By Den Hakiki
In economic and social contexts, people often try new ways of grabbing opportunities to improve themselves by learning to gain personal interests and development. However, some people tend to improve and develop themselves in wrongful and unlawful ways, especially in academic matters that occur in higher and lower education institutions nowadays. Wrongful and unlawful ways in academic matters include dishonesty among students in order to get great scores for their own personal benefits without putting in the hard work to be successful. Any fraudulent activities or attempts by a student to use improper or unacceptable methods in academic work are considered academic dishonesty, as mentioned by Theart and Smit (2012).
The behaviour of these negative attempts occurs when students fail to excel in their studies and lack integrity when doing their work. Academic dishonesty refers to plagiarism, cheating, collusion and deceit of any information by falsifying it. The integrity among students is clear as most of them understand it is essential to apply it but dishonesty still occurs. There are a few factors that tempt students to be dishonest in their academics such as time constraints, unfamiliar understanding of the courses, peer pressure and cultural factors. These factors are considered challenges for students to overcome. Failure to resist these temptations may lead to negative effects and consequences in the future in academic matters and personal development.
In Islam, it is essential to gain Allah’s pleasure in academic matters as it is Fard Ayn for Muslims to seek knowledge for themselves in many aspects of Ibadah, Aqidah, Fiqh and Akhlaq in order to achieve success in this world and hereafter. Therefore, it is crucial for anyone, especially students, to have the best ways to overcome and prevent themselves from academic dishonesty. A deep understanding of integrity and dishonesty must be applied among students not just to be successful students but successful Muslims both in this world and hereafter.
Academic dishonesty includes various types of wrongful ways for students to improve their academic scores. The common way of academic dishonesty is cheating which refers to using unapproved sources or tools to assist students to get a result that they could not get by themselves. Hence, by applying these methods they tend to get good results easily without proper ways of working hard in getting them. This impractical way will give effects on students both in the short and long term period.
According to Diego (2017), students often cheat in their exams because they find themselves unprepared and time constraints in that particular subject make them difficult to bear academically. These circumstances will lead them to decrease their self-confidence. According to Norman & Hyland (2003), the state of confidence in students can be a factor in the learning process which can affect their participation and progress. Hence, the attempts of cheating in the academic process including in finishing assignments and in examinations may disrupt their confidence.
As students, we must work hard and bear any risks and circumstances of the result we may have. Cheating may lead students to have insecurity, fearfulness and anxiety to try anything they already know or anything new. The circumstances of this behaviour will cost students poor performance in the classes that lead them to negative outcomes. For example, they will not be able to solve any questions provided in the assignment, do not have a final answer and will lead to misunderstanding. As a consequence, they will have stagnant and maybe lower progress in academic performance in the future.
A lack of understanding of academic performance has proved that certain individuals or students are not having long-term educational goals. These goals are essential for students in targeting good results, especially in GPA and CGPA. The results of examinations are important for them to secure their time in graduating on time without extending their semester for high educational level students. Therefore, cheating will affect students’ views on how important is academic performance and need to be strategized both in class performance and examination.
Based on the article “How Cheating in College Hurts Students” by Josh Moody, any students who get caught cheating in exams will automatically fail the test and face disciplinary sanctions. Any failed examination tests will cause students to retake the class and pay for the credit hours they lost. This situation has shown that cheating will only burden students more compared to benefits them for personal interests. This will not only cost them time but financially too as major stressors for them to find the money to retake the classes.
In higher-level education such as universities, it is crucial for students to develop their skills and knowledge both academically and co-curricular. It is essential to develop individual development such as critical thinking, creativity and problem-solving skills. However, by attempting cheating it will not develop any of those kinds of skills as those who attempt it are living in stagnant progress and do not have any targeting goals in future. New challenges in life require those kinds of skills to be solved and encountered as a useful ability in any aspect of life especially in personal life and in job scope.
In addition, when students often cheat in most exams by not using their own skills and knowledge, people will question their capability of those skills. In securing a job, it is required for people to provide their curriculum vitae (CV), but those who cheat in their information and achievement will find difficulties proving themselves in solving the company’s problem even if they successfully get the job. Thus, it is essential for students to develop themselves as there is no place for learning and practice in their studies as it is vital to work hard rather than cheat.
Academic dishonesty often happens among students due to many factors such as time constraints, peer pressure, parents’ demands and cultural factors. These factors must be considered as challenges for students and universities to overcome. Therefore, one of the ways to avoid academic dishonesty among students is by encouraging taking business ethics courses in academic programs. Giacalone and Thompson (2006) suggest that unethical ways of cheating can be reduced and curbed through business ethics courses that expose students to ethical codes, behaviour and theories that would create awareness among students about academic dishonesty. Higher education levels institutions must encourage students to take business ethics courses as the main root of implementing ethical codes and behaviour in preventing academic dishonesty.
