The Challenges of Cheating

There is an abundance of research about cheating. We all know it happens. However, the cold, sobering fact is that cheating continues to be a serious problem in higher education, and yes, students are cheating more than they did in the past (Balbuena & Lamela, 2017; Marshall & Varnon, 2017; Monahan & Shah, 2023; Weimer, 2018b). In addition, students' perception that cheating is unethical is also declining (Weimer, 2018c).

Here are some research-supported facts:

The percentage of students who cheat in the classroom ranges from 50-90%. This includes undergraduate and graduate students, with 86% of a cross-disciplinary sample of students reporting cheating (Marshall & Varnon, 2017; Monahan & Shah, 2023; Weimer, 2018b). However, most times, those who cheat never get caught (Marshall & Varnon, 2017).

Seventy-five percent of polled students believe cheating in online courses and exams is easier, and more than half have done so (Jones, 2011; Larkin & Mintu-Wimsatt, 2015).

The most common reasons students give for cheating are (Becker et al.,2006; Elias, 2017; Luckett et al., 2017; Weimer, 2017):

•  to get better grades
• time pressures,  either they procrastinated or lacked effective time management skills,
• or to protect scholarship funding

Students who cheated, plagiarized, or engaged in dishonest acts in college were more likely to engage in dishonest and unethical behaviors in the workplace (Balbuena & Lamela, 2015; Weimer, 2018c).

Although most students who cheat never get caught (Marshall & Varnon, 2017), for those who do, three interesting themes emerged as to why they cheated. The first was that they didn't know they were cheating. The second is they blamed the professor, who should have done something to mitigate the opportunity, and third, they didn't have the time, resources, or skills to effectively prepare or do the work, none of which was their responsibility (Beasley, 2014).

There is a multitude of cheating behaviors. We all know the common ones, like getting help during an exam or with an assignment meant to be done independently, plagiarizing, getting questions and answers from someone who has already taken the exam, helping someone else cheat on an exam, turning in work copied from another student, letting another student copy one's homework, and using unauthorized electronic or digital devices during an exam or as a resource for an assignment.

When it comes to cheating behaviors, there are areas of agreement, confusion, and disagreement. Most agree (faculty and students) that copying answers and turning in someone else's work as your own is cheating. However, an area of significant confusion for students is plagiarism. In a study of 172 students, 78% defined plagiarism incorrectly (Simon et al., 2004; Weimer, 2018c). Disagreement between faculty and students comes commonly in the increasing view that collaborating on an assignment or project meant to be done independently isn't cheating. Faculty strongly disagree (Weimer, 2018a).

I am sure we all have our stories about student cheating. Gone are the days when I could just walk up to a student, take their exam, having observed their eyes intently focusing on another student's paper, and tell them they got a zero for cheating (I know I am dating myself here!). The onus of proof now rests with faculty, and proving cheating has become very challenging. In my own experience and through interactions with faculty, charging a student with suspected cheating can be emotionally charged and stressful. Sometimes, faculty don't know whether the student is cheating and don't want to act because of that lack of certainty. Faculty sometimes express concerns about support from the institution. There is also sometimes fear about ligation.

So, what can we do?

Academic honesty and integrity are the responsibility of faculty and students. Part of our roles as teachers is to work to ensure that what we do and how we format or set things up in our classes, assignments, and exams reduces the risk of cheating. It's not solely on the student.

Once, I walked into a classroom during an exam at a program I had just started working for and saw all the students sitting next to each other at long tables. They were taking a paper exam. I asked if faculty were using different versions of the exam. They were not. I asked them how they ensured that no cheating was occurring, given that everyone had the same test and sat right next to each other. They told the students not to and had the students sign an honor code. Do you think students were cheating?

A common approach to addressing cheating is to try and prevent it. However, given cheating remains rampant in higher education, we don't seem to be doing a very good job. Many approaches to prevention have taken the form of mitigating the opportunities for students to cheat (Marshall & Varnon, 2017). This approach has good merit as it reinforces our role in ensuring what and how we are doing things so as not to support or provide the opportunity for cheating. Such things as exam security, spacing students out during exams, in-person proctoring, scrambling exam question order, and forbidding electronic devices, such as cell phones, have helped (Marshall & Varnon, 2017). But these steps are not enough. Several studies have shown that having an honor code has been successful in reducing classroom cheating (Ely, Henderson & Wachsman, 2013; Marshall & Varnon, 2017). However, the mere existence of an honor code may not be enough to reduce or dissuade cheating (Bing et al., 2012).  

In addition to continuing to do things to mitigate the opportunity for cheating, the research suggests that we are not doing well because we are not clearly defining for students what is and isn't cheating (Weimer, 2018a). We potentially make assumptions students know what it is, and we all agree it is unethical. But the research suggests otherwise. Given all the changes in education from in-person to virtual to online to hybrid teaching, and now with the introduction of AI technologies like ChatGPT, new cheating opportunities have emerged in addition to the old tried and true ones.

