Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Academic Integrity

When people are young, they learn that sometimes they can get avoid or escape a situation with a couple of lies. Even though that is true in certain cases, it does not apply here at the Arizona State University. Everyone that is enrolled in college is an adult and must learn that you can’t always get the easy way out. And it is upsetting how many learn the hard way. Teresa L. Hall, Director of Student Activities of the Towson University in Maryland states, “acts of academic dishonesty occur in environments marked by competing and sometimes conflicting values and desires.” What Teresa is basically saying is that students are more likely to commit academic dishonesty in certain situations. Although it can be difficult to abide by the school policy, one must find ways to fight the urge to cheat.

One way that would help students not commit academic dishonesty is to start thinking about the consequences. For instance, if someone has a five page essay due the next morning and is starting to think about taking someone else’s ideas, they must think of what would happen to them if they were caught. Getting caught with plagiarism can result in failing the assignment, getting dropped from the class, or even getting kicked out of college. So would it really be worth it to cheat just a little? Think about the future because one little mistake like plagiarizing can affect you for the rest of your life.

Another thing a student could do is to prioritize all of their assignments. One must keep organized to be able to know what assignment is due for what class and they must also know what assignment would be more beneficial to their grade. I am not necessarily saying that one should only do the most important assignments; I am only saying that things come up and it could be rather difficult to get all assignments done on time. For example, if a research paper that is due the next day for your psychology class that is worth forty percent of your final grade and you also have a math assignment due that is only worth 15 points, maybe it would be wise to focus more on the research paper. One must distinguish what assignment would be more beneficiary to them when they are in a tough situation.

Academic Integrity is all about will power. If a student has a clean conscience and wants to do the right thing, then college life will be a piece of cake. Everyone encounters tough obstacles in their lifetime, but that does not give anyone the right to cheat on any assignment or test. If you are ever in that type of situation, just remember to prioritize and remember what the consequences would be for your actions.

5 comments:

zuniga42 said...

Ya ASU is tough. They have us all under all these very strict rules. It sure isnt like h/s that is for sure. If we were to get caught be got a second chance. Here its is automatic XE depending on our instructor. sucks!

CupofToast said...

I agree that will power plays such a key factor in academic integrity. If a student is not willing to have self-control than that is a problem they must deal with.

Sladjana said...

I agree. It would be very beneficial for students to be organized and to know when each assignment is due. Students should do the assignments as soon as they get them, so then they have enough time to work on the assignment to make sure that they don’t plagiarize.

Alex said...

I agree with everything you said, we're adults now and it really is time for us to take responsibility for what we signed up for. We have to be organized about what needs to be done, and have the self-control to do it the right way.

josh said...

Prioritizing is definately beneficial in avoiding plagiarism. I like this point, because it allows students more time to finish there assignments on time which can avoid the desire to plagiarize.