Academic honor code
An academic honor code is a framework of rules and principles that govern the behavior of students within an academic community, designed to promote integrity and self-regulation. These codes typically emphasize the importance of avoiding cheating, lying, and stealing, often requiring students to pledge their adherence. Originating in military academies, honor codes have been adopted by many educational institutions, including colleges, universities, and even some secondary schools. Proponents argue that these codes foster a culture of accountability and may lead to reduced instances of academic dishonesty. However, studies reveal mixed results regarding their effectiveness; while some students report lower rates of cheating in schools with honor codes, a significant number also admit to not reporting peers who violate these codes. The landscape of academic integrity is further complicated by the emergence of generative artificial intelligence tools, prompting many institutions to revise their honor codes to address new challenges posed by technology. Overall, the success of an honor code relies on the collective commitment of students to uphold its ideals and the willingness to hold each other accountable.
Academic honor code
Academic honor codes are sets of rules or beliefs that govern a school, university, or other academic community. The code may define what constitutes honorable behavior in the specific academic community, typically including pledges to avoid cheating. Students promise to adhere to the tenets of the code, or they will be subject to sanctions or other consequences.
Honor codes are typically associated with military schools. However, many colleges and universities have traditionally used these codes as well. In modern times, many secondary and even elementary schools have instituted honor codes.
Proponents of academic honor codes say that establishing an honor code reinforces the importance of self-regulating one’s actions and making good choices. Honor codes help schools develop an atmosphere of accountability. Some studies indicate that less cheating takes place in schools with honor codes. However, other studies have found that the percentage of students who report others for cheating is small.
Background
Codes of honor are based on the idea of individuals being of good character. The word honor comes from Latin honos or honor, a word that meant esteem, rewards or ceremonies recognizing merit, and public office. Because those who held public office were expected to be of good character, the title honorable is often bestowed on leaders: for example, “the honorable Jane Doe, American ambassador.” In court, judges are addressed as “your honor.”
The notion of honor and what it means has a long history and varies by time and culture. For women, honor was often a euphemism for chastity or fidelity to one’s husband. For men, one’s honor frequently was linked to military exploits and personal integrity, such as paying one’s debts. Those regarded as being without honor were shunned by society. By refusing to permit such individuals from engaging in social activities, the community cut off the allegedly dishonorable person from a great deal of power and opportunity. During the Middle Ages in Europe, disputes were often mediated by courts of honor. Such official bodies were established to prevent duels, which were called affairs of honor.
The first documented academic honor code in the United States was created at the College of William and Mary during the early eighteenth century. Thomas Jefferson and Reverend James Madison helped to develop this code. Students pledged verbally to uphold the college’s ideals by never cheating, lying, or stealing. This vow governed their actions both while they were enrolled and after. These three transgressions are typically at the heart of honor codes.
Among the most well-known honor codes in the United States are those of military academies. These elite universities turn out officers for the branches of service, including the US Air Force, US Army, US Coast Guard, and US Navy. For example, the US Military Academy at West Point, which educates cadets for the US Army, has had an honor code since its establishment in the early nineteenth century. The first form of the honor code stated that a cadet is honest and the cadet’s word is good. Eventually, the honor code became a simple vow, “A cadet will not lie, cheat, steal or tolerate those who do.” Failure to live up to this pledge resulted in expulsion. This code stood alone until the late twentieth century, when a program known as the Willful Admission Process was instituted. This process allowed cadets who willfully admitted their guilt to remain enrolled at West Point. Following a scandal in 2020, when seventy-three cadets were accused of cheating on a calculus final exam while taking it remotely during the global COVID-19 pandemic, six students resigned, eight were expelled, fifty-nine admitted to cheating, and fifty-five remained enrolled and on probation after their cases were decided. In the aftermath of this scandal, the academy ended the Willful Admission Process.
Overview
Honor codes typically require students to follow a set of rules requiring them not to cheat and to be honest. The success of an honor code requires that individuals take it seriously. They must do more than hold themselves up to these ideals; they must be willing to report others who do not.
Some schools have honors councils to enforce the code. Members of the council may be elected by the student body. The council passes judgment on students accused of breaking the honor code.
Despite the long tradition of academic honor codes, many institutions of higher education have found them ineffective. Colleges and universities have conducted student surveys that revealed students had cheated and had not reported others who were cheating. Middlebury College in Vermont, for example, had a longstanding practice in which professors needed permission from the dean to be in the room while students were taking exams. Middlebury was rocked in 2013 when a student conducted a survey for an economics course. He found that of the 377 students who responded, 35 percent admitted they had violated the honor code at least once during that academic year. The following year, a student government survey found that 63 percent of Middlebury students would likely not report classmates if they witnessed cheating on exams. Other universities found similar results. In 2010, 45 percent of undergraduates at Stanford University said they would not report cheating. Just four of eighty-five Princeton University students who witnessed cheating reported it, according to a survey.
