Human Nature | 020 Community and character | 02140 Cheating | 02141 Cheating

02141 Cheating

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How big a problem is the mislabeling of figures, or falsification and fabrication of data generally? Is not Goodwin's behavior extremely unusual? And is it not true that most graduate students react the way Padilla, Ly, and Allen reacted?

Unfortunately, the answers are unclear. Graduate students report that faculty do not seem to convey the message that there is more to being a good professional than simply being a state-of-the-art technical expert. Nor are students getting explicit instruction on what it means to be ethically responsible. In 1997, approximately 63% of the students in Prof. Robert McGinn's engineering classes reported getting this message. In 2001, about 60% reported getting the message.

In 1997, approximately 20% reported that their engineering instructors had conveyed specific information about what it means to be ethically responsible. Four years later, this percentage had dropped to 12%.

Author: Gary Comstock
Maintained By: Gary Comstock
Last Updated: 2007-06-17