Importance of Academic Integrity, Skills, and Game Production Report

This report delves into the critical importance of academic integrity within higher education, emphasizing the ethical standards and moral conduct expected of students and institutions. It explores the implications of academic misconduct, such as plagiarism, cheating, and falsification of data, highlighting their detrimental effects on both individual students and the overall reputation of educational establishments. The report also reflects on the practical aspects of game production, detailing the steps taken, the challenges encountered, and the skills acquired during the development process. Specifically, it discusses the difficulties in assembling the game, designing graphics, formulating questions, and establishing game rules. Furthermore, it identifies the skills enhanced throughout the project, including creativity, writing, communication, and IT skills, underscoring how these competencies contribute to personal and professional growth. The report concludes by reinforcing the significance of academic integrity in fostering honesty, fairness, and ethical behavior within the academic environment.

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Contents
INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................................................3
SECTION 1.................................................................................................................................................3
A discussion of the importance of academic integrity in higher education..............................................3
Discuss the implications of academic misconduct...................................................................................4
SECTION 2.................................................................................................................................................5
Reflect on the steps you have taken, and difficulties encountered in producing the game.......................5
Reflect on the skills you have learned this academic year and those emphasized in producing your
game........................................................................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION...........................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES............................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
The academic integrity is the moral and ethical code of conduct with the help of which all
the academic policies are maintained so that values are framed in the academic work. It is aimed
to ensure that fundamental learning is made fairly and creative ideas are acknowledged. It is also
aimed to prevent the unauthorized information or quotes which are categorized as misconduct. It
is very important to have academic integrity in the work and every student in its educational
institution complies with the ethical and moral conduct so that their work is made authentic and
without any misconduct (Eaton, 2021). This report shall deal with importance of academic
integrity in higher educational sector and the implications of academic misconduct. It will also
cover the reflection regarding the skills development during the production of game and the
difficulties encountered while producing the game.
SECTION 1
A discussion of the importance of academic integrity in higher education.
Academic integrity in the educational sector simply implies that the moral and honest
conduct must be applied in the educational institution so that there is proper standards being
maintained in the community and the students have the integral approach of the learning. It is
very essential to have the trust in the area of academic so that there is fair image built of the
educational institution. Academic integrity is very fundamental to the teaching, learning and for
the research. There must be policies to uphold and promote the academic integrity so that the one
who is addressed with the allegation of misconduct can be punished (Jereb and et. al., 2018). The
importance of academic integrity in the higher education is illustrated below-
 It provides the staff and its students with the training and guidance as to what constitutes
the academic misconduct and helps in developing the good practice which can help in
maintaining the academic integrity.
 The violations of the academic integrity impacts negatively on the students as if they
cheat in the academic exercise. It will take away the opportunity to develop, improve and
learn the skills and take away the educational degree which can reflect the academic
achievements. It also affects the community as a whole because any misconduct with the

academics may violate the fundamental values of the University, so it is very important to
uphold the academic integrity in the higher education (Keefer, Brown and Rothschild,
2020).
 Academic integrity helps in maintaining the goodwill of the educational institution in the
society so that the students can have the feeling of confidence about the place where they
are studying.
 It also helps the students in their career as academic integrity encourages honesty, morals
and ethics which helps in providing long life lessons to the students.
 Academic integrity helps the students to develop positive attitude in them so that they can
have complete knowledge and confidence in their subject which can help them in their
future career development (Fatemi and Saito, 2020).
Thus, it can be said that academic integrity helps the students to grow a better personality in
it and also creates a good reputation of the educational institution. It is aimed to enhance the
success of the students by giving them proper knowledge and development of skills which can
promote and motivate them towards honesty and moral etiquettes.
Discuss the implications of academic misconduct
It is said that it is very essential for the educational institutions to apply the principles of
academic integrity in their educational and moral behavior. Academic misconduct is one such
practice which deteriorates the academic integrity. There are various implications of academic
misconduct such as plagiarism, fabrication of the information and data, cheating and many others
(Ransome and Newton, 2018).
Academic misconduct is used when the person does not act with the integrity in its academic
settings. It is an act of a student which results in false evaluation of the student’s performance or
represents an attempt to unfairly gain the academic advantage where the students knows that it is
a misconduct (de Maio, Dixon and Yeo, 2020). Academic integrity includes the following but it
is not limited to this extent. These are discussed below-
 Cheating- It is one of the most common form of academic misconduct where an
individual copies the work of someone else. It is mainly common during the exam where
one student cheats the answer from the other students work.

 Plagiarism- This involves using the idea, writing or thoughts of someone else and then
passing it off in its own name. In simple words, it is taking credit for the ideas which are
not of the own or using the words or ideas of others without citing their name properly. It
basically involves giving no credit to the original writer.
 Self- plagiarism- It is similar to the above discussed academic misconduct but here, the
same piece of previous work is used by the student without the permission of the teacher
as a person is not allowed to take the credit for the same work again and again. It
basically prevents using of the same work again even if the topic is same.
 Forging or falsifying the academic record- It includes the materials which are submitted
to the University at the time of its enrolment. If it is found that a person has omitted,
changed or forged any documents, it may result in revocation of admission. It just
involves misrepresentation in the academic records (Bretag, 2018).
There are many consequences of the academic misconduct which includes the penalties which
the University can impose on the student and even result in the revocation of the admission
which may affect the whole career of a person. Other consequences are discussed below-
 It also affects the goodwill of University due to unethical behaviour and may create
problems for the staff and teachers as they have to face emotional distress due to
violation of trust.
 It also demotivates the students who work sincerely and try to give high level of hard
work. It also results in loss of opportunities for the offending student and creates the
dishonest atmosphere in the educational institution which is aimed to provide learning
environment to every student (Kaktiņš, 2019).
SECTION 2
Reflect on the steps you have taken, and difficulties encountered in producing the game.
When I was studying in my graduate program, I decided to produce a game which can
help in preventing the academic misconduct from the educational institution. The game relates to
the academic misconduct wherein the students will get the opportunity to get aware of the
methods with the help of which they can remove plagiarism and other practices of academic
misconduct from the environment and can protect themselves from facing any negative

