University of Central Florida

Department of Philosophy and Office of Student Conduct

Seminar in Academic Integrity

Spring Term 2008

Dr. Nancy Stanlick PSY 240 407-823-5459

Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy

e-mail: stanlick@mail.ucf.edu

Due date for assignments:

One week (7 calendar days) after the seminar

Submit the assignments by e-mail

 

Outline of Seminar Contents

1. Attendance

2. Requirements

3. What is Academic Integrity?

4. Concepts, Theories, and Principles

5. Cases, Problems, and Discussions

6. Assignments and Requirements

What is Academic Integrity?

Academic integrity is probably simple enough to define. Ask yourself these questions:

a. What is integrity?

b. What is "The Academy" and why does it matter?

c. How can and should these concepts be defined?

 

How is academic integrity conceived at UCF?

a. The UCF Golden Rule and the UCF Creed

The Golden Rule from the UCF Web Site: See http://www.goldenrule.sdes.ucf.edu/

Welcome to the UCF Community Video: See http://www.slp.sdes.ucf.edu/Videos/UCFVideo.wmv (5:53)

The UCF Creed Video: See http://www.campuslife.sdes.ucf.edu/creed%20video.wmv (<5:00)

"Whether the UCF Creed appeals to your code of ethics or your sense of fairness, its tenets protect your rights as an individual and as a contributing member of the university community." John C. Hitt, UCF President.

Statement of the UCF Creed: See http://www.osc.sdes.ucf.edu/?id=ucfcreed

b. How do some of your fellow students conceive of integrity, honesty, and the culture in which we live?

The following documents/presentations are copyright protected and belong to the students who created them. They are used by permission of those students.

 

Concepts, Theories and Principles

Theories

The way in which you conceive of your obligations and the obligations of others in any community, and the way in which you think of your rights and responsibilities, might be situated in a theory. Some of the most common and "popular" or widespread conceptions of ethics are:

  1. Virtue Ethics: http://ethics.sandiego.edu/presentations/Theory/virtue/virtue.ppt
  2. Deontological Ethics: http://ethics.sandiego.edu/presentations/Theory/Kant/Duty/Kant_Duty_and_Universality.ppt
  3. Utilitarian Ethics: http://ethics.sandiego.du/video/hinman/theory/Utilitarianism/utilitarianism_pp.ram
  4. Egoism: http://philosophy.lander.edu/ethics/egoism.html or http://ethics.sandiego.edu/video/Hinman/Theory/PsychologicalEgoism/PsychologicalEgoism_pp.ram and http://ethics.sandiego.edu/video/Hinman/Theory/EthicalEgoism/EthicalEgoism_pp.ram
  5. Contractarianism: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/contractarianism/

During the seminar, we will go through brief overviews of these theories. Considering these theories is one of the major elements of one of the assignments for this course, so it may be a good idea for you to think quite a bit about which of these theoretical outlooks regarding ethics appeals to you.

Concepts and Principles, and Rules

Do lists of rules or codes of conduct do enough (i.e., are they effective) in creating a culture of integrity and honesty?

Cases, Problems, and Discussions

Video (available only during the seminar) on responsibility in an academic context

Text: The Case of the "Bank Error in Your Favor" -- see http://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~stanlick/BankError.htm

Academic Cheating Video: Go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irBj1-dulcU for a short segment of an episode of the soap opera, All My Children (on academic cheating).

UCF Resources

Why do people cheat and plagiarize in academic contexts? Remember that "cheating" is a larger category than plagiarism. That is, plagiarizing is a form of cheating, and so plagiarism is subsumed under the category of cheating. Some cases of plagiarism are unintentional. Blatant cases of cheating are not. How do you know the difference between intentional and unintentional plagiarism? Can there be a case of unintentionally seeing the answers on the exam paper of the person next to you, and using the answers you saw?

Would you be responsible for plagiarizing in your disicpline if you did not know the academic standards of that discipline? Would you be responsible for a violation of UCF's Golden Rule if you did not know that it even existed?

We'll discuss the answers (note that it says "answers") to these questions at least briefly during the seminar.

But in the meantime, look at the resources UCF has that you can use to receive legitimate academic assistance. There are others as well, but these are three of the most prominent on campus. Each of them has a Web site and a physical location. You should check both for each.

Some other resources:

Assignments and Requirements

  1. Choose either this option or (2) below. Write a short (3-4 pages, double-spaced with 1" margins all around) paper on how to write a paper in your discipline. So, for example, if you are an engineering major, you need to write a paper on how papers are appropriately written in that field. If you are a philosophy major, how are they done? If you are an English major, how are they to be done? And so on. Your paper MUST have references. Do NOT plagiarize when you write this paper. If you do, paradoxically enough, you will be referred to the Office of Student Conduct again, this time for cheating in an ethics seminar. Now, that would peculiar, wouldn't it?!
  2. OR write a short essay on the All My Children video. The two main characters in the video are involved in a very clear instance of academic cheating. Incorporate into a brief essay (3-4 pages) your answers to the following questions: Who is responsible? Given your understanding of the UCF Golden Rule, what is the appropriate reaction by UCF to the actions of either or both of the characters? To which theory is your decision concerning appropriate reaction most closely associated? Explain.
  3. Create a Web site, video, or PPT illustrating the standards of research in your major/in your academic discipline and the reason(s) for these standards from the point of view of one of the ethical theories (Deontology, Utilitarianism, etc.).
  4. Fill out the evaluation form for this seminar. Go to http://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~stanlick/AcadIntegEvalForm.doc

Essential Information Regarding Assignments

1. Send the assignments no later than one week from the day of the seminar to stanlick@mail.ucf.edu .

2. Make sure that the subject heading of your e-mail indicates the following -- "Ethics Seminar" and YOUR NAME

3. Save the first assignment's document with this name: YourLastNameHowToWrite.doc (you can also do this in .html format) or, if you choose the second option, use YourLastNameAMCVideo.doc

4. Save the next assignment (3, above) in a similar way, such as YourLastNameResearchStandards.html (or .ppt, .wav, etc.)

5. Save the last assignment (4, above -- the evaluation form) using YourLastNameEvalForm.doc.

6. Send all three of these files at the same time as attachments in an e-mail. MAKE ABSOLUTELY SURE THAT YOU CHECK THE FILES FOR VIRUSES and clean them out.

Once I receive and review all the assignments, and as soon after the due date that is practical, I will report both your attendance and your satisfactory completion (where applicable) of the assignments to OSC.

Please note that I have nothing to do with academic holds, transcripts, etc. For information on these issues, please consult with the Office of Student Conduct.

This page was updated on February 20, 2008 at 3:00 a.m.