According to a recent report, cheating among college and university students is on the rise. However, Groveton College has successfully reduced student cheating by adopting an honor code, which calls for students to agree not to cheat in their academic endeavors and to notify a faculty member if they suspect that others have cheated. Groveton’s honor code replaced a system in which teachers closely monitored students; under that system, teachers reported an average of thirty cases of cheating per year. In the first year the honor code was in place, students reported twenty-one cases of cheating; five years later, this figure had dropped to fourteen. Moreover, in a recent survey, a majority of Groveton students said that they would be less likely to cheat with an honor code in place than without. Thus, all colleges and universities should adopt honor codes similar to Groveton’s in order to decrease cheating among students.
Write a response in which you discuss what questions would need to be answered in order to decide whether the recommendation and the argument on which it is based are reasonable. Be sure to explain how the answers to these questions would help to evaluate the recommendation.
Have colleges and universities been successful in discouraging cheating by instituting honor codes?
On the surface, it would seem that adopting an honor code would be an effective way to decrease cheating among college and university students. According to the report from Groveton College, students are more likely to cheat in classrooms that lack an honor code, and students are more likely to cheat when teachers do not have strict regulations. However, there is also reason to believe that honor codes may paradoxically increase cheating. Consider how students are motivated to cheat. Some students cheat because they are too lazy to do their work, and for them, an honor code might give them someone to blame. Some students cheat because they need to pass the class to move on to more advanced coursework, and for them, an honor code could give them an incentive to cheat. If colleges and universities adopt an honor code, students who cheat to avoid punishment may be more likely to cheat.
Furthermore, other students who cheat to cement their standing in a social group may also feel compelled to cheat. If they believe that their peers are cheating, they may be tempted to become complicit in cheating. Thus, although adopting an honor code might help weed out students who cheat, it could also attract more students to campus who are willing to cheat. In addition, students who are not inclined to cheat in the first place may not be motivated to become any more honest because of an honor code.
The report also claims that the honor code at Groveton has been successful. However, this claim should be interpreted with caution. According to the information provided, the honor code was instituted in 2004, and only five years later, there was still only one case of cheating. This would seem to indicate that an honor code can fail to improve student behavior. However, it is entirely possible that students were not reporting cases of cheating under the previous system, and when the honor code was implemented, students became more honest. Alternatively, the honor code may have been instituted before many students had experience with it, and they may have changed their behavior immediately after it was initiated. Therefore, more data would have to be collected to determine whether an honor code can lower the incidence of cheating.
The report also notes that the honor code at Groveton has “increased student safety.” However, it is unclear precisely what this means. While students may cheat less often if they know that they will be caught, other possible effects are on student behavior. For example, students afraid to speak up in class may be less likely to raise their hands for fear of being labeled as cheaters. In addition, students who cheat frequently may be more likely to engage in other risky behaviors, such as drunk driving, because cheating gives them a sense of accomplishment. If colleges and universities adopt an honor code, students may turn to these other activities to feel that they are “winners.”
At the end of the day, whether or not colleges and universities should adopt honor codes depends on how often students cheat and whether students are motivated to cheat. If students do not cheat frequently and are not motivated to cheat in the first place, then an honor code might discourage cheating. However, if students are inclined to cheat, and if colleges and universities adopt an honor code, increasing the number of cheaters on campus is not likely to benefit students. Therefore, colleges and universities should carefully consider the consequences of adopting an honor code before doing so.