So, how can we support and encourage academic integrity? We need to take the time to review and specifically explain what is considered cheating, including specific examples of behaviors and what is not cheating. From my experience, one major issue I and others have come across is students' lack of understanding of plagiarism, one of the more common types of cheating. Consider, if you don't already, taking time at the start of the program to review the standards of conduct and dovetail that with academic integrity, specifically defining what constitutes cheating. This can take the form of using scenarios and having students identify whether they think it is cheating (Weimer, 2018d).   Research also suggests that reminding students, perhaps at the start of each semester, is also helpful (Marshall & Varnon, 2017). Students also fail to appreciate how cheating impacts them and potentially their future patients (Weimer, 2018b). Another approach is to share the true negative effects of cheating beyond just getting caught. Cheating doesn't fill this gap if they don't learn or know the information. Cheating makes the student appear to know the information when they don't, which can have devastating effects as a healthcare provider. If you don't have a class honor code, consider one. It is helpful to have the students come up with this code after learning about academic integrity, what is and isn't cheating, and the consequences for their classmates if they violate the code. This would be in addition to the program or institution's response if the student is charged with cheating.

Although we cannot directly control our students' behavior or choices, we can and should take steps to mitigate cheating both by what we do and by better educating the students about what is and isn't considered cheating and clarifying plagiarism.

 References

Balbuena, S. E. & Lamela, R. A. (2015). Prevalence, motives, and views of academic dishonesty in higher education. Asia Pacific Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, 3(2), 69-75.

Becker, D., Connolly, J., Lentz, P. & Morrison, J. (2006). Using the business fraud triangle to predict academic dishonesty among business students. Academy of Educational Leadership Journal, 10(1), 37-54.

Beasley, E. (2014). Students reported for cheating explain what they think would have stopped them. Ethics and Behavior, 24(3), 229-252.

Bing, M. H., Davison, S., Vitelli, J., Ammeter, A. P., Garner, B. L. & Novicevic, M. M. (2012). An experiential investigation of an interactive model of academic cheating among business school students. Academy of Management Learning and Education, 11(1). 28-48.

Brernardi, R., Goetjen, E., & Brax, J. (2013). Whistle-blowing in the classroom. The influences of students' perceptions of whistleblowers, accounting for the public interest: An international perspective on accounting in society. In S. Mintz (Ed.) The advances in business ethics research series (4^th ed., pp 247-27

Elias, R. Z. (2017). Academic entitlement and its relationship with perception of cheating ethics. Journal of Education for Business, 92(4), 194-199

Ely, J. J., Henderson, L., & Wachsman, Y. (2013). Testing the effectiveness of the university honor code. Academy of Educational Leadership Journal, 17(4), 95-104.

Jones, D. (2011). Academic dishonesty: Are more students cheating? Business Communication Quarterly, 74(2), 141-150.

Larkin, C., & Mintu-Wimsatt, A. (2015). Comparing cheating behaviors among graduate and undergraduate online business students. Journal of Higher Education Theory and Practice, 15(7), 54-62.

Luckett, M., Trocchia, P. J., Noel, M. N., & Marlin, D. (2017). A typology of students based on academic entitlement. Journal of Education for Business, 92(2), 96-102.

Marshall, L.L., & Varnon, A. W. (2017). Attach on academic dishonesty: What lies ahead? Journal of Academic Administration in Higher Education, 13(2), 31-40.

Monahan, M., & Shah, A. (2023). Academic dishonestly: An exploration study of traditional versus non-traditional students. Research in Higher Education Journal, 43(March), 1-9.

Nonis, S. & Swift, C. (2001). An examination of the relationship between academic dishonesty and workplace dishonesty: A multicampus investigation. Journal of Education for Business, 77(2), 69-78.

Simon, C., Carr, J., McCullough, S., Morgan, S., Oleson, T. & Ressel, M. (2004). Gender, students perceptions, institutional commitment and academic dishonesty: who reports academic dishonest cases> Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 29(1), 75-90.

Weimer, M. (2017). Cheating and Student Entitlement. The Teaching Professor. https://www.teachingprofessor.com/topics/classroom-climate/academic-integrity/cheating-and-student-entitlement/

Weimer, M. (2018a). Activities that promote awareness and what is and isn't cheating. The Teaching Professor.

Weimer, M. (2018b). Cheating: Can we be doing more to promote academic integrity? The Teaching Professor.

 Weimer, M. (2018c). Fact Sheet on cheating in college. The Teaching Professor.

 Weimer, M. (2018d). Scenarios: Is it cheating? The Teaching Professor.