consequences of it. When I was producing the game, I faced many difficulties which are
illustrated below-
 The initial problem which I faced was in assembling the game as I do not have adequate
knowledge to implement a game in an appropriate manner. Initially, I got this idea so I
decided to assemble my idea into a game but I didn't get the means or methods through
which I can implement it.
 My another weakness is that I do not have knowledge of graphic designing so I faced a
difficulty in designing the graphics of my game. I am also low in my IT skills so I was
unable to take my idea to give it a shape of game. But at the end, I tried and produced a
game on the prevention of academic misconduct.
 My next challenge was I faced many difficulties in framing the questions which was the
main element of the game. The questions will help in identifying the academic
misconduct which can be done by using a fun game. So I wanted to prepare such
questions which can link with the aim and can serve the purpose of the game.
 Lastly I also faced difficulty in preparing the rules for the game as it was one of the most
difficult task for me. It was a very complex part to make the game which can be enjoyed
by the people and can also provide them with a serious message of how to prevent
academic misconduct from the study.
Reflect on the skills you have learned this academic year and those emphasized in producing
your game.
While producing the game that relates to the academic misconduct, I got the opportunity
to develop certain skills during my academic year which will help me in my future development.
The following skills were developed by me during the time when I was producing the game.
These are discussed below-
 Creativity skills- Producing a game requires a lot of creative ideas so that it can be
attractive enough to reach large people. During the making of this game, I got the
opportunity to learn creativity skills because I was given an opportunity to build such a
game which serves two purposes for the people, one to make them aware of the

consequences of academic misconduct and the other to make them enjoy while playing
this game. My teachers help me in developing the creativity skills so that I can make an
interesting game and assemble it in a proper manner by using creative graphics.
 Writing skills- During the formation of the game, I also got the opportunity to inculcate
writing skills as the game requires preparation of the questionnaire. I manage to frame
many questions by using different methods and multiple choice answers to it which
helped me in enhancing my writing skills that will also help me in my future programs
and projects.
 Communication skills- Producing a game is not an individual task rather it requires the
effort of whole team to produce an attractive and effective game. During the making of
this game, I was able to communicate well with my team mates which helped me in
building my confidence and I was able to speak without any hesitation. I was also able to
communicate effectively with my teachers who guided me during this game and
instructed me wherever necessary.
 IT skills- Before making this game, I did not have any knowledge regarding the
information and technology but at the time of producing this game I undertook a diploma
course on this so that I can effectively design the graphics of this and produce a better
outcome for all. This game really helped me in developing the IT skills which is very
essential for the future growth and development.
Hence all these skills help me in enhancing my inner strength and quality and provided me
with a positive approach towards society. I realized the importance of academic integrity and
why academic misconduct must not be used. These skills help me in maintaining my work in a
proper manner. The creativity and IT skills help me in producing the innovative game while the
communication skills help me in designing such questions which can be fun at one level and
interesting on the other.

CONCLUSION
It is concluded from the above report that academic integrity plays an integral part in the
education sector as it encourages fairness and honesty in the conduct of human personality. It is
important for the educational institutions to uphold the academic integrity and prevent the
academic misconduct in order to maintain goodwill of the institution. Various types of academic
misconduct include plagiarism, cheating, falsification of data, etc. which places negative impact
on the student and. educational institution.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Bretag, T., 2018. Academic integrity. In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Business and
Management.
de Maio, C., Dixon, K. and Yeo, S., 2020. Responding to student plagiarism in Western
Australian universities: the disconnect between policy and academic staff. Journal of Higher
Education Policy and Management. 42(1). pp.102-116.
Eaton, S.E., 2021. Plagiarism in higher education: Tackling tough topics in academic integrity.
ABC-CLIO.
Fatemi, G. and Saito, E., 2020. Unintentional plagiarism and academic integrity: The challenges
and needs of postgraduate international students in Australia. Journal of Further and Higher
Education. 44(10). pp.1305-1319.
Jereb, E., and et. al., 2018. Gender differences and the awareness of plagiarism in higher
education. Social Psychology of Education. 21(2). pp.409-426.
Kaktiņš, L., 2019. Does Turnitin support the development of international students’ academic
integrity?. Ethics and Education. 14(4). pp.430-448.
Keefer, L.A., Brown, M. and Rothschild, Z.K., 2020. Framing plagiarism as a disease heightens
students' valuation of academic integrity. International Journal of Psychology. 55(2). pp.210-
214.
Ransome, J. and Newton, P.M., 2018. Are we educating educators about academic integrity? A
study of UK higher education textbooks. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education. 43(1).
pp.126-137.