10/07/2024

Academic Integrity: A Community-Based Approach

As my time as an undergraduate student nears its end, I find myself looking back on my academic trajectory thus far and realizing that academic integrity has been at the forefront of everyone’s minds for all of this time. From the COVID-19 pandemic necessitating online communication, to the recent AI boom providing fast and easy – albeit often morally questionable – ways of getting work done, academic communities have no choice but to adapt to a new status quo regarding academic practices and ethics. From my standpoint as a philosophy student and, more recently, as someone who works in peer tutoring, I believe it is vital that this process be the concern of not only students and professors, but of administrators and institutions as well, and that the discourse not be limited to matters of integrity, but considered alongside privacy, trust, and community.

Integrity during the COVID-19 lockdowns
For the first part of this post, I am interested in recalling the state of academic integrity during the coronavirus pandemic, and what students were asked – or rather, required – to sacrifice for its sake. As a result of most lectures and exams needing to be carried out online, and the understandable zeal of professors and administrators to protect standards of academic honesty, we saw a remarkable rise in the use of anti-cheating software. These were installed by students on their computers and would monitor things such as eye movement and facial expressions, browser activity, as well as provide full screen recordings to teachers for the duration of the examination. Such tools may seem necessary. They were, however, protested against by students in multiple universities, and widely criticized. Concerns were raised about excessive data collection, lack of transparency on data storage and use, and lack of forethought regarding accessibility, as not all students could be expected to own PCs with webcams and microphones, which certain programs required. I, myself, remember agreeing to a rather impressive list of permissions to use such a software, which was required for my examinations. I have no choice but to regard the use of such programs as instances of blatant breaches of students’ right to privacy, sadly representative of the ever-expanding culture of surveillance we find ourselves living under. Academic institutions, in their admirable commitment to integrity, lost sight of other important building blocks of academic community, and regrettably bred an adversarial relationship between them and students.

Thoughts as a peer tutor
It has now been a few years since the height of the pandemic, and a lot of the operations of schools, colleges, and universities more resemble how they used to be before 2020. In the meantime, I have had the joy of taking up work at my college’s official peer tutoring service, providing aid to fellow students who may struggle with aspects of their studies. I find myself reflecting on my work, and its place in the wider world of academia. I lament that circumstances, be they social, economic, or technological, can often encourage us students (and perhaps professors too, though I lack personal experience in the area) to view each other as competitors first and collaborators second. When a university degree is almost required for survival in a society with a rising cost of living, is it truly any wonder that some students might cheat or, more recently, turn to AI to do their intellectual work for them? I stress that I do not mean to dismiss academic integrity as an important value. I simply wish to examine it in a wider context. The threat to integrity is only strengthened by a steady erosion of the value of academic community. I earnestly hope that my work and the work of my peers can help remedy this to some extent, and possibly inspire further change.

I will be the first to acknowledge that my vision for an academic community is, perhaps, not the most utilitarian one. It is not one where breaches of academic integrity will never occur. But, in my view and sincere hope at least, it is one that places trust, collaboration, and respect for the rights of all at the forefront.

The author’s views are their own.

Note: This blog post was authored by a student. ICAI takes pride in highlighting student voices as students are a key stakeholder in higher education and the promotion of academic integrity. ICAI does not endorse or advocate for any position or statement made.

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