My research topic is: Maintaining Academic integrity among undergraduate students

My working thesis is: Academic integrity is a problem that affects many students in higher learning institutions.

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Introduction:

Background information about the academic integrity in learning institutions

Factors contributing to the lack of academic integrity

The significance of measures introduced in fighting violation of academic integrity policies.

Sources for this work

Secondary sources from online databases will be used for this research.

In traditional learning there had been many people attending face to face classes. Education was considered the only way people could evade poverty and live a comfortable life. Most of the people who accessed education were from well-off families. This is because education was expensive and not easily accessible to many people. The people in the middle and the lower social classes found it difficult to access quality education in most parts of the world (Rogerson, & Basanta, 2016). Therefore the rock individuals continued to be rich due to the education they had access to. According to research, the introduction of technology has helped in improving the accessibility and reliability of education. People can access educational materials from any part of the world. The creation of the internet was done to help in information sharing. The education sector has been one of the many institutions that have benefited from the numerous online databases that are available. There are many individuals who prefer attending online lessons than being in a one to one classroom (Rogerson, & Basanta, 2016). The availability of portable gadgets that can be easily carried around by students and other professionals has made it convenient to enroll in online courses and get engaged in other activities in the long run.

For instance, a student who is in Asia can comfortably enroll for a course in a US institution without being physically present. This has contributed to the diversification of education courses with many people benefiting maximally (Rogerson, & Basanta, 2016). Some of the accredited institutions provide high-quality education through online portals. About this, the utility of tutorials to study by learners at different levels has contributed to improved grades for most of them. Educational tutorials have helped in improving the level of education that individual and grouped students have access to. There are many benefits associated with the use of tutorials in many educational institutions. This paper will include a discussion on the significance of tutorials in maintaining a high integrity level of education.

Within the classroom setting, there are students of different kinds. There are those that rely on what they read in the books, and they pass their exams while there are those that would understand better with visual learning tools. Students who earn better with visuals are at a disadvantage in institutions that do not offer such services. According to research, using video tutorials has helped students who understand more using visuals to improve on their grades. Video tutorials are easily accessible on many online platforms including Youtube. When students fail to get certain concepts within the classroom setting, they can access the video tutorials within their gadgets. In addition to this, when such students access the videos online, they only find those that are interesting to them and that make their learning experiences easier (Smedley, Crawford & Cloete, 2015). While in the classroom, it is always recommended for teachers to always identify the needs and learning capabilities of their students. Identifying the existence of students that require visual aids for learning can help to improve their learning experiences by introducing visual aids such as projectors and videos.

Accessing materials from anywhere I the world without restrictions is something that technology has introduced to many people today. Learners across the world have the opportunity of accessing learning materials anywhere they are. Since many people have tablets and phones that they move around with, accessing educational tutorials today has benefited a large population of learners and professionals. When there is a need to learn or make reference, one can access the tutorials by searching online. There is a lot of conveniences offered by modern gadgets, and people continue to use them due to the benefits they offer in the long run. According to research individuals are only required to have an internet connection and a technical gadget with an ability to access and download the tutorials. The tutorials can also be downloaded and be viewed at the convenience of the users. Learners that do not have sufficient time to attend the one on one lessons in the classrooms. Additionally, those that are not able to understand more in class have an opportunity of accessing the tutorials and understanding more at their convenience.

Tutorials are also known to provide a face to face atmosphere for most learners. In the production of video tutorials, the instructors take the audience through the different steps that they should follow. The provision of specific steps by online instructors helps to reduce the burden of struggling to understand various concepts (Galt, Clark & Parr, 2016). When learners use a laptop to listen and watch tutorials that have instructors, they feel like they are in the classroom and they become more effective. They understand more and are likely to be the most successful as compared to those that do not have access to the tutorials. According to research, students that access tutorials with instructors guiding them are likely to experience a friendlier atmosphere where they can learn at their convenience (Rogerson, & Basanta, 2016). Tutorials that have instructors are the most sought after as compared to those that only have content and no instructors guiding the learners. Nevertheless, the learners who utilize such visual tutorials are known to excel in their studies as compared to how they excel when they attend the one on one class. This behavior is most noticeable among learners who are enrolled for online courses.

