Academic Integrity PSA Blog

9-18-18 Why Create an Integrity PSA
SEE invites Connecticut high school and college students to create a PSA in support of academic integrity.  SEE is administering our 6th annual Integrity PSA contest with the top three videos (as judged by professional videographers) to be recognized at our spring Character Celebration banquet.
 
SEE’s own research has revealed that up to 95% of high school students will self-report some form of cheating during a school year.  The rates tend to peak in the junior year as the pressure for college applications, class rank and GPAs is at its highest.

Our PSA contest is meant to be a creative way for students to voice their support for academic integrity and resist cheating in their school.  We seek to use the best media messages possible to develop student awareness of ethical issues.  Cheating in schools is one of those ethical issues and video messaging can be an effective means of communicating support for integrity.

11/26/18 Strategies to Host Creation of an Academic Integrity PSA
We recognize that everyone’s time is challenged in schools and recruiting students to create a PSA in support of academic integrity might not be one’s top priority. SEE makes the claim that student voice in support of academic integrity is needed and the video medium is an excellent strategy to give students that voice.

There are a variety of classes or clubs that have submitted PSAs to SEE’s contest.  Student videography clubs, chapters of Honor Societies, clubs focused specifically on academic integrity and of course videography classes.   In Videography Classes, the PSA has been assigned as a required and graded project (with or without the option of selecting other topics), as an extra credit project and/or as a service-learning project with credit given to volunteer requirements.

Recently, the videography class at Wilbur Cross in New Haven reported they were working with their drama class to create an Integrity PSA.  The drama class provides actors, script editing and set design, while the videography class completes all the recording and editing of the PSA.  A positive collaborative energy was cited in the project.
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Whatever strategy is used, SEE’s goal is to seek the authentic engagement of students to give voice for the importance of integrity within the PSA.  This is why the scoring rubric used by contest judges places the most weight on the core ethical values affirmed in the PSAs as opposed to simply pointing out harmful consequences of cheating.
 
You can find all the details about the contest and an online registration form on our project webpage at -- https://www.ethicsed.org/academic-integrity-psa-program.html

Ethics in action creates character