OSC/Department of Philosophy Ethics Seminar In Academic Integrity
February 17, 2004 in BHC 128,
6:30-8:30 p.m.
Dr. Nancy Stanlick
Department of Philosophy
(FINAL UPDATE POSTED February 14,
2004 at 10:34 p.m.)
Description and Objective: This
is a 2-hour overview of ethical issues involved in instances of academic
dishonesty, violations of the UCF Golden Rule, or violations of any university
policy consistent with attendance in this course. It includes discussion of the distinction between plagiarism and
cheating, the ways in which these occur, and how to avoid them. Specific moral topics include lying, theft
of intellectual property, respect for self and others, and academic integrity. The course also includes information about
on-line and on-campus academic resources for legitimate assistance with
research projects and papers.
Requirements: All those
assigned to this course by the Office of Student Conduct or any faculty member
or other department in the University are responsible for attending,
participating in discussion, and submitting the three assignments
listed below. The assignments must be your own original work and are due 7 days
after the meeting of the seminar (FEBRUARY
24) by 5:00 p.m. in the Department of Philosophy office in CNH 411. Submit these assignments in person at the
Department of Philosophy in CNH 411.
Remember that the deadline is February
24 AT 5:00 P.M.
1.
There are new
commercials produced by the recording industry regarding the practice of
illegally downloading music files on the Internet. There will be an assignment based on one of these
commercials/advertisements. There is
also a song available at: http://www.borealisrecords.com/sounds/stickers_copied.mp3
regarding the issue of illegitimate music copying on the Internet. One of the commercials produced by the
recording industry is available at: http://www.whatsthedownload.com/gallery/index.aspx
. Additional artist (musician)
commentary on illegal downloads can be seen (and read) at: http://www.whatsthedownload.com/artist_buzz/index.aspx#1_down
. Assignment
to be announced during class. Due on February 24.
2.
Go to this link at
Ethics Updates for Lawrence Hinman’s presentation on academic
dishonesty/cheating using the WorldWide Web at : http://ethics.sandiego.edu/video/CEPE2000/Cheating/index.html
. Based on this presentation, write
a 1-2 page assessment of your own instance of a violation of academic
integrity. Remember that any sort of
violation of the Golden Rule is a violation of academic integrity. This assignment is
due on February 24.
3.
Write a 2-page
essay on the issue of academic integrity USING APPROPRIATE
NOTATION/CITATION. This is to be an
information-based essay on the differences between cheating and plagiarism, and
what constitutes violations of “integrity.” See http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/wts/plagiarism.html
for information on how to AVOID plagiarizing.
This assignment is due on February 24.
4.
An in-class assignment will concern appropriate use
(and inappropriate misuse) of academic sources. Discussion will also concern the use of plagiarism detection
resources. See http://www.turnitin.com, http://www.schoolsucks.com, http://www.plagiarism.org . Note that the plagiarism.org site takes
you to turnitin.com. Turnitin.com
provides resources for appropriate citation, avoiding plagiarism, and answers
to common questions in the RESEARCH RESOURCES link at the site.
NOTE: No
element of these assignments may be submitted in handwritten form. Word processing or typewritten format must
be used.
Other Suggested Readings that can be
used for the assignments:
1.
Bernard Gert, Morality: Its Nature and Justification
at http://www.netlibrary.com. See pp. 191-196. You MUST use computers on campus, or use Pegasus or proxy access
as a UCF student to use this resource.
2.
PowerPoint
Presentation at http://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~stanlick/cfccpresstu.ppt
on theoretical aspects of cheating and plagiarism.
3.
UCF’s Golden Rule –
Student Academic Behavior at http://www.ucf.edu/goldenrule/studaca.html
4.
Others may be
assigned during the course meeting.
Consider these Questions:
1.
What is your reaction
to the claim that if you cheat, you are cheating only yourself? What is your reaction to the claim that when
you cheat, you are cheating other students?
2.
If you buy a term
paper over the Internet (or find one in a file cabinet, or borrow or steal one
from some source or other), are you plagiarizing when you understand the
material and re-write the paper in your own words?
3.
Which of these views
of the justification of plagiarism or cheating most closely resembles your
own? What was your own reason?
·
What matters most is
good grades.
·
I’ll lose my
scholarship if I don’t get a good grade in this course.
·
The subject is too
difficult, and I need the course to graduate.
·
This class doesn’t
have anything to do with my major, so it isn’t a serious problem if I cheat or
plagiarize. What’s the point in knowing
anything about English literature or poetry or philosophy or statistics (or
whatever) when I want a job in technical writing, engineering, or whatever.
·
I had to study for
other tests and didn’t have time for this one.
·
I have more important
things to do.
·
I couldn’t get time
off from work to do research for the paper (or to study for the test).
Note:
If
you have any questions about the content of this seminar, please contact me at stanlick@pegasus.cc.ucf.edu or
come by during my office hours for the spring 2004 term. See http://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~stanlick
.