Cheating in School: What We Know and What We Can Do

Q & A with theAuthors of CHEATING IN SCHOOL:  What We Know and What We Can Do

(Wiley-Blackwell; $21.95; £12.99; September, 2009) 

• Why do students cheat?

The truth is, it’s complicated. People’s behaviors are shaped by a variety of forces that originate from society, the educational system, the organization, and from within the individual. Society sends signals that such behavior is necessary in order to “get ahead,” or even that certain behaviors are no longer really “cheating” because technology has changed the way in which our culture views information and knowledge. Some students cheat because the educational system itself encourages it; in fact, we know of teachers and administrators who help students cheat or allow cheating to occur. School cheating has become merely morally disagreeable rather than morally reprehensible. Some students cheat because they are simply young and it is part of their moral and ethical development to test boundaries and take risks in order to reap the benefits, or simply because they cannot avoid the temptations and opportunities to cheat that may exist in certain schools (e.g., high achieving schools that promote “by any means necessary”) and universities (e.g., universities with large and impersonal classes). Cheating is normal or endemic to the educational enterprise and cannot be eliminated entirely. However, we need to manage cheating at an acceptable level of corruption and leverage moments of ethical failures as opportunities for learning.

• How can teachers prevent cheating in the classroom?

By clearly communicating expectations for how academic assignments should be completed (e.g., by self or with others? Permitted resources)

Explicitly linking for students the connection between the assignments and the learning objectives to help students see meaning in the assignments

Developing relationships or connections with the students so there is less anonymity

Reducing cheating temptations (e.g., space students out during exams; proctor exams; assign personal or meaningful papers rather than “form” papers that can be easily purchased or plagiarized)

Making the teaching staff readily available for students to receive assistance when struggling

Talking to students about the importance of academic integrity and professional ethics (depending on the level of education) and explicitly stating that ethical violations will be reported when discovered

Increasing costs for cheating by consistently reporting and sanctioning ethical violations when they occur. It is important for teachers to remember that cheating will occur despite their valiant efforts and to not despair. Their job is to do their best in preventing cheating and keeping its occurrence as the exception rather than the norm in their individual classrooms.

• Do you think cheating has gotten worse in years past?

Yes and no. I think that it seems that it has gotten worse because a) there are more students enrolled in higher education than ever before so there are more opportunities for cheating or cheating incidents; b) it is easier to detect in many ways (because of the internet); c) we’re talking about it more and teachers are reporting it more.

In many ways, cheating has gotten “better.” Why would I say that? In the 1970s, student cheating was cut-throat and very competitive in that students would cheat others out of an equal opportunity by, for example, stealing from the library the one book that the entire class needed to write individual papers. Today, student cheating reflects more of what I call a “student cooperative”—students cheat by sharing their resources with each other and by helping each other. In fact, parents and teachers have been helping students cheat as well. This may change again if our recession continues and the job and educational markets become tight once again, but thus far, it is all very “nice.” We do, however, have to think of the implications of this, regardless. For example, how will these students do in the real world that, perhaps, is not so nice? Or, will students be able to function as independent problem solvers or critical thinkers, or will they always have to run to external resources for help?

Cheating may also seem “worse” today because it has been democratized. Thanks to the internet, all students have free or affordable access to resources. No longer do students have to be members of Greek societies or athletics teams to have access to old essays, exam banks, or other resources. Students, in other words, do not require cultural capital in order to cheat. Is this actually worse or better? It’s an interesting take on the issue.

• How does academic dishonesty differ in different countries? In different settings, i.e. grade school vs. college?

The research has not shown extensive differences between countries, except that perhaps in countries rife with corruption, there will more cheating (and more serious cheating) in educational systems. Also, in countries where the gap between the “have’s” and the “have nots” is greater, cheating is much more likely as well. Some also credit differences between countries with “collectivist cultures” (like China) and those with “individualistic cultures” (like America) as antecedents of cheating differences. The research on this, however, has been inconclusive and I personally think that these differences are disappearing because the K-12 educational system in the States has been promoting a collectivist culture for many years now, as does the internet or wiki culture. Students in the States and elsewhere are used to using their resources and technology is changing notions of intellectual property (starting with the music industry for the youth population), so those cultural differences are disappearing as well. The research suggests that the amount of cheating decreases between undergraduate and graduate education, but we are unsure if this is a result of current generational differences or normal maturation. Much more research is necessary in these areas.

• How has technology changed cheating practices in recent years?

Technology has certainly made cheating easier. For those of us educated before the internet existed, can you imagine being able to plagiarize with the click of a button? No longer do students have to go to libraries, sit down with a book, and copy by hand the information they need. In a way, I guess we can say that plagiarism can be much more unconscious and unintentional than before the internet because it is so easy to do without thinking! Technology has also made it easier to share resources—so students have greater access to a greater number of sources to entice them to not do their own work. However, technology has also made it easier to catch cheating; plagiarism may be simple, but so is finding it!

• What can parents do to prevent cheating?

This is a hot topic for me right now working within a highly competitive institution that is comprised of students who are high-achieving and better-than-perfect (that is, they enter the institution with better than perfect GPAs—4.1 or higher). I was actually told by a student that she was caught for plagiarism because, when she sent her draft paper home to her mother, the mom “fixed” it by plagiarizing about 40% of it from the internet. When I asked her “so what’s the lesson learned here?” she replied “check the work that my mom does?” In the gentlest composure I could muster, I responded “No. the lesson learned is that you do your own work.” Parents, in the normal quest to help their children live better lives than they did, may inadvertently encourage cheating (or at least, not discourage it). Parents pressure their children for high grades (or perfect marks) so that they can get into the best college, best medical school, or land that lucrative job. Parents, as the previous story illustrates, sometimes do their children’s schoolwork for them or offer them too much assistance to the point where the student’s work is no longer his/her own. Parents may fail to communicate the message that the ends do not justify the means, and that an honest try is worth more than a perfect grade. If parents can avoid falling into the “keeping up with the Jones’” race, than they may be able to help prevent cheating.