IMPLEMENTING THE POLICY OF ACADEMIC HONESTY OF STUDENTS GETTING HIGHER EDUCATION BY DISTANCE LEARNING

Abstract

Fast development of distance learning caused by the COVID-19 pandemic made lack of academic honesty of students only a bigger problem as it is much more difficult for teachers to make sure their students don’t cheat while doing tests or taking exams without having full control of the situation. The purpose of this article is to suggest practical recommendations regarding upholding academic honesty by students in all the academic work.

The content of the article is based on the experience of English teachers providing distance learning for university students as well as scientific research. Thus, while the lack of academic honesty of students writing scientific papers has been widely discussed, the scientific novelty of this work is caused by the fact that for the first time in the national methodology practical experience has been summarised and recommendations have been suggested on implementing the policy of academic honesty of students doing an English course by distance learning during the whole course work. Cheating is not usually considered by students as a very serious offense that can result in punishments such as a failing grade. Moreover, as the survey suggests, most students who engage in it by letting their friends copy their work, don’t take it seriously and believe that they help their friends in this way. So it is concluded that upholding academic honesty is impossible without students understanding why it is important and what the possible consequences are. Besides, the platforms, such as Testportal, which monitor browser tab movements during test completion, make the test results more reliable. Also, communicative tasks with creative components make coping impossible and motivate students to do their own work.

It is emphasized that teachers have to create the atmosphere motivating students to do their own work and developing students’ sense of self-esteem. On the other hand, lack of academic honesty has to be punished immediately according to the ethical code of educational institutions in general.