Author ORCID Identifier
Document Type
Book Chapter
Publication Date
2020
Keywords
plagiarism, academic honesty, new media, adjunct faculty, student writing
Abstract
Academic honesty is a perennial concern at the university. Faculty, who endeavor to maintain ethical practices in their own work, may struggle to communicate with new generations of students about important aspects of academic honesty. Communication about this construct is often reduced to a syllabus statement warning students about penalties for plagiarism. Institutional responses are similarly narrowly focused on committees and procedures for the assignment of penalties for breaches of college academic honesty policies. Teaching faculty may benefit from more information and support in conveying to their students the crucial importance of developing and communicating original ideas as well as reporting on the ideas and words of others in an ethical manner. This chapter is framed by a real but anonymized incident from the author’s experience. It reviews current literature on academic honesty, plagiarism, and related issues, as well as historical attitudes on what we now call plagiarism. Also explored are the impact of new media and contemporary student conceptions of academic honesty. Special concerns related to increased use of adjunct faculty to teach university classes and the special challenges contingent faculty encounter when trying to model ethical behavior and mentor students toward academically honest practice are highlighted. Recommendations are drawn from these explorations.
Publisher Attribution
This chapter is part of the book Ethics in higher education, published by Nova Science Publishers.
Recommended Citation
Atkinson, V. Sue, "Ethical practices in the college classroom: teaching and learning from the next generation about academic honesty" (2020). Teaching, Learning and Educational Leadership Faculty Scholarship. 18.
https://orb.binghamton.edu/education_fac/18