Business ethics courses could develop the perspective of the students about normative and descriptive elements according to an online article titled “The Reasons for Studying Business Ethics”. This article suggests that normative and descriptive ways can help people have strong beliefs about the decisions they make as business owners and how they implement the best practices in their organization. In relation to academic dishonesty, students can develop their skills, especially in decision-making and implementing practical ways of their knowledge in their academic learning process to overcome the challenges in studying. Thus, these skills can help students distinguish between ethical and unethical values in studying that can affect them positively and negatively.
According to the book “How to be a Successful Student” by Donald Martin, having a proper plan by setting up your goals will focus your attention, provide motivation and can measure your progress as a student. The author claims that it is required for a student to have a long-term plan thinking about what they want to achieve in three to five years forward. The consequences of a good plan can strengthen students’ will to succeed in their academics and grab every opportunity. Students will learn to become more responsible when they have a proper study plan to develop a personal approach to learning, taking tests, overviewing the subject’s material and solving any problems during classes.
Hence, students can categorize their proper study plan by analyzing their study style, evaluating their commitments, time management, considering breaks and setting up their goals as their main tools to be successful students. Academic dishonesty occurs when students do not plan their studies properly as they want. The consequences of these circumstances lead to negative behaviours such as procrastinating, laziness and stagnant progress in their academics. Thus, any examination, test and assignment assigned will lead students to plagiarize, cheat and falsify any information needed for their personal interest having good scores without working on getting it in the proper ways.
The requirements for students completing their assignments and assessments in the academic process require them to use authorized resources. Understanding and following the syllabus guidelines is essential for students to know any clarification before submitting their work. Any assignment and assessments provided must be free from any element of plagiarism, fabrication and collaboration of any other students, especially in individual tasks. Therefore, students must ask for clarification from their respective lecturers and ask questions to get clarification and avoid academic dishonesty intentionally or unintentionally.
In order to have successful scores on the assignment or assessments, great students must know how to use research materials correctly by paraphrasing, quoting and citing all the sources used such as articles, journals, books and websites. Nowadays, the most common software to check plagiarism is “Turnitin” which assists lecturers to detect any work that was done without proper citation from main sources. However, according to Horovitz (2008), copyright infringement can occur to students that used any resources that were unauthorized. Hence, to avoid academic dishonesty, students must use authorized resources provided by consulting and asking for clarifications from their lecturer.
As a Muslim, it is crucial to apply integrity and honesty in many aspects of life, especially academic matters. Jameelah (1983) argues that as in any religion, academic dishonesty is contrary to Islamic teachings, in which honesty in any aspect of life is required as guidance to its followers. Other than that, students who practice academic dishonesty are more likely to be less involved in religious activities Michelson and colleagues (2007). According to the book “Ethics & Fiqh for Everyday Life”, the status of man in Islam has been granted many distinctive qualities that placed man on the highest pedestal in the hierarchy of creations.
Therefore, as Muslims, we must show and practice good moral values in our lives such as trustworthiness, applying justice and having Ihsan to be a successful Muslim. Academic dishonesty refers to lies in cheating and plagiarizing that are considered unacceptable in Islamic teachings as Allah says in Surah Ghafir verse 28 “..Indeed, Allah does not guide one who is a transgressor and a liar”. Thus, students who want to be successful in studying must attain Allah’s pleasure as seeking knowledge is considered Ibadah in Muslim life. Ibadah in seeking knowledge has been mentioned in Surah Mujadila verse 11 “…Allah will raise up, by many degrees, those of you who believe and those who have been given knowledge. And Allah is acquainted with what you do”.
Seeking knowledge in proper ways grants Muslims good deeds that will affect many aspects of their lives positively. For those who are truly understanding in seeking knowledge, they know the essentials of practising it in their daily lives in order to do amar ma’aruf wal nahi munkar (enjoining right and forbidding evil). Hence, a good Muslim will be able to follow Allah’s orders and abandon Allah’s forbiddance. To be successful students we must always implement Islamic teachings and rulings in our daily academic activities to have great enjoyment in seeking knowledge.
In conclusion, academic dishonesty will always be considered an unethical and wrong way for students to achieve success. The consequences of academic dishonesty will cost more in the long term rather than the temporary benefit students get. These circumstances of dishonesty have become a major problem in most universities and other higher education institutions. These issues need to be addressed by the management to provide effective ways to curb these problems in universities.
Ethical and moral development are the two main aspects that must be considered by students to be successful future generations and to face more major challenges in their lives. Good ethical and moral development must be fostered in each individual to have high integrity when doing their work. Committing academic dishonesty in the early learning process could damage the reputation of students in securing jobs and facing society. Other than that, all students must apply religious values in their studies to help them have a more holistic approach, purify their souls and ease their minds whenever they tend to commit academic dishonesty.
(This article is written as part of Ethics and Fiqh of Contemporary Issues, UNGS 2380 class)