Discussion Board

Case: A student submitted an essay that was rewritten by an AI tool, but they did not disclose this in their submission.
 
Ethical issue: This involves plagiarism and a lack of honesty, as the student presented AI-generated work as their own original thinking, which violates academic integrity.
 
Appropriate action: First, I would have a private conversation with the student to understand their reasons. Then, I would require them to revise the essay with proper acknowledgment of AI assistance, or to rewrite it entirely on their own. Depending on the institution’s policy, a formal warning might also be issued.
 
Prevention: In the future, I will clearly outline expectations for AI use in the course syllabus, teach students how to cite AI tools properly, and design assignments that encourage original critical thinking, making it harder to rely solely on AI rewriting.

I choose to reflect on the case where a student uses AI to rewrite an essay without disclosure. To me, the core ethical issue is a lack of academic honesty and transparency, as it misleads the instructor about the student’s actual writing skills. If I encountered this, I believe the most appropriate action would be for the instructor to have an open dialogue with the student, explaining why attribution matters and perhaps allowing a resubmission with proper credit. To prevent such issues in the future, I think it is essential for teachers to provide clear, specific AI guidelines in the syllabus so we know exactly what is allowed. Additionally, incorporating “process-based” assignments—like sharing initial brainstorms or in-class reflections—would encourage us to focus more on our own learning journey rather than just the final output.

The second case:
The main ethical issue was the lack of informed consent and respect for the student’s privacy. An appropriate response would be for the teacher to remove the post immediately, apologise to the student and family, and explain why this was wrong. The school should also provide clear guidelines on using student work and images, including always obtaining written consent before any public sharing. To prevent similar issues, teachers need regular training on data privacy and professional boundaries, and schools should remind staff at the start of each term.

If a classmate submits an essay that looks much more polished than his/her usual writing, and he/she mentioned using AI to rewrite most of it, but didn’t acknowledge it. The main integrity issues are authorship and transparency: the work no longer reflects the student’s own learning, and it creates an unfair advantage over classmates who follow the rules. If I were the student, I would add an acknowledgement describing how AI was used (e.g., grammar, structure suggestions) and revise the content so the ideas and phrasing are genuinely mine. If I were a peer, I would encourage them to disclose it and check the course policy, rather than publicly accusing them. To prevent similar cases, the course should give clear guidelines on acceptable AI use, require a short AI-use statement, and design assessments that include drafts or in-class writing.

Case that I experienced as a teaching assistant:

When I was conducting a workshop consultation with students to help them formulate their research idea for the final group project, some students showed me the empirical studies provided by GenAI. After checking we found that these studies were fake.

Reflections:

The principle of integrity was involved in this case as some students used AI to generate content without acknowledging that it might lead to problematic results and the violations of authenticity and originality of their works. In such a situation, it is appropriate to show students why these “studies” provided by GenAI are fake as well as teach them how to properly search, employ, and acknowledge the works done by other people following certain principles of citation and writing principles. Taking a step further, we can provide guidance for students regarding how they can use AI tools to facilitate their research topic brainstorming, literature reading, and writing process following digital ethics.

I recently encountered a situation where a student used generative AI to heavily rewrite their homework. While they claimed it was only for grammar correction, the AI completely altered their writing style, and this usage was unacknowledged. The core ethical issue here is academic integrity and transparency. Submitting AI-generated phrasing without a declaration misrepresents the student's actual capabilities and creates an unfair grading advantage. The appropriate action would be to have an open dialogue with the student to clarify the boundaries of AI assistance. Rather than immediate punishment, allow them to resubmit their original draft with proper AI citations and also with a minor penalty to turn this into an educational moment. To prevent similar issues, instructors must establish clear, specific syllabus guidelines regarding acceptable AI use. Additionally, designing assessments that require personal reflections can naturally reduce unauthorized AI reliance.

I think the real issue here is honesty—if a big part of the essay was done or rewritten by AI and they don’t say so, it’s not really their work. That’s not fair to others and it doesn’t help them learn.

I’d have a private chat with the student first. I’d want to know how they used AI and why, and then decide whether it’s a “let’s fix this and resubmit” situation or something that has to go through formal procedures. Either way, I’d want the outcome to be clear and consistent, and to help them understand why it matters.

In a learning environment, I once observed a situation where a teacher shared a student’s assignment as an example to the whole class without asking for the student’s permission. Although the teacher’s intention was to demonstrate good work, this raises an ethical issue related to privacy and consent. Students have the right to control how their work is shared, and public exposure without consent may make them uncomfortable. An appropriate action would be for the teacher to ask the student for permission before sharing the work or anonymize the content. To prevent similar issues in the future, teachers should follow clear guidelines on protecting student privacy and always seek consent before using student work for demonstration or teaching purposes. :)

One ethical issue I observed in a learning context was a student using AI tools to rewrite an essay without acknowledging the assistance. The main integrity concern here is academic honesty and transparency. While AI can support learning, presenting AI-generated or heavily AI-edited work as entirely one’s own may misrepresent a student’s actual understanding and effort.

In such a situation, the appropriate response would be to discuss the issue with the student and clarify expectations about responsible AI use and proper acknowledgment. Instead of punishment alone, guidance should help the student understand ethical academic practices.

To prevent similar issues in the future, instructors could provide clear policies on AI use and encourage students to disclose when AI tools are used for brainstorming, editing, or drafting.

I saw a student use graphics and data from published journal without citation in a presentation. This may raise issues such as misleading the teacher that the data is from the student. O Besides, teachers may think that the data is makeup by the students or doubt about whether the data is peer reviewed. Hence, the teachers may leave negative impression on the presentation. The student should include the citation in the power point to give credit to the researcher or he may mention the publish journals/ authors during the presentation. To prevent similar issue, teachers may remind the students to use citation for their presentation materials.