In the current setting of the world where COVID is still prevalent, a new type of innovative learning is established. In the Philippines most schools conduct online, modular and even blended learning (as COVID cases are slowly decreasing). With this new type of learning, we can see that the education system is on its way to transformation. But with this type of remote learning, can educators fully ensure academic integrity of the students? Can academic dishonesty be controlled?

            Academic dishonesty refers to acts which compromises academic honesty. It has been observed in almost every form of educational institution, from elementary school to graduate school. Academic dishonesty is now generally seen negatively by educated culture. (Berkeley City College)

            There are different types of academic dishonesty and most of them are commonly encountered in today’s educational system. As educators, it our job to ensure the genuine learning of our students, and to do that we must prevent and control any acts of academic misconduct.

According to George and Caulfield (2022), plagiarism is the most common type of academic dishonesty. It is defined as stealing someone person’s ideas and passing them off as your own without giving them due credit. An example is when a student copy-pasted a source or article online without citing it properly. In the new normal of education, students can easily access online resources, copy it and submit it as their original essays. We can easily prevent this simply by not giving them the chance to do so. Giving students different and unusual assignments which requires them to answer on their own is one way to discourage plagiarism. As a teacher, we should also discuss to them precisely the definition of plagiarism. Some students tend to do plagiarism unintentionally as they are oblivious to its meaning. Plagiarism checkers online also do the trick.

Another example of academic dishonesty is cheating. In the new era of learning, we tend to conduct remote examinations. We have no other choice but to put our trust with our students to practice academic integrity. But of course, there are also ways we can control cheating. One way is by creating different sets of exams. Teachers can simply randomize the order of questions or you can also make different questions. Making varied question types also help in preventing cheating. Also, be strict with time. The longer the time is the more chances they can cheat.

There are more types of academic dishonesty such as deception, fabrication, bribing and etc. These are really alarming for almost all educators. All we can do is to conduct preventive measures as all we wanted is for students to learn. But at the end of the day, the best way to prevent dishonesty is by telling them how it will affect them in the future. If they know how negative it is to be deceitful, surely they will have this power inside of them to stop it.

References

Berkeley City College. (n.d.). What is academic dishonesty? Retrieved from Berkeley City College Website: https://www.berkeleycitycollege.edu/de/what-is-academic-dishonesty/

George, T., & Caulfield, J. (2022, March 10). Academic Integrity vs. Academic Dishonesty. Retrieved from Scribbr: https://www.scribbr.com/plagiarism/academic-dishonesty/