Presented by: Anna Gunderson

Purpose: To discourage students from cheating in their schools, no matter what age, and to
inform them about a solution to help the problem.
Thesis: There should be an honor code within students to help themselves from cheating on any
assignment.
I.

Introduction: 36% of college students reported paraphrasing/copying a few sentences

without footnoting it, according to a survey done by Donald McCabe from Rutgers
University, which the survey was done over three years in 2002-2005. There are so many
different ways to cheat in education, it is hard to over come the urge to do it. Although it
doesnt sound like it, a lot of students are doing it, so I think there should be different
ways to prevent cheating. I am credible on this topic because I researched it and I can
give you all as students multiple ways to prevent cheating and plagiarism in your work.
A. Problem: The amount of cheating in junior high students all the way through
college students has dramatically increased over the past years.
B. Cause: The value of education is decreasing, while the value of grades is
increasing.
C. Solution: There should be a way for students to create an honor code for
themselves to help prevent cheating in education systems.

Transition: Why is cheating such a big problem in schools?

II.

Problem: The amount of cheating in Americas school systems has dramatically

increased over the past years.
A. In an article from The New York Times on education written in 2012, Richard
Perez-Pena states, Cheating has become easier and more widely tolerated, and

both schools and parents have failed to give students strong, repetitive messages
about what is allowed and what is prohibited. There are so many ways to cheat;
it is no wonder that the numbers have gone up over the years.
B. Universities and previous education institutions dont do that well of a job
enforcing the rules, like when reading the syllabus. They are not giving students a
full understanding of what is to be expected, because they dont see it happen
when someone gets caught.
C. An academic cheating fact sheet researched by the Educational Testing Service
written in 2012 stated that cheating does not stop after college graduation. They
said resume fraud is a serious issue for employers, with about 41% of candidates
lying about their education, which was quoted from Daniel Deyoung from an
article from HireSafe written in December of 2012.
Transition: Since this is a problem that could continue into a students future, we must figure
out why it was a problem in the first place.
III.

Cause: The value of education is decreasing, while the value of grades in increasing.
A. Heidi Krick, from the University of North Carolina, wrote in 2013 that grades
tend to lessen students interest in learning, grades create a preference for the
easiest possible task and grades tend to reduce the students quality of thinking,
which was from a 1999 study that she claims to hold true still today.
B. There is a great pressure on students in any level in education, so it makes sense
that students are not thinking about the process of their education, but rather they
are thinking about their success at the end of it all.

Transition: With the problem and cause determined, we have to think of a solution for this
problem.
IV.

Solution: The students and instructors should be able to come up with some kind of honor
code to build a more honest and ethical education system.
A. With all of the different ways for students to be able to cheat, there should be a
way to curve these ways and fight this dishonesty.
B. From Donald McCabe decade of research from the last 30 years, they show that
honor codes used by students whenever they turn in a paper, or exam, or
homework assignment, have successfully lowered rates of cheating, in any kind of
institution.
C. So what are the ways that can prevent cheating in the classrooms?

V.

Conclusion: There are so many ways an instructor can prevent cheating, as well as the
students.
A. Caroline clearly states what she expects out of us when we write our speeches,
and that is exactly what more teachers should be doing. We get a harsh
punishment like losing points if there is plagiarism, but that is how we learn and
also how we make sure we are not cheating.
B. What us as students can do, is make our own sort of honor code. I urge you to
make a pact with yourself, if we can write these speeches without cheating, we
can do any assignment without cheating. Know the different ways of cheating,
and make an honor code in the beginning of the school year and stick with it.
Inform your teacher at the beginning of the semester that you have an honor code,
and they could make one for the whole class, and even explain what more

consequences could happen to the individual. I also want you to go to your

professors for help, they can help you with any questions you have, which will
help you learn the topic, and help prevent any cheating or plagiarism in the
course.
C. There are a couple websites that you can go on to make sure you are not cheating,
which are: http://en.writecheck.com/home/, or
http://www.grammarly.com/?q=plagiarism&utm_source=google&utm_medium=
cpc&utm_campaign=Search&utm_content=48265631766&utm_term=check%20
plagiarism&matchtype=b&placement=&network=g&gclid=CPWtpIeAuMICFQE
DaQodl4kA1g.
D. Cheating is a big problem in our education system, and although small, these are
some steps that you can do to help the problem, starting here at UMD.

Bibliography
Deyoung, Daniel. "HireSafe Background Check." HireSafe Background Check. HireSafe, 4 Dec.
2012. Web. 6 Dec. 2014. <http://www.hiresafe.com/blog/12-1204/THREE_important_statistics_about_resume_fraud.aspx>.

"Facts & Stats." Plagiarism.org. Plagiarism.org, 2012. Web. 07 Dec. 2014.

<http://www.plagiarism.org/resources/facts-and-stats/>.
Krick, Heidi. "Value of Education Forgotten, More Focus on Grades." The Blue Banner.
University of North

Carolina, 20 Feb. 2013. Web. 08 Dec. 2014.

<http://thebluebanner.net/value-of- education-forgotten-more-focus-on-grades/>.

McCabe, Donald L. "Cheating in Academic Institutions: A Decade of Research." Ethics and

Behavior. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., 2001. Web. 6 Dec. 2014.
<http://www.middlebury.edu/media/view/257513/original/Decade_of_Research.pdf>.
Prez-pea, Richard. "Studies Find More Students Cheating, With High Achievers No
Exception." The New York Times. The New York Times, 07 Sept. 2012. Web. 6 Dec.
2014. <http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/08/education/studies-show-more-studentscheat-even-high-achievers.html?_r=1&>.