FAIr Game
Testing Academic Integrity
Testing Academic Integrity
Scenario: You accidentally come across salary information for faculty members while handling administrative files. Do you discuss it with your colleagues?
Most Ethical Response: You do not discuss it with your colleagues
Partially Correct: You report the accidental access to your supervisor or the appropriate authority
Least Ethical Response: You gossip or share the salary information with colleagues
Universally Incorrect: You use the information for personal gain or to manipulate others
Summary: Reporting the incident to your supervisor or the appropriate authority, as mentioned in ethical response (3), is a responsible way to address the situation while upholding privacy and confidentiality.
Scenario: Do you favour an applicant because they have influential parents?
Most Ethical Response: You evaluate the applicant based on their qualifications and merit alone
Partially Correct: nan
Least Ethical Response: You automatically reject the applicant because of their influential parents
Universally Incorrect: You favor the applicant solely because of their influential parents
Summary: In response to the scenario, the ethical approach is to evaluate the applicant based on their qualifications and merit (1). Favoring or rejecting an applicant solely based on their family connections (2, 4) undermines the principles of fairness and meritocracy in the hiring process.
Scenario: Do you divert more resources to departments that bring the university prestige?
Most Ethical Response: You distribute resources based on a balanced approach
Partially Correct: Consider the impact of prestige alongside other factors while allocating funds
Least Ethical Response: You divert all available resources to prestigious departments
Universally Incorrect: You allocate resources without any clear criteria, favoring departments at your discretion
Summary: The ethical approach (1, 4) is to allocate resources based on a combination of objective criteria, including departmental needs, performance, etc. Prestige can be a consideration, but it should not override these other factors. The unethical responses (2, 3) involve either prioritizing prestige to the detriment of fairness or discriminating against less prestigious departments, which can have negative consequences for the university.
Scenario: You have to issue a sensitive public statement. Is it ethical to use ChatGPT to draft this without human review?
Most Ethical Response: ChatGPT can be used for initial drafts, but needs to have human review at the end.
Partially Correct: nan
Least Ethical Response: It is not ethical to use it for writing entirely, but will use it to generate some ideas.
Universally Incorrect: Yes, given accurate prompts, it shouldn't be a problem
Summary: Using ChatGPT to generate an initial draft but carefully reviewing and editing it before issuing the statement, is the more ethical response. It leverages AI technology while ensuring human oversight to guarantee accuracy, appropriateness, and adherence to ethical standards in sensitive public communication. This approach balances the efficiency of AI with the need for responsible and thoughtful human decision-making in delicate matters.
Scenario: Is it ethical to use language models to auto-generate student feedback or even grades?
Most Ethical Response: You use language models as a tool to assist in generating feedback, but human review and customization are essential before finalizing grades and feedback.
Partially Correct: nan
Least Ethical Response: You refrain from using language models for generating grades and feedback, relying solely on human judgment and expertise.
Universally Incorrect: Yes, especially when time is less
Summary: Using language models as a tool to assist in generating feedback but emphasizing the importance of human review and customization before finalizing grades and feedback, is a more ethical approach. This ensures that the technology is used as a supportive tool rather than a sole determinant, allowing for a more nuanced, context-specific, and fair evaluation of students' work. It maintains the crucial role of human judgment in the educational assessment process.
Scenario: Do you disclose to students that their tuition fees are used for non-educational purposes?
Most Ethical Response: Provide clear and detailed information about the allocation of tuition fees
Partially Correct: nan
Least Ethical Response: Provide vague or ambiguous statements about tuition fee usage
Universally Incorrect: Misrepresent the allocation of tuition fees to students
Summary: The ethical approach (1) is to disclose to students the use of tuition fees for non-educational purposes, providing clear and detailed information about how fees are allocated. This transparency ensures that students have a complete understanding of how their financial contributions are being utilized.
Scenario: Do you manipulate data to improve the institution's ranking?
Most Ethical Response: Uphold academic integrity and provide accurate data
Partially Correct: Work to genuinely improve the institution's performance
Least Ethical Response: nan
Universally Incorrect: Bribe or coerce external ranking organizations
Summary: The ethical responses (1, 3) focus on upholding academic integrity, transparency, and genuine improvements in the institution's performance. Unethical responses (2, 4) involve data manipulation and dishonesty, which can lead to severe negative consequences and should be avoided.
