Academic Integrity as an Educational Concept, Concern and Movement in US Institutions of Higher Learning

Abstract

This chapter examines the trajectory of the academic integrity movement in the USA, beginning with the early conceptions of academic integrity, based on British higher education models in which ethical and moral lessons were explicitly addressed via specific, denominational religious teachings and compulsory practices that informed the earliest US institutions, and then tracing the development of the uniquely American approaches. Key factors in this development were the increasingly diverse demographics of students as well as the influence of education reformers who pressed for expanding access to higher education, which led to many students arriving at university with an incomplete understanding of the ethical expectations they would face. Additionally, American ideals that place emphasis on individual responsibility and control have led to practices such as honor codes and pledges. The discourse, framing, and descriptive metaphors of academic integrity as moral, legal, and medical issues as well as the shortcomings inherent in these frameworks are noted. Present-day academic integrity controversies are discussed, especially the extent to which academic integrity is exclusively or primarily a matter of individual choice or might instead be better addressed in terms of cultural expectations or systemic issues. A short history of the role of the International Center for Academic Integrity established in 1992 in response to concerns about student cheating is included. The chapter concludes by suggesting that narrow focus on student cheating is insufficient and that what is needed, instead, is a much broader approach to the development of integrity not only for students but for educators, researchers, educational practices, institutions, and cultures.