Students engaged in remote or distant learning may be more likely to violate honor codes by cheating. Ohio University researchers reported that fully online students taking a psychology course were significantly more likely to cheat than students in blended online/in-person classes.
Like West Point, some colleges have one-strike rules. Violators of the honor code are expelled. Others, such as Haverford College in Pennsylvania, focus on using such episodes as teaching moments and community building. For example, a student who was found guilty sent an apology email to the entire campus.
The rise of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools, such as ChatGPT, impacted cheating at universities and high school campuses worldwide. Many schools revamped not only their honor codes but also the ways in which students were tested. In-person exams and even using pen and paper have been reinstituted by campuses attempting to reign in efforts to cheat. In 2023, The University of Notre Dame found that thirty percent of honor code violations were linked to AI. In an effort to combat inappropriate use of the tool, Notre Dame changed their academic honor code to explicitly state that any use of generative AI tools not authorized by an instructor would be in violation of the campus's honor code.
Bibliography
Brook, Tom Vande. “Eight Cadets at West Point Expelled for Cheating, Over 50 Set Back a Year.” USA Today, 16 Apr. 2021, HYPERLINK "http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/04/16/west-points-worst-cheating-scandal-45-years-expels-eight/7121457002/" www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/04/16/west-points-worst-cheating-scandal-45-years-expels-eight/7121457002/. Accessed 26 Apr. 2021.
Corrigan-Gibbs, Henry, Nakull Gupta, Curtis Northcutt, Edward Cutrell, and William Thies. “Measuring and Maximizing the Effectiveness of Honor Codes in Online Courses.” L@S ’15: Proceedings of the Second (2015) ACM Conference on Learning @ Scale. Mar. 2015, pp. 223 – 228. doi.org/10.1145/2724660.2728663
Kolowich, Steve. “Far from Honorable.” Inside Higher Ed, 25 Oct. 2011, HYPERLINK "http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/10/25/online-students-might-feel-less-accountable-honor-codes" www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/10/25/online-students-might-feel-less-accountable-honor-codes. Accessed 23 Apr. 2021.
Konheim-Kalkstein, Yasmine L., Mark A. Stellmack, and Margaret L. Shilkey. “Comparison of Honor Code and Non-Honor Code Classrooms at a Non-Honor Code University.” Journal of College and Character, vol. 9, no. 3, 2008. K "https://doi.org/10.2202/1940-1639.1115" doi.org/10.2202/1940-1639.1115.
Malesky, Alvin, Cathy Grist, Kendall Poovey, and Nicole Dennis. “The Effects of Peer Influence, Honor Codes, and Personality Traits on Cheating Behavior in a University Setting.” Ethics & Behavior, 18 Jan. 2021, HYPERLINK "https://doi.org/10.1080/10508422.2020.1869006" doi.org/10.1080/10508422.2020.1869006.
Price, Liam. “Generative AI-Related Honor Code Violations Rise as Notre Dame Students Learn New Uses.” The Observer, 31 January 2024, www.ndsmcobserver.com/article/2024/01/generative-ai-related-honor-code-violations-rise-as-notre-dame-students-learn-new-uses. Accessed 28 May 2024.
Smith, Craig Bruce. “West Point’s Honor Code Returns to the 18th Century.” The Hill, 25 Apr. 2021, YPERLINK "https://thehill.com/opinion/civil-rights/550168-west-points-honor-code-returns-to-the-18th-century" thehill.com/opinion/civil-rights/550168-west-points-honor-code-returns-to-the-18th-century. Accessed 26 Apr. 2021.
Tatum, Holly E., Beth M. Schwartz, Megan C. Hageman, and Shelby L. Koretke. “College Students’ Perceptions of and Responses to Academic Dishonesty: An Investigation of Type of Honor Code, Institution Size, and Student-Faculty Ratio.” Ethics & Behavior, vol. 28, no. 4, 2018, pp. 302–315. doi.org/10.1080/10508422.2017.1331132
“VMI Honor System History.” Virginia Military Institute, www.vmi.edu/archives/vmi-archives-faqs/vmi-honor-system-history/. Accessed 23 Apr. 2021.
Yavorski, Kimberly. “The Increasing Relevance of Honor Codes.” Higher Ed Connects, 15 Dec. 2019, higheredconnects.com/honor-codes/. Accessed 26 Apr. 2021.