At GCU we hold Christian Values as a component of our educational foundation. Should this also be a factor in how students act and influence their decisions towards academic integrity? Answers are voluntary but do count towards one of your three substantive posts for the week if you meet the 200-word minimum requirement.
I think spiritual values do influence the decision to maintain academic integrity because otherwise, it would be hypocrisy. If one claims to be a spiritual being but cheats their way through life, then the question becomes who do we actually think we’re fooling? It is necessary to stay true to oneself and to choose the proper thing to do even when no one’s looking, to me, that’s the true definition of integrity.
I also believe one must constantly work at or renew their spiritual beliefs because we’re all human without perfection so, at times will’s get weak and we envision success by taking the easier way out such as cheating on a test or taking credit where it isn’t due by putting our names on others’ work, committing infractions known to us as plagiarism but causing greater damage to the soul.
We must remember every good thing worth having requires putting in the work required to achieve those goals. The constant struggle within to always do the right thing is understandable but, if we nourish the positivity more than we nourish the negativity, making the appropriate decisions become second nature and the struggle to make the desirable choices are lessened.
It’s a greater sense of appreciation to know the goals achieved were achieved honestly and through hard work. When one puts in honest work, the process is respected!
Thank you for your response.
This brings to mind King James Bible/New Living Translation 2005, Luke 8:17; For all that is secret will eventually turn to light. I was in Nursing school and happen to be tutoring a nursing student that was a class or two behind me. The student was prepared to take her med-surgical exam; we had reviewed the pathophysiology so that she would be able to look at, for example, be given a scenario regarding a patient’s lab values and know if the patient was in metabolic acidosis. We reviewed the ability to think critically.
Prior to her taking the test we, both felt confident that she would pass. Day later she called and asked to come over and when she arrived, she was distraught. I was dumb founded; she explained that she had taken the exam, but it did not go very well because she decided to cheat. A couple of her classmates reassured her that they had the answers to the exam; She did not even read the exam to use anything that we had reviewed as far a critically thinking and using pathophysiology, lab values, and so on to arrive at the answers.
I was upset that she had taken up hours and days of my time to prepare for an exam and she just totally threw everything out the window and just put down answers. The class prior to hers had aced the exam, but the instructor and the Director of the Nursing department reviewed the class trends and knew that the class prior to her class should not have scored that many A’s.
Therefore, the test was changed and the test that my friend took was different from the one the prior class had taken. On top of that she had to speak with the Director of the Nursing department and was expelled from the program. She needed to at least pass with a C to remain in the program. The class prior had students that were also expelled as well as the students that were in her class.
I only knew about this as she confided in me regarding the situation; otherwise, the was emphasis in my class to make sure that all the concepts were understood; if not ask questions during/after lecture and because in clinical we were taking care of patients and need to know why we were administering some as simple as a vitamin E and the side effects. In my practice I have been conscientious regarding patient care. In the Neonatal Intensive Care everything we gave during the time I worked in the unit was doubled checked. If it did not fit into a 1cc syringe it was triple checked.