What motivates academic dishonesty in students? A reinforcement sensitivity theory explanation

BACKGROUND: Academic dishonesty (AD) is an increasing challenge for universities worldwide. The rise of the Internet has further increased opportunities for students to cheat. AIMS: In this study, we investigate the role of personality traits defined within Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory (RST) as potential determinants of AD. RST defines behaviour as resulting from approach (Reward Interest/reactivity, goal-drive, and Impulsivity) and avoidance (behavioural inhibition and Fight-Flight-Freeze) motivations. We further consider the role of deep, surface, or achieving study motivations in mediating/moderating the relationship between personality and AD. SAMPLE: A sample of UK undergraduates (N = 240). METHOD: All participants completed the RST Personality Questionnaire, a short-form version of the study process questionnaire and a measure of engagement in AD, its perceived prevalence, and seriousness. RESULTS: Results showed that RST traits account for additional variance in AD. Mediation analysis suggested that GDP predicted dishonesty indirectly via a surface study approach while the indirect effect via deep study processes suggested dishonesty was not likely. Likelihood of engagement in AD was positively associated with personality traits reflecting Impulsivity and Fight-Flight-Freeze behaviours. Surface study motivation moderated the Impulsivity effect and achieving motivation the FFFS effect such that cheating was even more likely when high levels of these processes were used. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that motivational personality traits defined within RST can explain variance in the likelihood of engaging in dishonest academic behaviours

Academic Misconduct within Higher Education in Canada

Despite a plethora of research on the academic misconduct carried out by U.S. high school and undergraduate university students, little research has been done on the academic misconduct of Canadian students. This paper addresses this shortcoming by presenting the results of a study conducted at 11 Canadian higher education institutions between January 2002 and March 2003. We maintain that academic misconduct does indeed occur in Canada – amongst high school, undergraduate and graduate students. Common self-reported behaviours were as follows: working on an assignment with others when asked for individual work, getting questions and answers from someone who has already taken a test, copying a few sentences of material without footnoting, fabricating or falsifying lab data, and receiving unauthorized help on an assignment. Possible factors associated with these behaviours include student maturity, perceptions of what constitutes academic misconduct, faculty assessment and invigilation practices, low perceived risk, ineffective and poorly understood policies and procedures, and a lack of education on academic misconduct. Canadian educational institutions are encouraged to address these issues, beginning with a recommitment to academic integrity.Malgré l’abondance de recherches sur la probité intellectuelle parmi les étudiantes et les étudiants de l’enseignement secondaire et universitaire aux États-Unis, peu de recherches ont été effectuées sur ce sujet au Canada. Cet article vise à combler cette lacune en présentant les résultats d’une étude entreprise dans 11 établissements d’enseignement supérieur au Canada entre janvier 2002 et mars 2003. Selon les résultats de l’étude, des manques à la probité intellectuelle se produisent en effet au Canada, tant dans l’enseignement secondaire qu’au premier cycle et aux cycles supérieurs des universités. Les comportements les plus fréquemment rapportés par les répondants sont: travailler avec d’autres sur une tâche individuelle; obtenir des questions et réponses de personnes qui ont déjà passé un examen; plagier; fabriquer ou falsifi er des données de laboratoire; et recevoir une aide interdite dans l’accomplissement d’une tâche. Ces comportements peuvent être associés à divers facteurs: la maturité de l’étudiante ou de l’étudiant; la perception de la gravité du comportement en question; les pratiques d’évaluation et de surveillance du corps enseignant ; la perception du niveau de risque; la clarté et l’effi cacité des procédures établies; et à un manque d’éducation sur les questions de conduite universitaire. Les établissements d’enseignement canadiens sont encouragés à tenter de résoudre ces problèmes, en commençant par renouveler leur engagement envers la probité intellectuelle

UNIVERSITY STUDENTS' OPINIONS ON CHEATING AND PLAGIARISM

The aim of this research is to find out the reasons for cheating and plagiarism tendencies and behaviours of university students, to suggest solutions with these findings and to contribute to the literature on this topic. Descriptive methods were used in this research. The research population consists of students from the Faculty of Sport Sciences. Two separate measuring instruments were used in the research to collect qualitative and quantitative data. Qualitative data were collected from 220 students while quantitative data were from 32 students. Frequencies were calculated for qualitative data and the common statements found were analysed. Normal distribution of the quantitative data was observed and the data were not distributed normally. Therefore; Mann-Whitney U test was applied for dual groups and Kruskall-Wallis test to groups more than two, from non-parametic tests. According to the results obtained from the study; more than half of the participants cheated. These results showed that the tendency for reference dishonesty, homework project dishonesty and cheating was at medium level while research reporting plagiarism is at a lower level. The main reasons behind cheating and plagiarism according to student views were the fear of receiving a low grade, taking the easy way out and not studying, rote-learning based education system and teachers not making a fair and equal evaluation. In order to prevent cheating and plagiarism which became current issues in education system, instructors must not frighten the students with grades, must enhance exam inspection and try for students to like the courses.  Article visualizations

Information Ethics among Graduate Students of the University of Ghana

This paper examines the extent to which graduate students of the University of Ghana are aware of information ethics and their perceptions on this important subject. The survey method was employed. As the population of 3,538 was too large to be studied, a sample size of 178 (representing 5% of graduate population) were given a questionnaire to complete. The results show that the students surveyed are adequately aware of Information Ethics and that majority of the students comply with Information Ethics. The study also found that most of the students are motivated by access to the Internet and electronic databases to violate Information Ethics. The study recommends the teaching of Information Ethics as a module and the establishment of Academic Integrity Centre to create and enforce information ethics awareness

Academic Dishonesty and Testing: How Student Beliefs and Test Settings Impact Decisions to Cheat

