Blog 6 THE ESSAY draft Take 2....I'm getting nervous (Writer's jitters)

 TOPIC:  The different expectations students vs. teachers have with respect to academic integrity issues including plagiarism, cheating, fabrication and academic misconduct.

Source 1:  http://www.kean.edu/forms/AcademicIntegrity.pdf
Source 2:  http://www.isetl.org/ijtlhe/pdf/IJTLHE278.pdf

Many issues are being faced in today's universities because the common thread where students as well as professors are not understanding the grave danger in plagerism, cheating or any form of academic misconduct.  "Forty-nine percent of staff and 39% thought that cheating on assessment tasks was common with 'copying a few paragraphs and not citing the source' the most common form." (Source 2) Academic writing is usually in standard, traditional format that any institution or professor is quite accostumed to viewing.  Yet are the students accostumed to writing in that format.  Perceptions on what is expected seems to blur and confuse the minds of students, because every professor expects a different approach to writing while other professors give the freedom for their students to express their thoughts and creativity.  "Differences existed in beliefs about why cheating occured with staff endorsing the view that students lacked an understanding of the rules." (Source 2) Some students understand the rules, they either are too lazy to look up the proper format, have insufficient time, or the majority of the student population just worries about getting good grades that won't affect their GPA so their scholarships, financial aid or other financial assistance like parents won't withdraw the help for the lack of academic ability.  "Students...felt that wanting a better grade and having too many assessment items were strong motivation for cheating." (Source 2)

"Maintaining high standards of academic integrity is the obligation of

all members of the Kean community – students, faculty, and administrators." (Source 1) Academic integrity is what a professors should be teaching its students rather we find some believe its okay to "copy" your classmates ideas and notes and/or study with another student that has the assignment all configured in their brain--and happens to verbalize ideas outloud to her classmate.  Would that be a matter of cheating if they both have the same idea on their papers?  Would that be academic misconduct?  The writing culture at  universities have to reflect its student population, because if not the aim at academic integrity is futile.  "An individual’s work must reflect that person’s own efforts and achievements. Any collaboration of effort by an individual or groups of individuals must be acknowledged.  Failure to acknowledge such contributions constitutes an act of dishonesty and a misrepresentation of the individual’s work." (Source 1)  "Tearoom, corridor, and office discussions propose several reasons for student plagiarism, including failure to understand what is expected or confusion over differing expectations, a response to increasing assessment workload, or in a minority of cases, a deliberate attempt to deceive markers."  (Source 2)

"Plagiarism and cheating (e.g., copying from another student in an exam) are forms of misconduct that have become areas of increasing concern for academics in higher education." (Source 2)

"Howard (1995), like many authors, also noted that plagiarism can be aided or hindered by assessment and teaching practices and there have been substantial efforts made to design 'plagiarism proof' items." (Source 2)



...This is the beginning of more writing, and I'm looking for another source, I know it's silly--and this is not much writing but that's how I write, I do all my research, jot down all the points I want to hightlight, and bounce ideas and fit back and forth all over the paper where I want them to fit.  This is the first time I'm writing an essay without pen and notebook, ahh the feeling is scary but I think I will get over it.