Reporting Matters

About a year ago, I had a conversation with a colleague regarding academic integrity.  The catalyst for this conversation was a situation the colleague had experienced in class that day.  In her class, students were given weekly in-class quizzes for which the questions were available in advance.  As the students were taking the quiz, she noticed a student attempting to surreptitiously view answers on his phone.   Although my recollection of the situation has faded, I remember that she was devastated by this discovery.  The student was a “good student” who always participated in class and submitted assignments.  Whether or not to report the incident weighed heavily on the mind of my colleague and I know that I was not very helpful at that time in alleviating the stress she felt in deciding how to handle the situation.  The student did engage in academic dishonesty, but my colleague was worried that filing a report may lead to feelings of shame and a loss of motivation for the student.  While I can certainly sympathize with her feelings in this case, I now believe it is important to take such situations seriously.

Read the full article: https://academicintegrity.org/resources/blog/115-2023/july-2023/445-reporting-matters