When in the classroom, the learning capabilities of individual students are sometimes overlooked. The teachers do not consider that all the students have different learning speeds. However, since it may not be possible to focus on every student in a classroom of many learners, students that can't keep up with the speeds of their tutors are known to go for online tutorials to enhance their understanding of various concepts (Galt, Clark & Parr, 2016). When there are tutorials available, learners can comfortably watch them at their own pace. Learning at an individual's preferred speed helps in enhancing their understanding capabilities. Some instructors in institutions record their lessons and make them available to students. The students can then go over the lessons at their convenience. This, besides tutorials, has contributed to improved learning capabilities for most of the learners in higher learning institutions.

Workshop tutorials are also a convenient way of helping students to understand the importance of maintaining integrity in their education. According to Raihanah, eta l (2011), the effectiveness of how the students understand in class is dependent on the teaching techniques that are employed by the instructors (Smedley, Crawford & Cloete, 2015). Ideally, when the teachers teach poorly, there is a high possibility of the learners not understanding many concepts. In the end, the students would be tempted to plagiarize their work so that they can pass (Raihanah et al., 2011). To avoid such occurrences, there should be workshops organized by learning institutions to teach the learners about the importance of maintaining academic integrity. Within the tutorials, the students should be introduced to the actual implications with references of plagiarism in education. It has been identified in the past that most students that enroll in the workshops do excel in their studies compared to those who don't.

Teachers may be the primary reasons why students get engaged in academic integrity problems. Their teaching techniques and how they interact with the students are not compatible with the required educational standards (Raihanah et al., 2011). Therefore, the students fail to understand the implications of engaging in educational malpractices (Ellis, 2016). The teachers should be the guides to the learners on how they should avoid issues relating to academic integrity at all times. It is recommended that during the teaching process, teachers should introduce the learners to issues of academic integrity that are not condoned within the institutions (Ellis, 2016). This would help in ensuring students understand what is expected of them and be careful not to commit academic malpractices in the long run.

In many learning institutions, any tutorials are given to the students to help them understand the need to maintain academic integrity. In such institutions, it is evident that when students are introduced to materials that teach about academic integrity, there is the possibility of ensuring that they avoid it at all costs (Smedley, Crawford & Cloete, 2015). The tutorials outline the institutional consequences of educational malpractices. Additionally, various descriptions describe what the educational malpractices detail and what the actual consequences are. Implementing the consequences for the students is supposed to serve as a warning to others who are likely to engage in such conduct in the future.

There are many recommendations given by scholars on ways that academic integrity can be improved in eth learning institutions. Ideally, many students see the help of online tutors so that they can understand concepts better to avoid plagiarism in their work (Rogerson, & Basanta, 2016). This is because about 80% of students who do not understand what they are taught in class end up being plagiarizing their work or being involved in other forms of malpractices. This could lead to the expulsion of the suspension of students from the institutions (Furedi, 2016). When students join new institutions as freshmen, it is the responsibility of the management to ensure that they have access to the materials detailing what entails academic violation and the accompanying consequences.

Additionally, institutions should ensure that they organize regular workshop tutorials to teach learners about the importance of maintaining academic integrity. These workshops should involve industry leaders in different sectors so that they can give primary information on the importance of maintaining academic integrity at all times. Interaction of learners with industry leaders may help to change their view on academic integrity. They understand better the implications of engaging in malpractices to their careers. According to research, most students that engage in academic misconduct may end up having difficulties in maintaining positive image in the industry in the future.

Students should take the initiative of conducting research online to understand the significance of academic integrity. Technology has made information accessible and being online to conduct extensive research on the topic can be essential in the long run.

References

Ellis, B. R. (2016). Increasing academic integrity in the virtual classroom: An action research study (Doctoral dissertation, Capella University).

Furedi, F. (2016). What's happened to the university?: A sociological exploration of its infantilisation. Routledge.

Galt, R. E., Clark, S. F., & Parr, D. (2016). Engaging values in sustainable agriculture and food systems education: Toward an explicit...