Ethics Reflection

As we prepare to enter our first year of college, it is important to acquire knowledge about what will be required of us over these next four years. During these first few weeks of school, the ethics code has been the information that has been stressed the most. It is of the utmost importance to know about the ethics code as we prepare to embark on our choice of career. The information that was stressed the most throughout the articles that we assigned for reading was academic dishonesty, which includes cheating and plagiarism.

During the many class discussions, dealing with cheating and plagiarism, I not only learned about how students feel so competitive in grades that they will do anything and everything to get good grades, which includes cheating, but also how some faculty have observed cheating and allowed it continue. To me, cheating is best defined as stealing another person's ideas, opinions, or answers in hope of it benefiting one's grades, although at the same time it is hurting one's self. When one chooses to cheat they are doing so because they are worried about being the best they can be. As one prepares for a career, grades are important, but what is more important is the knowledge that one takes away from his or her education.

Some students have found ways around the educational system. The ways they have chosen to cheat and plagiarize include: using online essays, cheat sheets, memorizing the answers from a previous exam that is the same, and making others do all the work. All of these methods are equally wrong, because the concept of cheating and plagiarism is not beneficial to anyone or anything. However, at the same time, cheating on an exam is much worse than choosing to cheat on homework. The important idea to remember though, is that cheating is wrong under all circumstances because choosing to do so is choosing to not abide by the code of ethics.

There are many methods to prevent plagiarism and cheating, on the other hand many of these methods are not as useful or helpful as others. For example, the idea that student sign a code of ethics may seem reliable to many individuals. This method however assumes that most students are honest and dependable as they sign on the line. Unfortunately, I am sure that in many situations people have lied and said that they cooperated with all the ethics enforced by the college when in all reality they did not do so. Other methods that we discussed to prevent cheating and plagiarism include presenting different copies of the same exam, using multiple choice or mechanical exam formats, and also presenting various drafts on essays or papers. Another idea that was suggested to go along with the many drafts on essays was the oral face to face discussion of how papers are coming along. This may seems useful but at the same time it places students in an uncomfortable environment and that also can be a problem.

In an academic context, integrity deals with being honest with not only faculty but with oneself in order to achieve the most out of an education. Choosing to cheat and plagiarize is not beneficial under any circumstances. While one might think the decision to disobey the code of ethics can assist him or her, there are no positive outcomes from choosing to do so. I took a lot away from the discussion that we had regarding the code of ethics in class. In my group, we came to realize that the code of ethics needs to be strictly enforced in order for students to take the consequences seriously.