 |
|||
|
 |
 |
|
This Week's Topic Ethics for Adult Learners Students are faced with ethical issues in their careers. The same is true in the classroom. This week’s Teaching Tips provide guidelines for ethical issues including plagiarism, cheating, and class attendance. This week’s Download Depot is an ethical decision-making model for students to use. This Week's Tips Integrating Ethics into Your Course (Monday) Integrate discussions on ethics into your course material. You may feel you have had little education in ethics as a discipline, yet you make daily decisions that have ethical ramifications. Use your own personal experience and knowledge. You need not be an ethical theorist to discuss ethical actions with your students. Your discussions can cover both personal and business ethics.
Plagiarism (Tuesday) In an academic environment, there is absolutely no room for plagiarism, and all your students need to understand this. Most colleges and universities have strict disciplinary guidelines for students who plagiarize. If no policy exists, use the following guidelines: Talk with the student to learn why the student felt it was necessary to plagiarize. Fail the student for the paper or project in question, or for the course. Ask the student to redo the paper or project in question. When Students Cheat (Wednesday) Students are under a lot of pressure for grades. This pressure, coupled with a perceived lack of time, causes some students to cheat. They may borrow or even buy a test, they may turn in a paper someone else wrote, or they may turn in a project someone else did. Many colleges and universities have strict policies for students caught cheating. If no policies exist, use the following guidelines: Talk with the student to learn why the student felt it was necessary to cheat. Fail the student for the test or project, or for the class. Class Attendance (Thursday) How important is class attendance? Should a student’s grade be affected by attendance? Many adults travel for their work. Should travel-related absences be excused? Many adults have children at home who get sick. Should related absences be excused? Follow your institution’s guidelines for attendance. If there are none, follow these guidelines: Clarify your attendance policy at the beginning of the year. Make written copies of your attendance policy, or make it a part of your syllabus. Give each student a copy. Assigning Homework to Adults (Friday) Should adult learners be assigned less homework than traditional students? Adults have busy lives; most are balancing full-time jobs and full- or part-time course loads. They also have families who need attention. Are you cheating adult learners if you expect less of them than of your traditional students? Discuss this issue with other faculty members to get a consensus. Also, discuss the workload with your students. Do they feel it is too heavy or too light? |
