate yourself but others it’s the secret of sharing with the community.

Last but not least, it’s honesty. I personally hate lies and I think it’s the worst thing a person can do. We can’t have academic integrity if we don’t own up to our mistakes, to apologize and learn from them. Being honest it’s one of the values we learned from when we are very young. We learned that telling the truth even if it’s ugly, it’s better than lying and covering up a lie with another until we don’t know what’s real anymore. Staying true, accountable and owning up to your choices are crucial components of our character and how we present ourselves.

from OnLine Discussion: What Is So Important About Academic Integrity?. Sep 3, 2020 9:06PM

Agetina Zoto

Hi Jonathon,

The "cheating" part of your paragraph caught my attention and when I read your reply I couldn't agree more. You can cheat your way to a successful life, but it will eventually catch up with you and it will have a very negative outcome. Cheating is the same as stealing and I will give you an example of that. We want to get hired in the same dream job, we both study at FIU but you study hard and I "cheat" my way through school. After we graduate I get that dream job and you didn't because I cheated on the final test and you did not. By cheating, I stole your dream job, that you deserved it more. What I mean to say is that we can cheat once, or twice but not for the rest of our lives. We have to be held accountable for our choices and decisions, and try to live life with honesty and integrity.

Disclaimer: The example is not a real life scenario.

from OnLine Discussion: What Is So Important About Academic Integrity?. Sep 3, 2020 9:13PM

Agetina Zoto

Hi Kevin,

The part that you're pinpointing caught my attention too, and as you saw I had mention it on my discussion as well. Everything we do, speaks for who we really are and also it gives others an idea of what to expect from us. I really like how you brought up another example of academic integrity and mentioned jail. Again it proves how powerful academic integrity, honesty and trust are. We don't really realize how important all these are, until we bring up examples like this, or until we, ourselves, experience a situation when academic integrity is nonexistent.