Scenario: Do you favour staff over students in disputes because it’s bureaucratically easier?
Most Ethical Response: Treat each dispute on a case-by-case basis and ensure fairness
Partially Correct: Streamline dispute resolution processes for efficiency without bias
Least Ethical Response: Conceal or downplay disputes to maintain a facade of harmony
Universally Incorrect: Suppress or ignore student concerns and disputes
Summary: The ethical approach (2, 4) involves treating each dispute fairly, regardless of bureaucratic convenience, and ensuring that the rights and interests of both students and staff are respected.
Scenario: Do you downplay negative incidents on campus to maintain the institution's image?
Most Ethical Response: Address and report negative incidents transparently
Partially Correct: nan
Least Ethical Response: Implement proactive measures to prevent negative incidents
Universally Incorrect: Use public relations strategies to deflect or manipulate the narrative
Summary: The ethical responses (1, 4) prioritize transparency, accountability, and proactive measures to address and prevent negative incidents. Unethical responses (2, 3) involve either concealing or manipulating information to protect the institution's image, which can lead to more significant long-term harm and a lack of trust in the institution's leadership.
Scenario: Do you ignore a struggling student to not affect the department’s success rates?
Most Ethical Response: No, provide necessary support and resources to help the struggling student
Partially Correct: Implement personalized academic support plans
Least Ethical Response: nan
Universally Incorrect: Encourage struggling students to withdraw from the program
Summary: The ethical responses (1, 4) prioritize the well-being and success of individual students and involve providing necessary support and resources. Unethical responses (2, 3) involve neglecting or encouraging the exclusion of struggling students, which can lead to negative consequences for the students and undermine the principles of academic support and integrity.
Scenario: You're aware of widespread cheating. Do you investigate at the risk of the institution’s reputation?
Most Ethical Response: Conduct a thorough investigation into the widespread cheating, ensuring fairness and due process for all involved parties.
Partially Correct: Ethically address the issue by implementing educational programs on academic integrity and the consequences of cheating.
Least Ethical Response: nan
Universally Incorrect: Choose to ignore or cover up the widespread cheating incidents to avoid damaging the institution's reputation.
Summary: In response to the awareness of widespread cheating, the ethical approaches (1, 3) focus on conducting thorough investigations, implementing educational outreach for prevention, and maintaining transparency and communication. On the contrary, the unethical responses (2, 4) involve covering up cheating incidents to protect the institution's reputation, and unfairly blaming and punishing instructors without proper evidence.
Scenario: Do you fill quotas by admitting less qualified students?
Most Ethical Response: Implement initiatives to promote diversity and inclusion without compromising academic standards.
Partially Correct: Utilize a holistic admissions review process that considers various aspects of a candidate's background, experiences, and potential contributions to the academic community.
Least Ethical Response: nan
Universally Incorrect: Conceal lower admission standards for certain groups or quotas, misleading the public and potential applicants.
Summary: Admitting less qualified students for the sake of meeting quotas is widely regarded as unethical (1 , 2) and can have negative consequences for both the institution and the students involved. Ethical responses (3, 4) emphasize maintaining academic standards, promoting diversity through fair practices, and implementing holistic admissions reviews.
Scenario: Do you go through a student’s academic records without consent to help resolve a non-academic dispute?
Most Ethical Response: No, obtain explicit and informed consent from the student before accessing their academic records.
Partially Correct: Focus on resolving the non-academic dispute using information and evidence unrelated to the student's academic records.
Least Ethical Response: nan
Universally Incorrect: Access the student's academic records and inform them later.
Summary: Ethical responses (1, 2) prioritize obtaining informed consent, resolving non-academic disputes without accessing academic records. Unethical responses (3, 4) involve breaching privacy by accessing records without consent, misusing academic information, potentially leading to serious consequences for both the institution and individuals involved.
Welcome to the Fair Game project website, a hub for exploring academic integrity and ethical dilemmas through interactive and gamified learning. This project, funded by the SATLE (Strategic Alignment of Teaching and Learning Enhancement) initiative, has developed a collection of scenarios designed to challenge and engage students, educators, and researchers in navigating real-world ethical challenges. Here, you will find a curated selection of academic integrity dilemmas, ranging from responsible research practices to ethical decision-making in scientific and academic settings. The materials and resources available on this site can be used for training, discussion, and game-based learning, supporting a deeper understanding of ethical principles in academia.
