Academic Integrity in Higher Education: Importance, Implications, and Reflections

This report covers the description and significance of academic integrity in higher education, the implications of academic misconduct, and reflections on the skills developed while producing a game for Assignment 2. It also discusses the importance of academic integrity for students, educational organizations, and society. The report includes references from various sources.

BSc (Hons) Business Management with
Foundation
BMP3003
Further Academic Skills
Academic Integrity
Submitted by:
Name:
ID:
Contents
Introduction p

Section 1 p-p
An Introduction including a description of Academic Integrity
p
A discussion of the importance of academic integrity in higher
education p
Discuss the implications of academic misconduct p
Section 2 p-p
Reflect on the steps you have taken, and difficulties encountered in
producing the game for Assignment 2 p
Reflect on the skills you have learned this academic year and those
emphasized in producing your game p
Conclusion p
References p

Introduction
Academic integrity in education is also called as academic honesty and
probity. This comprises of honesty, responsibilities, trust, fairness and respect. This
basically means that implement all these qualities into different types of practices like
being honest in academic work, give respect and be fair to others and take the
responsibilities of learning and obey the rules (Kenny and Eaton, 2022). If the
student completes their education with full honesty, then this will be fruitful for their
carrier. This not only paid a positive impact on the student but also encouraged them
to work with full honesty. The following report is going to cover the full description of
the academic integrity and the significance of the academic integrity in the higher
education. This report also focusses on the implication of the academic misconduct.
Along with this, a discussion has also been done on the difficulties which are faced
during the development of the game and the skills which are developed during this
game.
Section 1
An Introduction including a description of Academic Integrity
Academic integrity is being considered as the moral code of conduct which governs
the educational institutes. Form the student’s point of view academic integrity means
following the instructions, asking the questions, do the work on time, do the
assignment by self and the ethical decisions. Honest, trust, fairness, respect,
responsibility and courage are being considered as the six main or core values of the
academic integrity (Stephens and et. al., 2021). Examples of honesty are set by the
students by obeying all the guidelines which are given by the instructors who assign
the project. By following the directions of the teacher, students give the
demonstration of trust. Fairness is shown by the students by treating all other equally
without self-interest. Being brave even the situation is challenging shows the
courage of students. By following all the rules and laws of the educational institute,
students show the responsibility and by doing the work and take the decision in
ethical manner shows the ethical behavior of the students. It is very important for the

university to take the proper actions if any unethical activity is done by the students.
Along with this, teachers also have to follow the six core values of the academic
integrity.
A discussion of the importance of academic integrity in higher
education
Academic integrity gives students the best chance to grow. By implementing
academic integrity to their educational life, students can develop different qualities
within them. Academic integrity plays an important role in an individual life. It
develops some potentials within a person, such as honesty, responsibility, credibility,
and the quality of being fair to everyone without personal intent. These qualities
make a student a good person (Thacker and McKenzie, 2022). This is a quality of
responsibility and the student is responsible for completing the project within the set
time limit. That is why Academic integrity plays an important role in a person's life.
 It is important for carrier: Academic Integrity offers different types of
opportunities to the students in order to succeed and complete its own.
Complete the task with own assist the students to acquire knowledge.
When a person becomes honest, it benefits its carrier.
 It is important for educational organisation: The way in which the
students as well as the staff members of the institute work at the university
affects the image of the institution. When college students do unethical
work, it negatively impacts the reputation of the university. Universities
have some guidelines for their own rules, regulations, and academic
integrity, and it is very important for all staff members and the students
must have to follow these rules.
 It is important for new ideas: academic integrity gives students the
opportunity to bring new as well as innovative ideas in order to complete
their projects. Once the student has effectively done and completed the
assigned project, this process will help in increase the student's creativity.
The more the student complete the task, the more knowledgeable the
person will become.
 It increases the quality of teaching and learning: it also improves the
value of education and learning for students. If the institution obeys with all

the policies and regulation which is related to integrity, then the student is
becoming more responsible for maintaining an ethical environment.
Universities have look for students when they cheat or take action against
them. So, for fear of punishment, students become responsible and honest
for their research.
 Social responsibility: Academic integrity plays an important role in a
person's social development. A student can become more socially
responsible by following all six norms. This makes the people more
honest, rational, and responsible to society.
Discuss the implications of academic misconduct
Academic misconduct: this can be referring as any type of fraud which is done by
the student during its course of studies. The institute has not only taken various
steps to reduce academic fraud but also make sure that all the working is done in a
very effective and appropriate manner (Packalen and Rowbotham, 2022). This is
basically a practice that makes students unfair in comparison to others. There are
various types of academic misconduct like, falsity of data, plagiarism, breach, and
dishonesty, to pass exams for unfair benefit. Following are the different types of
implications of academic misconduct which are mentioned below: -
 Plagiarism: - this could be described as the copy of someone`s data,
thoughts, ideas, language without taking their consent or permission then this
is called plagiarism. If the identification of the writer has been accomplished
then this can be taken into consideration as an academic misconduct.
 Cheating: - that is the most important implication of academic misconduct
which impacted directly on the studies of the college as well school students.
In any area dishonesty as well as cheating isn’t acceptable and now no longer
addressed by any educational institute. By skip the examination or doing the
cheating in exam students get into these practices in order to pass the
examination with good marks and with proper perks and grade. But because
of advancement in technology and software program this is not possible to do,
this catches the cheated work.
 Professional misconduct: - due to the academic misconduct, students are
learning different types of things i.e., bad behavior, bad attitude and many
more (Werner, 2022). The surroundings of bad environment are developed if

