Raising Moral Awareness: Effects of a Developmental Approach to Academic Dishonesty

• In Event: Paper Session on Research Related to Moral Development and Education

Abstract

At present, the vast majority of secondary and postsecondary institutions take a behavioral approach in dealing with student cheating—punishing those caught with grade reductions and/or suspensions. While some form of punishment maybe necessary, it is not sufficient. The proposed paper seeks to build on the scant literature related to developmental approaches to responding to academic misconduct. It does so by describing theoretical underpinnings and instructional design of one such program, the Academic Integrity Seminar, as well as results from a quasi-experimental study of its effects on participants’ moral development. As hypothesized, results indicated significant increases over time on all three measures of moral awareness that were assessed.

Authors

• Jason M. Stephens, University of Auckland

• Tricia L. Bertram Gallant, University of California - San Diego