Academic Integrity as an Educational Concept, Concern and Movement in US Institutions of Higher Learning

This chapter examines the trajectory of the academic integrity movement in the USA, beginning with the early conceptions of academic integrity, based on British higher education models in which ethical and moral lessons were explicitly addressed via specific, denominational religious teachings and compulsory practices that informed the earliest US institutions, and then tracing the development of the uniquely American approaches. Key factors in this development were the increasingly diverse demographics of students as well as the influence of education reformers who pressed for expanding access to higher education, which led to many students arriving at university with an incomplete understanding of the ethical expectations they would face. Additionally, American ideals that place emphasis on individual responsibility and control have led to practices such as honor codes and pledges. The discourse, framing, and descriptive metaphors of academic integrity as moral, legal, and medical issues as well as the shortcomings inherent in these frameworks are noted. Present-day academic integrity controversies are discussed, especially the extent to which academic integrity is exclusively or primarily a matter of individual choice or T. ‘Teddi’ Fishman (*) International Center for Academic Integrity, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, USA e-mail: ICAIexec1@clemson.edu # Springer Science+Business Media Singapore 2016 T. Bretag (ed.), Handbook of Academic Integrity, DOI 10.1007/978-981-287-098-8_1 7 might instead be better addressed in terms of cultural expectations or systemic issues. A short history of the role of the International Center for Academic Integrity established in 1992 in response to concerns about student cheating is included. The chapter concludes by suggesting that a narrow focus on student cheating is insufficient and that what is needed, instead, is a much broader approach to the development of integrity not only for students but for educators, researchers, educational practices, institutions, and cultures. The American Context The idea that character and intellect should be developed in tandem appears to be as old as education itself, as evidenced in proverbs that played a role in the education of scribes in ancient Sumeria (Veldhuis 2000, p. 383). In cultures as diverse as ancient China and Greece, wisdom, compassion, and courage were regarded to be universal moral qualities and central to education. So it is no surprise that what is now called “academic integrity,” loosely defined as acting in accordance with values and principles consistent with ethical teaching, learning, and scholarship, is a concept and a concern in academic communities in the USA. What may surprise some, however, are the unique characteristics of this subject in the American context that differ considerably from the British and European models upon which they were based. Like the English schools, upon which they were most directly modeled, eight of the nine earliest universities in the USA were founded largely for the purpose of educating aspiring ministers (Brubacher 2004, p. 6). The overlap of religious morality and higher education went beyond the fact that most instructors were clergy educating future ministers. Religion permeated activities on a day-to-day basis. Not only was attendance at daily prayer service compulsory, but in the early days, US universities were the site of periodic “revivals” at which students’ souls would be “saved” or “rescued” (Brubacher 2004, p. 42). As evidenced by the Yale Report of 1828, the assumption that one of the main purposes of education was as a means to further students’ moral development was so deeply entrenched that arguments about curricula were premised upon the necessity of choosing subjects that would contribute to the formation of “proper values” (Drayer 1970, p. 149). There was very little questioning of the practice of grounding character development in the religious principles of specific denominations as this was the standard practice among the most prestigious universities in the world. In the USA, as new waves of immigrants of differing denominations and faiths arrived, settled, and sought education, the complexities of educating a more heterogeneous student cohort placed unique demands upon the system. It soon became clear that in order to attract students, American universities would need to be more flexible than their counterparts in England and Europe regarding religious segregation or exclusivity. Governing boards of American universities increasingly included members from more diverse backgrounds and faiths, shifting the basis for moral education from monolithic branches or 8 T. ‘Teddi’ Fishman