Assignment: Discuss the Ethics and Diversity

Assignment: Discuss the Ethics and Diversity

Ethics and Diversity are two of the four Capstone Learning Outcomes, and collaboration is one of the SLA competencies associated with the course outcome of Communication. You will collaborate with your classmates throughout this course by providing feedback and suggestions for improvement on several course assignments, as well as participating in group problem-solving. Like all the pre-assessments, this activity allows you to demonstrate your current strengths and identify areas you’ll need to improve to successfully complete the Capstone. Specifically in this group exercise you will consider the relationship between academic honesty and workplace honesty. We hope you will find this an accessible topic. It’s essential you demonstrate your best work, as we will use the results to determine individual remediation needs and your own readiness for the Capstone.

In its most simple meaning, ethics is a system of moral principles. The study of ethics is a branch of philosophy examining standards of right and wrong. For a quick overview of major ethical theories, review the Ethics Resources [PDF File size, 26KB] document.

It’s also important that you pause to consider your personal experience with—or study of—diverse cultures and contemplate how personal biases, emotions, and stereotypes can affect the way cultural issues may be perceived. For a quick overview of cross-cultural theory, review the Diverse Cultures Resources [PDF File size, 84KB] document.

Achieving group consensus through collaborative communication is a skill employers increasingly find valuable. Learning with others is a synergistic process. Laal and Laal (2012) emphasize the potential value of collaboration as a learning tool, provided that individuals accept responsibility for their own actions and acknowledge the value of others’ contributions to a final product. The process of collaboration can help develop an individual’s critical thinking, problem solving, and communication skills—skills employers tend to place on their “most desired” list for prospective employees.

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Directions for the Collaborative Activity

Issues related to academic honesty and integrity are increasingly prevalent in higher education. When presented with the evidence of their academic dishonesty, some react defensively and claim they’re being falsely accused, while others allege discriminatory practices and blame anyone and everything except themselves for the situation. You’re probably most aware of plagiarism as an academic honesty violation. Here is a different type of problem.

Smart Strategy or Slippery Slope

A student thinks the degree “is just a piece of paper” needed to get a better job. The student decides to outsource capstone assignments, sends weekly materials to a ghostwriter saying “follow the instructions, don’t plagiarize, and don’t miss the deadlines.” She submits the assignments and gets good grades, until the ghostwriting arrangement is discovered. When confronted, the student has difficulty understanding what she has done wrong, since the work she submitted is original. After all, she says, successful business professionals know how to delegate tasks to achieve success.

Emerging research suggests such dishonest acts aren’t limited to the classroom, and that academic dishonesty may be a predictor of unethical behavior in the workplace. We wonder what might happen to that student in the work world.

During this collaborative discussion you will need to draw upon the following articles and other scholarly sources to support your work in this discussion. These are the sorts of articles you’ll be needing to use for your research. It’s all right if you don’t understand all the intricacies of social science research; you should be able to pick out the key points in these articles:

East, J. (2006). The problem of plagiarism in academic culture. International Journal for Educational Integrity, Retrieved from http://www.ojs.unisa.edu.au/index.php/IJEI/article/view/88

Elias, R. (2009). The Impact of anti-Intellectualism attitudes and academic self-efficacy on business students’ perceptions of cheating. Journal of Business Ethics, 86(2), 199-209. doi:10.1007/s10551-008-9843-8, Permalink: http://vlib.excelsior.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=37321611&site=eds-live&scope=site

Fawley, N. E. (2007). Plagiarism Pitfalls: Addressing Cultural Differences in the Misuse of Sources. [PDF, file size 538 KB] International Journal of Learning,14(7), 71-74.