An educational framework for nurturing a culture of academic honesty

Abstract

Academic dishonesty has become a topic of concern at many universities. Many studies have documented the prevalence of academic dishonesty by various student populations, cited reasons that students engage in academic dishonesty, identified policies universities can implement to combat the problem, or suggested strategies that faculty can use to minimize the risk of students cheating in their classrooms. Few papers, however, have addressed the problem of academic dishonesty from a holistic perspective. This paper seeks to fill this void by presenting a framework developed in the Russ College of Engineering and Technology at Ohio University where issues related to academic dishonesty have recently arisen. The framework developed and presented here seeks to decrease instances of academic dishonesty by nurturing a culture of integrity, teaching, and learning. Programs developed for students, faculty, and within the university are described. To engage students in efforts to promote academic integrity, a writing course was required for incoming graduate students, and a Student Academic Honor Council was formed to reach out to peers and lead efforts in developing a college honor code. A series of faculty workshops on academic honesty was developed to promote faculty understanding through dialogue, and a Faculty Academic Honor Council was developed to promote teaching practices that could help reduce academic dishonesty. College-wide academic integrity initiatives were coordinated with university-wide initiatives so that the efforts of each could complement one another. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2007.