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Instructional Support
Academic Honesty
Did you know? Students from some cultures think that using another's ideas is a sign of respect and citation is unnecessary. And that collaborating on an exam is natural. For more guidelines and information on cheating, including online cheating, go to the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences' website about academic integrity. Or read this Inside Higher Education article about the lawsuit against a Duke University teacher for failing some Asian students for cheating.
What is cheating? Why do students cheat? What can I do to prevent it? Here are some general answers to those questions:
- A student may be cheating if he has unauthorized assistance on tests, presents another's work as his own, or uses unauthorized sources to prepare his own work. Examples.
- "Students' motivation for cheating includes the desire for good grades, grade competition, and peer pressure…" (Nilson, 1998). Other researchers cite grade pressures, test anxiety, inadequate supervision, and lack of punishments.
- Tell your students what constitutes cheating in your class and what you will do about it. Tell them in writing, in your syllabus and other materials, and tell them early.
Examples:
Plagiarizing a report, copying answers on a test, paying a student to write a term paper and passing it off as one's own, taking an exam for someone else, etc. (Nilson, 1998).