Importance of Academic Integrity in Higher Education

This report discusses the importance of academic integrity in higher education. It explores the principles of academic integrity and the implications of academic misconduct. The report also reflects on the skills learned in producing a plagiarism game.

Academic Skills

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3
Academic Integrity......................................................................................................................3
Importance of academic integrity in higher education................................................................4
Implications of academic misconduct.........................................................................................5
SECTION 2.....................................................................................................................................5
Steps taken and problems encountered in producing the game...................................................5
Reflect on the skills that have been learned this academic year and those emphasized in
producing plagiarism game..........................................................................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Academic integrity is concerned with a commitment of demonstrating behaviour that is
moral and honest in context of academic setting. This report will discuss about academic
integrity and will discuss about importance of academic integrity in higher education. In addition
to this implications of academic misconduct will also be discussed in report. In section 2 of the
report reflection on game will be written and along with this reflection of skill will also be
included. Game designed is an online game and students are required to install it Plagiarism
Game intended for students to test their knowledge for plagiarism and academic integrity.
MAIN BODY
Academic Integrity
Commitment and practice of honest and moral behaviour of individuals in an educational
setting is known as academic integrity. Academic integrity is considered fundamental to learning
and allows students and staff freedom of building new ideas, knowledge and creative work and at
the same time they are expected to respect and acknowledge work of others. Academic integrity
is most important at higher level and it enables individuals to provide credit to others for their
work and consider contribution of others (Bertram Gallant, 2017). In this when work and
contribution of others in work of student is not acknowledged or considered it is known as
plagiarism, a form of academic misconduct. Academic integrity is also an ethical policy or moral
principle of academia. Mainly there are 5 principles of academic integrity and these principles
include Honesty, Trust, Fairness, Respect, and Responsibility. Honesty is first and most
important principle of academic integrity and is mainly concerned with sincerity. All individuals
are required to consider individual abilities honestly and represent their effort. Trust is also a
important pillar of academic integrity in which individuals need to have trust in other people in
their community and this is important for working relationships. Fairness is also an important
pillar and in this every individual should believe that they are being treated fairly and judged by
same standards. Respect allows individuals to share views and points and students should show
respect to others by listening to their point of views and being prepared meet deadline and
perform to best of their ability. Responsibility is last pillar in academic integrity in which
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students and those working in academic context are required to acknowledge their agency in
their daily actions and accountability.
Importance of academic integrity in higher education
Academic Integrity is important for several reasons in higher education and these reasons
because of which academic integrity is important are-
Safeguarding achievement of students- This is first and very important reason because of
which academic integrity is important and through academic integrity achievement of students
can be safeguarded (Ramdani, 2018). This is because work and creation of students will remain
safe and this is why achievements of students in academic context will remain safe and others
will not be able to present work of students on their name.
Defending academic credibility of university- This is another importance of academic integrity
in which university and education institute aims to save credibility of university. This means that
when academic integrity is practiced by students and individuals in academic context, this save
reputation and credibility of university and academic institutions. Reputation and credibility of
university can get significantly affected when students in university get involved in academic
misconduct such as plagiarism.
Ensuring students get their due credit- This is also an importance of academic integrity that
students should get due credit for their own and fairly completed work. This is very important
that students who ensured avoidance of all kind of academic misconduct they should be given
their due credit. This is a very important act for motivating and encouraging students as they
carry out a work which is new, creative and fairly conducted.
Protecting interest of those who do not cheat- This is very important reason of academic
integrity in which university and educational institutions require protecting interest of those who
do not cheat. Students those who do not cheat are those who work considering all standards of
academic integrity.
Ensuring students learn through best practices- This is an importance of academic integrity
in which university and educational institutions make sure that students in institute learn and
study through best practices (McKenzie, 2018).
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Implications of academic misconduct
Academic misconduct is an act in which students and those involved in creating work in
academic context does not acknowledge work of others in their work. In addition to this
presenting work of others on their name is also an act which is known as academic misconduct
(Morris, 2018). Implication of academic misconduct differ on the basis of act and nature of
misconduct and some of the implications of academic misconduct involves-
Penalties by University- This is one of the very important implication of academic misconduct
according to which individuals and students those who undertake academic misconduct. In this
implication students and individuals involved in academic misconduct require to pay penalty for
their actions.
Reduction in Grades- This is another important implication of academic misconduct for
students in which students who undertake actions of academic misconduct might be punished
with reduction in grades. This means that grades that are given to students for their work, their
grades might reduce by university or educational institute.
No credit- This is also an implication of academic misconduct in which students get no credit for
their work, this means that whatever credit they were likely to get for their work they might not
get it because of academic misconduct done by them in their work in any form (Awasthi, 2019).
This might include not acknowledging contribution of others and presenting work of others on
their name.
Suspension- Academic misconduct by students might also result in form of suspension of
students and those involved in academic misconduct might get suspended from university or
