The Systemic Problem of Academic Dishonesty in Computer Science Courses

This article uses the author's experience combating plagiarism in undergraduate computer science courses to illustrate a systemic issue: widespread student plagiarism. While instructors recognize plagiarism's severity, factors like lack of institutional support, overwhelming workload, and potential negative repercussions deter most from actively addressing it. The author argues the solution lies in shifting incentives to make plagiarism costly, streamlining plagiarism detection, and providing more support for instructors.