Research shows that academic dishonesty in post-secondary education runs particularly high among students in the specific disciplines of engineering, business, and nursing. The authors were interested in how student attitudes towards specific environments for testing might contribute to the prevalence or likelihood of cheating on tests and exams. It was hypothesized that while there would be no difference in their beliefs or attitudes regarding the acceptability of cheating behaviors in unproctored versus proctored settings, students would be more likely to engage in cheating behavior in an unproctored setting. Technology continues to transform the world around us at a rapid pace, allowing faculty to incorporate more technology into the classroom and to educate more students remotely via hybrid and online classes. While these opportunities have their benefits, they also present new challenges. The opportunity for cheating on tests increases, especially when exams are delivered in unproctored environments. An instrument was created to investigate the attitudes and behaviors of first- and second-year undergraduate engineering students while taking tests in both proctored and unproctored environments. In all, 734 students were surveyed from four different institutions of higher education. Students provided both qualitative and quantitative responses to questions related to their beliefs and attitudes toward cheating in today’s socially shareable society. Results indicated that both students’ attitudes and behaviors vary as a result of tests being delivered in a proctored versus unproctored environment

Criminal intent or cognitive dissonance: how does student self plagiarism fit into academic integrity?

The discourse of plagiarism is speckled with punitive terms not out of place in a police officer's notes: detection, prevention, misconduct, rules, regulations, conventions, transgression, consequences, deter, trap, etc. This crime and punishment paradigm tends to be the norm in academic settings. The learning and teaching paradigm assumes that students are not filled with criminal intent, but rather are confused by the novel academic culture and its values. The discourse of learning and teaching includes: development, guidance, acknowledge, scholarly practice, communicate, familiarity, culture. Depending on the paradigm adopted, universities, teachers, and students will either focus on policies, punishments, and ways to cheat the system or on program design, assessments, and assimilating the values of academia. Self plagiarism is a pivotal issue that polarises these two paradigms. Viewed from a crime and punishment paradigm, self plagiarism is an intentional act of evading the required workload for a course by re-using previous work. Within a learning and teaching paradigm, self plagiarism is an oxymoron. We would like to explore the differences between these two paradigms by using self plagiarism as a focal point

Academic misconduct in higher education: perceptions, self-reports and perspectives

In the last two decades the international research literature has demonstrated a growing awareness of student cheating, with high levels of self-reported cheating, especially in the United states (U.S.). Much of the early literature on student cheating originated in the U.S. but from the mid 1990s onwards there was increased interest in student cheating in Europe and the rest of the world. The aim of this research was to explore perceptions and self-reports of, and attitudes towards, cheating in undergraduate programmes. There was an element of comparison involved, in trying to identify differences between students studying for degrees in healthcare professions and psychology. A mixed methods approach was adopted. First, students (n=159) completed anonymous questionnaires that invited them to i) rate the perceived frequency of use in "students on a course like theirs" of each of 27 behaviours that ranged from signing as present students who were absent from classes to copying in examinations; іі) self-report their own use of the same behaviours. Second, volunteer students (n=10) and academics (n=12) from the same programmes as the questionnaire sample were interviewed. Questionnaires were analysed using SPSS to identify within-group and between-group differences; interview transcripts were analysed using the constant comparative method (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). Ninety six percent of the sample believed that "students on a course like theirs" cheated in some way, exact percentages ranging from 24%-96%, depending on the cheating behaviour. When it came to self-reporting, the students in the sample self- reported significantly less cheating than they perceived in their peers. Whilst there were significant differences between healthcare and psychology students in their perceptions of cheating, no such difference was found in their self-reports. Interviews revealed that almost 60% of students believed that academics rarely investigate suspicions of cheating. Fifty percent of academics confirmed that view

Erosion of academic integrity in higher education system: symbolization of dishonesty

Academic dishonesty has long been discussed in numerous researches and it has also become a common phenomenon worldwide. Most of these studies have examined the many forms of dishonesty and cheating behavior occurring in the academic field. These delinquent practices are very damaging as they, not only affect the educational system, but will also result in future problems during the students’ employment phase. This paper has investigated academic dishonesty through another angle by applying the concept of fraud triangle theory. The purpose of this study is to provide a general overview of academic dishonesty which symbolizes the pollution of academic integrity. This concept paper highlights the analysis of cheating in the Malaysian education context as well as in other countries globally. In addition, discussions on various definitions in relation to pollution of academic integrity have also been taken into consideration. The elements of fraud triangle theory have also been included through examining the causes or factors that lead to students’ cheating or academic dishonesty both in perception and real action. Further, the paper has also examined the various methods used in academic dishonesty and their implications to the educational system. Lastly, the preventive actions have also been discussed in the attempts to reduce the likelihood of cheating incidents

Plagiarism and Cheating: A Mixed Methods Study of Student Academic Dishonesty

This thesis was undertaken to fulfil the requirements of a Master's degree in Social Science Research and as such its main intention is to develop and demonstrate skill and competency by conducting a mixed methods research study. To demonstrate this I conducted an investigation into the occurrence of student academic dishonesty at the University of Waikato using both quantitative and qualitative methods. The aim of the research was to compare my findings with the data reported by the University's Student Discipline Committee and the findings from a large North American study by Professor Donald McCabe. The findings show similarities to the Student Discipline Committee Annual Reports in that plagiarism was the most common behaviour reported by all participants. However, the levels reported of minor plagiarism are higher than that reported by the Committee and match the levels reported in international research. When comparing my findings with McCabe's the overall results were very similar despite the difference in the populations studied. It is hoped that the findings of this research can be used to understand the issues around academic dishonesty and to develop ways of supporting both students and staff in order to reduce its occurrence