education institute where they are studying or are related in terms of academic context.
SECTION 2
Steps taken and problems encountered in producing the game
Plagiarism game is a game which helps the individual to test the knowledge regarding the
plagiarism and academic integrity. Plagiarism deals in presenting the work of someone else or
the ideas as own, either after taking their consent or not taking their consent but by incorporating
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the work without complete acknowledgement. This may be reckless or intentional or may be
unintentional. Academic integrity is considered as committing or demonstrating the moral or
honest behaviour in the academic setting which is most prominent at university level (Kier,
2019). This is because it is related to providing credit to other people while using their ideas. So,
plagiarism must not be practiced in order to adhere to academic integrity.
I got a great experience while developing the plagiarism game as it could help many
people in testing their knowledge about plagiarism. I followed systematic plan including
various steps to make the game. Firstly, I selected the goal after doing lot of research
related to the students and the problems they face. I come to know about plagiarism
which is prominent in most of the institutions. This is how, I decided to make something
through which students can check their knowledge about plagiarism as it can help in
preparing projects, researches, thesis and many more other academic works. I also
experienced that academic integrity plays a major role in the institutions because it helps
in conducting various moral and ethical values due to which plagiarism must not be
exercised by the students. Then, I got the idea to make this more interesting and the first
idea came was to make this as a game so that everyone will be excited to try this. This is
how, I also chose the platforms where the game can be played. This helped me to know
that students are more active online so this game can be played online through computers
or mobile phones (androids or I-phones). So, I decided the process through which people
can play the game. Here, I faced many difficulties because the framework of both the
types of phones: i-phones and android along with the desktops. Furthermore, I faced
problem in coding in various languages. Also, various skills were used in the same such
as written skills, designing skills to design the game, imagination skills etc.
I also made the questions which will be asked by the person who plays the game. The
person who will give more number of correct answers in 15 minutes will win that game
(Horbach and Halffman, 2019). But in order to make the game interesting, I also made
use of some characters by tapping on whom the questions will be appeared. I also
integrated the option of giving the answer more than 1 time. I faced many difficulties
such as in organising the game, promoting it to students to use it, formatting the
questions, setting the time limit, integrating some sounds into it to make it more creative
and many more (Sorea, Roșculeț and Bolborici, 2021). This is how; the plagiarism game
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was made by following various steps and be resolving many issues and problems at each
step. This can prove to be helpful in checking the plagiarism knowledge which is must
for the Higher Education students.
Reflect on the skills that have been learned this academic year and those emphasized in
producing plagiarism game
There are various kinds of skills that were learnt by me this year that helped me in doing
all my work, and learning in a fair manner and transparently. These skills further helped me in
producing and playing plagiarism game as well. Some of the most important skills learnt by me
this year and used in producing this plagiarism game are: power point skills, writing skills,
organization skills, designing skills, creative and imagination skills. Power point skills were the
most important type of skills that was learnt by me this year. This skill helped in in creating
presentation. It has further enhanced my learning experience. I was able to create presentation,
modify it, add effects to it in order to make it more presentable. In this academic year I also
learnt ways in which I can add my voice to my presentation and convert it into a video to be
presented. Another skill learned and enhanced by me this year was writing skill. This year I
learnt that there are various different kinds of writing styles and it is important to understand
what kind of writing style can be used when. I also learnt it is important to maintain academic
integrity while writing and it can be done by avoiding plagiarism. During this plagiarism game
my writing skill was enhanced and used for producing this game in a successful manner.
Another skill learnt by me this year was Organization skill. It enhanced my ability to
succeed throughout the academic career and further helped in enhancing my ability to interpret
and retain information in a successfully manner. it was one of the most important skill that was
used by me while producing plagiarism game. Next skill learnt by me was Design skills. This
skill helped me in learning ways in which designing of a presentation, poster, brochure etc. was
done. Producing this game further enhanced my designing skills and helped me in learning
different ways in which I can use my designing skills. Other than this, this year by Creativity and
imagination skills were further improved. I was about to think of creative ideas and design or
draw those ideas on paper in order to represent by creative and imaginative thinking. It was one
of the most important skill that was used for producing plagiarism game in a successful manner.
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CONCLUSION
From the above assignment it has been summarized that academic integrity is one of the
most important factor which is required to be adhered by a student and it allows then to learn
fairly without conducting any kind of academic misconduct. In higher education academic
integrity plays a vital and important role. There are various kinds of ways that can help a student
in learning ways in which they can adhere academic integrity. Plagiarism game is one of those
game that helps in learning and practising academic integrity.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Awasthi, S., 2019. Plagiarism and Academic Misconduct: A Systematic Review. DESIDOC
Journal of Library & Information Technology. 39(2).
Bertram Gallant, T., 2017. Academic integrity as a teaching & learning issue: From theory to
practice. Theory Into Practice. 56(2). pp.88-94.
Horbach, S.S. and Halffman, W.W., 2019. The extent and causes of academic text recycling or
‘self-plagiarism’. Research Policy. 48(2). pp.492-502.
Kier, C.A., 2019. Plagiarism intervention using a game-based tutorial in an online distance
education course. Journal of Academic Ethics. 17(4). pp.429-439.
McKenzie, A.M., 2018. Academic integrity across the Canadian landscape. Canadian
Perspectives on Academic Integrity. 1(2). pp.40-45.
Morris, E.J., 2018. Academic integrity matters: five considerations for addressing contract
cheating. International journal for educational integrity. 14(1). pp.1-12.
Ramdani, Z., 2018. Construction of academic integrity scale. International Journal of Research
Studies in Psychology. 7(1). pp.87-97.
Sorea, D., Roșculeț, G. and Bolborici, A.M., 2021. Readymade Solutions and Students’ Appetite
for Plagiarism as Challenges for Online Learning. Sustainability. 13(7). p.3861.
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