Why do honor codes work

And, as happens every semester, quite a few professors will experience a sinking feeling when they stumble upon written passages that don't seem right. Maybe they will be tipped off by language that is too sophisticated or polished for a college student.

Or maybe they will read a passage in one blue book that is exactly the same as that in another. Cheating is pervasive on college campuses and most professors have stories to tell about discovering plagiarism. Exam cheating is common too, and the University of Central Florida is still reeling from a huge mid-term cheating scandal that involved some students earlier this fall. But the good news is that some professors may only encounter student cheating rarely -- or even never at all.

And chances are that those faculty teach at schools with a strong honor code. Rampant student cheating has become so familiar that it is tempting to think that the problem is intractable. That is wrong. Some colleges have much less cheating than others. And the existence of honor codes is a key factor. Summary Some of these ideas may suggest new practices for your teaching or they may trigger your own creative thinking. If any strike you as useful, try them.

Discouraging cheating in any form is something we all need to do. Next month, we will continue our discussion of classroom culture and discuss how to establish a culture that encourages learning and making mistakes. If you have suggestions for other topics or teaching practices you want to share, send them to me at This email address is being protected from spambots.

You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Honor codes help build a classroom culture now and throughout the year. By Dr. Therefore, as classroom technology use increases, the effectiveness of honor codes may decrease.

However, schools may be better equipped to track and enforce honor codes in online spaces with monitoring software like LearnSafe. Do Honor Codes Really Work? The Benefits of an Honor Code The goal of honor codes is to establish honor itself as the most important attribute that a person can have. The Drawbacks of an Honor Code Although honor codes have benefits, there are also drawbacks. Text by Jonathon Page.

Search for:. Pavela and the group of students he worked with at Maryland wondered if they could get the same effect by adopting the elements of traditional codes that actually worked.

The Maryland code included:. These elements work together in a modified code. For example, if a student is caught cheating, he or she receives an XF in the class.