Academic Integrity Video Lecture

We’re going to talk about an important subject for students in American schools, that is Academic Integrity. In American schools, students are expected to do their own work and not copy from other students or from books or other sources. You’ve probably been in classes where some students did this. When the teacher wasn’t looking, they look at another student’s paper. Or, maybe you have seen someone do this when they were taking a test. They wrote notes, or answers, on a small piece of paper. And took it out to look at during the test. Look at this student. He wrote his notes on his arm, and hid them under his shirt. These are all actions that happen in schools all over the world, including in the US. But in the US, they are not acceptable. Students are taught to do their own work, even if it’s not good. American students are taught that it is better to get a bad grade for your own work than to get a high grade for dishonest work. Academic integrity is about being honest and doing your own work in all situations. This applies to online classes too. When a student has an assignment to turn in online, it’s easy to use other websites to help do that assignment. But if a student is supposed to write an essay, and she copies from a book or website, she is cheating. This is not acceptable in many classrooms, and it’s not acceptable here. Copy and paste is easy to do, but it doesn’t help you learn how to write. And in American colleges, it can get you into trouble. You signed up for this class because you want to learn to write essays in English, or you want to improve your writing. You can only learn to write if you practice it yourself. So do your own work. This will help you improve your writing. And that will help you be successful.