Ethics in academics assignment

The Provost’s Task Force at SUNY Albany warns of “ an array of fairly exotic electronic devices that the student determined to cheat on an exam might find available” (2006). They go on to recommend that faculty change the way in which exams are administered to better facilitate close monitoring of students and that they provide a clear and pronounced statement of expected ethical standards in the classroom (SUNY Task Force, 2006). Further examples of prevention techniques are more likely to be found in anecdotal statements regarding the individual methods of college and university faculty.

To prevent cheating when students’ computers are used to cake tests, the UCLA School of Law requires that students run software that restricts the user from accessing anything but the test (Gloater, 2006). Gloater also reports that one professor rearranged the classroom to allow himself a clear view of student’s screens (2006). Professors at US Davis are advised to direct that all electronic gadgets be powered off and stowed away during exams (US Davis, 2006). The effectiveness of prevention techniques will depend upon the vigilance of the professor employing them.

In the past students had to be much more resourceful because electronic devices were not conducive to academic cheating. Now documents can be purchased online or copied from the Internet, answers for an exam can be acquired via text messaging, or one can easily print voluminous crib notes using tiny fonts. Newer, more innovative ways of cheating include some of today’s common devices in unusual ways. Creativity of students has made the classroom an unwelcoming environment for most handheld electronics. Devices “ Cheating is not a new phenomenon” (Ma, Lu, Turner, & Wan, 2007, p. 9). It has occurred as long as there have been students. The high tech world of today lends itself well to change as smaller and more advanced gadgets are developed and introduced. Students can use many devices to cheat in a classroom environment, from digital media players, such as pods, to cell phones and Pad’s- In an online environment, where direct instructor prevision is not possible, the methods of cheating available to the student grow exponentially. Individuals can purchase work, such as term papers and program code, online.

Furthermore, with the Internet, plagiarism has become a bigger problem than before. Many educators have recognized the risk posed by high tech gadgets and the proclivity of some students to use them dishonestly. At the same time “ educators agree that, used properly, these devices can be valuable study aids” (Ongoing, 2007). In fact, the author further states that “ an audio player can be helpful in learning, say, a foreign language, and tutoring centers like Kaplan and the Princeton Review now offer SAT-prep tools for pods” (Ongoing, 2007).