Academic Integrity Policy Analysis Paper
Rutgers Academic Integrity Policy Analysis
The Rutgers University Academic Integrity Policy provides a set of comprehensive guidelines on the proper use of intellectual property in students’ academic work. It also provides for the adjudication of policy infringements and associated academic consequences for nonadherence. Additionally, ethics and integrity are stressed in the policy as faculty and students are encouraged to “foster a strong institutional culture of academic integrity.” To find out if and why students are behaving in accordance with the academic integrity policy, a survey was administered. The data gathered from the survey indicated that students’ reasons for following the policy depended on their morals. Rutgers university …show more content…
All respondents at some point during the survey mentioned punishment, with one stating “the punishment is too great to risk (please see appendix). The consequences associated with breaking the academic integrity policy are failing a paper, failing the course, suspension, and in the most severe case expulsion from the University . Individuals in stage one of Kohlberg’s theory make moral decisions based on the consequences and punishments. Another observation made was that students did not internalize nor comprehend the need for an academic policy. Using the most basic level of moral thought, which Kohlberg associated with young children, respondents abided by the policy because they were told to do so by authority. Crain in his “Theories of Development” supports this stating morals are external at this stage with individuals abiding by the rules because they are told to do so by authoritative figures. The final observation was that academic advancement did not promote students’ moral development. A study conducted at Kuwait University, which examined the moral development of university students at different grades yielded the similar results. There is no indication that formal education improves students’ moral judgement. Instead, moral judgement is developed through experience and
The Rutgers University Academic Integrity Policy provides a set of comprehensive guidelines on the proper use of intellectual property in students’ academic work. It also provides for the adjudication of policy infringements and associated academic consequences for nonadherence. Additionally, ethics and integrity are stressed in the policy as faculty and students are encouraged to “foster a strong institutional culture of academic integrity.” To find out if and why students are behaving in accordance with the academic integrity policy, a survey was administered. The data gathered from the survey indicated that students’ reasons for following the policy depended on their morals. Rutgers university …show more content…
All respondents at some point during the survey mentioned punishment, with one stating “the punishment is too great to risk (please see appendix). The consequences associated with breaking the academic integrity policy are failing a paper, failing the course, suspension, and in the most severe case expulsion from the University . Individuals in stage one of Kohlberg’s theory make moral decisions based on the consequences and punishments. Another observation made was that students did not internalize nor comprehend the need for an academic policy. Using the most basic level of moral thought, which Kohlberg associated with young children, respondents abided by the policy because they were told to do so by authority. Crain in his “Theories of Development” supports this stating morals are external at this stage with individuals abiding by the rules because they are told to do so by authoritative figures. The final observation was that academic advancement did not promote students’ moral development. A study conducted at Kuwait University, which examined the moral development of university students at different grades yielded the similar results. There is no indication that formal education improves students’ moral judgement. Instead, moral judgement is developed through experience and