any useless behavior has been done by the individual. This without delay
impacts the life of students. So, it's very crucial for the students to act in very
moral and right way and also admire everyone’s concepts and thoughts
Section 2
Reflect on the steps you have taken, and difficulties encountered in
producing the game for Assignment 2
In the present context, where education holds such a significant place in people's
lives, it is also critical to preserve academic integrity in order to avoid negative
consequences for academics' trust and dignity. There is clearly a big impact has
been made on academics as a result of the rise in academic misconduct, which
comprises of acts such as cheating, duplicating and copying. In order to effectively
control this and maintain academic integrity in educational institutions I came up with
a few ideas which assist me in preventing the academic integrity. The idea that I
explored is with respect to the creation of game which can further help in preventing
the inappropriate academic conduct. After defining my concept, I chose to create a
game to aid in the prevention of plagiarism in academics. This game, in my opinion,
is more effective since it is a game teaches the students about plagiarism prevention
and helps them in grabbing the importance of academic integrity that a student can
value while also assisting in the prevention of academic misconduct. When I actually
set my mind to designing a game that is accessible in one area and effective in
another. Furthermore, I analyzed to acquire the advantages of academic integrity in
order to push people to move forward and eliminate the acts of academic
misconduct. The “Pick and discuss” is the name of the game that I created, and it
was created to ascertain and expand the player's knowledge with regard to
misbehavior and duplication. One of the primary objectives behind the outlining of
the game by me is to create awareness mainly with respect to the prevention of
misconduct and the acts of copying. Some of the major issues which are being faced
by me while designing the game are detailed as below –

 The primary problem which is faced in the game development was of
designing the construction and functionality of each game. I wanted a one-
page design that would show the whole idea to attract students and reach
their goals.
 Further the other concern faced by me was related to the creation of
questions for the game. I wanted to ask an average level of questions so that
everyone could play the game and understand their goals correctly.
 The third issue was setting up and creating a more structured game in a way
that demonstrated the importance of academic integrity in the game. I had to
formulate content to limit plagiarism so that students could understand the
necessity for integrity for future development.
Reflect on the skills you have learned this academic year and those
emphasized in producing your game
At the time of developing the game, I had the opportunity to build up fresh skills
within myself which can also help me in the way of shaping a better future. The skills
I integrated are as follows -
 Communication Skills: The development of the game is a team-based task
that gives me the opportunity to establish a clear communication channel
among all the group members. While developing this game, I can be confident
that help me in expressing my thoughts without hesitation and by sharing my
thoughts efficiently with groups and teachers as well. Through this ability, I
received information and guidance from my colleagues and teachers, which
led to the formulation of a good game
 Decision Making: at the time of designing the game I developed decision
making skills. Also, throughout the process of creation, I stand accountable for
creating questions to resolve academic cheating and plagiarism goals. I'm not
good at this skill, but I developed this skill myself when I made this game.
 IT Skills: My IT skills before creating this game were insignificant, and as a
result of which I was lacking in this particular area. Thus, when it came to
designing of a game, I took a diploma course to help me understand game
graphics very effectively. This technical understanding will help me reach my
future aims.

 Creativity skill: this skill plays very important role in an individual life. This
skill has been developed by me while designing this pick and drop game. The
main aim behind developing the game is to remove the academic misconduct
and plagiarism and with the help of this skill I can easily attain this purpose.
 Time management skill: - during the development of this game time
management skill is also being developed by me. As I have to design the
game within the set time limit, so with the help of this skill I would be able to
this in a very proper manner.
Conclusion
From the above report, it can be concluded that academic integrity played a
key influence in the educational sector. Fairness and integrity are promoted
throughout the organization as a result of this. All techniques that promote academic
integrity and prevent academic misconduct must be followed by educational
institutions. As a result, the institute's strong reputation remained preserved and
students were enjoying a positive atmosphere.

References
Kenny, N. and Eaton, S.E., 2022. Academic integrity through a SoTL lens and 4M
framework: An institutional self-study. In Academic Integrity in Canada (pp. 573-592).
Springer, Cham.
Stephens, J.M and et. al., 2021. Can online academic integrity instruction affect
university students’ perceptions of and engagement in academic dishonesty?
Results from a natural experiment in New Zealand. Frontiers in Psychology, 12,
p.366.
Thacker, E.J. and McKenzie, A., 2022. Using quality assurance frameworks to
support an institutional culture of academic integrity at Canadian universities.
In Academic Integrity in Canada (pp. 519-534). Springer, Cham.
Packalen, K.A. and Rowbotham, K., 2022. Student insight on academic integrity.
In Academic Integrity in Canada (pp. 353-375). Springer, Cham.
Werner, J.M., 2022. Academic Integrity and Human Resource Development: Being
and Doing. Human Resource Development Review, p.15344843221078505.