Engineering Students’ Perception of Academic Dishonesty at an American University in the Middle East

This study surveys engineering students’ perception of academic integrity at a private American university in the Middle East. The survey included questions on plagiarism, inappropriate collaboration, cheating on exams, copyright violations, and complicity in academic dishonesty. The study showed that more than one-third of the students were not aware that the university has a student academic integrity code. The gender appears to affect the students’ perception of academic dishonesty, as the female students perceived more frequent cheating than males. Also, about 10% of the female students, compared to about 30% of the male students, see no relationship between morality and academic integrity. The main reason why students cheat was because they had little time to do the work without seeking unauthorized help and because they perceive cheating as a form of collaborative work. Students believed that one of the most effective ways in reducing incidences of academic dishonesty is using more proctors during exams

Faculty perception of engineering student cheating and effective measures to curb it

© 2019 IEEE. Engineering faculty were surveyed on issues related to academic dishonesty by students affiliated with their college at an American university located in the United Arab Emirates. The survey addressed perceived frequency of plagiarism, unauthorized collaboration, cheating, copyright violations and complicity in academic integrity. As expected, the majority of the faculty think that dishonesty is more common in-of-class work compared to proctored exams. They think that applying tougher penalties and using more proctors are the most effective methods in decreasing academic dishonesty. The authors believe that it would be helpful if faculty members follow the university\u27s policy on cheating rather than make up their own rules in order to have consistent approach in dealing with academic dishonesty violations across the whole university. Ideally, the best way to combat dishonest acts at an institution is by educating students through seminars and workshops about the virtues of academic integrity and the benefits it brings to society. But until our campuses become free of dishonest behavior by students, some practical measures should be undertaken by the faculty to safeguard the institution against unethical behavior by students. For example, faculty members are recommended to either make their own assignments or modify the end-of-chapter problems from textbooks because students may have access to solution manuals. They are encouraged to give different homework problems and projects from one semester to another since students may have access to graded past work. While test banks provided to faculty by publishers may be used as a guide when creating exams, problems from such sources should not be put verbatim on exams by faculty because they are often available for purchase by students on the internet. Furthermore, the weight of-of-class assignments relative to the total course grade should be a small fraction of the total weight to discourage students from cheating on homework. Wireless signal jamming devices can combat some acts of e-cheating that utilizes the internet by disrupting communication between a smart phone and the cell-phone base station

Modeling Bus Priority Using Intermodal Dynamic Network Assignment-Simulation Methodology

This article presents a modeling framework that represents bus priority at signalized intersections in the context of its potential network-level and intermodal effects. The model incorporates bus priority within an intermodal dynamic traffic assignment simulation model. It dynamically assigns travelers to different modes and routes in the network according to prevailing traffic conditions, which result from applying a certain network control/bus priority scheme. The model considers changes in traffic conditions as a result of (1) drivers’ route choice adjustments due to changes in traffic signals settings and (2) modal shifts by travelers to take advantage of improved transit service. Three different bus priority strategies are considered: phase (green) extension, red truncation, and phase advance. A set of simulation experiments is performed to compare these strategies using two different assignment scenarios: single-mode assignment and intermodal assignment. The results of these experiments highlight the importance of considering reassignment and potential modal shifts in evaluating traffic network performance under different control schemes, especially when these schemes are expected to affect the modal split in the network such as bus priority

Modeling Bus Priority Using Intermodal Dynamic Network Assignment-Simulation Methodology

This article presents a modeling framework that represents bus priority at signalized intersections in the context of its potential network-level and intermodal effects. The model incorporates bus priority within an intermodal dynamic traffic assignmentsimulation model. It dynamically assigns travelers to different modes and routes in the network according to prevailing traffic conditions, which result from applying a certain network control/bus priority scheme. The model considers changes in traffic conditions as a result of (1) drivers’ route choice adjustments due to changes in traffic signals settings and (2) modal shifts by travelers to take advantage of improved transit service. Three different bus priority strategies are considered: phase (green) extension, red truncation, and phase advance. A set of simulation experiments is performed to compare these strategies using two different assignment scenarios: single-mode assignment and intermodal assignment. The results of these experiments highlight the importance of considering reassignment and potential modal shifts in evaluating traffic network performance under different control schemes, especially when these schemes are expected to affect the modal split in the network such as bus priority

Evaluating the sustainability of traffic growth in Malaysia

This paper evaluates the sustainability of traffic growth in Malaysia.The number of registered vehicles is used as an indication of traffic growth.Also, the number of registered buses is considered as an indication of public transportation usage. The results indicate that the traffic growth is mainly due to increases in the private cars motorcycles, while the rate of increase for buses is very small.The percentages for passenger cars and motorcycles are increasing while the percentage of buses is slightly dropping down, which is a negative indication regarding the traffic growth in Malaysia. The trends for the rate of vehicles per capita, unit GDP, and unit length of the road network have been discussed. Most of the trends indicate that the current growth trends of traffic in Malaysia are unsustainable. The paper also provides some recommendations for the Malaysian government to maintain a sustainable traffic growth in the country