Introduction
Although some behaviors are pretty much universally identified as cheating (e.g., copying exam answers), students and teachers are not in agreement on everything. For example, students don’t think cheating occurs if they look something up on their phone and can’t find it while teachers usually consider cheating in terms of intent. In many cases, there is the question of degree (when, for example, collaboration crosses the line and becomes cheating).
The effectiveness of cheating prevention mechanisms can be increased by clarifying up front what is and isn’t cheating. Here’s a collection of activities faculty can use to ensure that students understand the behaviors that constitute cheating.
Weimer, M. "Activities That Promote Awareness of What Is and Isnt't Cheating." Faculty Focus, 11 Apr. 2019, https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/ effective-classroom-management/ activities-that-promote-cheating-awareness/
Cheating Behavior Lists
Lists of cheating behaviors and those behaviors that could be considered cheating have been used extensively in the descriptive research on cheating.
The list below presented here includes items that appear on multiple research lists.
What’s not included are behaviors that students consistently recognize as cheating such as copying answers during an exam, getting answers off an electronic device during an exam, claiming the material of others as your own, buying or borrowing a term paper.
The focus of this post is on those behaviors about which faculty and students disagree and behaviors where the activity is not clearly, but possibly cheating.
Because common cheating behaviors aren’t included, the list below should not be used to document the extent of cheating occurring in a course. Rather, the purpose of this list is to clarify how cheating is being defined behaviorally in a course.
Here’s a run-down of possible ways to use the list:
Facilitate a Student Discussion
Don’t underestimate the effectiveness of discussion for raising issues related to cheating. Although most faculty do go over the academic integrity policy at the beginning of course, once is probably not enough. The conversation about cheating ought to be ongoing, and good discussion questions can keep raising the issues and challenging students to consider all that’s involved in cheating. The discussions don’t need to be lengthy to be effective.
Do bear in mind that those who have cheated and/or currently do would rather not talk about it, especially with the teacher present. But those are the students that most need to hear and be part of the discussion. You can provide space in the conversation for those who cheat with a comment something like this: “I know that students cheat, but for the sake of this conversation, I’m going to assume that nobody present today does. So, when you talk about cheating behaviors, you will be referring to hypothetical students who engage in certain behaviors. We will not assume that you are talking about yourself.”
Discussion Structures
- Pick a Question: It could be one of the questions listed in the section below or one of your own making. Begin or end the in-class exam review session with a short discussion of the question. Make the discussion topic timely. For example, use a question about plagiarism shortly before a written assignment is due. Students can write some thoughts before the discussion starts or they can talk with someone nearby before the whole class discussion begins. Or, you share a question and ask students to anonymously write some thoughts, which a student can collect and pass on to you. Students’ comments can then be used in a subsequent discussion. Conversations about cheating can occur in class, online, or both.
- Feed the Discussion with Facts: Use the fact sheet resource. For example, when talking about whether students should report cheaters, note the study where only 4% of the students did. An analysis of 298 open-ended responses of undergraduates who had been reported for cheated revealed four themes related to why the students cheated; 1) they didn’t know they were cheating; 2) they blamed the professor for doing or not doing something; 3) they didn’t have enough time, resources, or skills; or 4) they didn’t have the time, resources, or skills and they accepted responsibility for what caused them to cheat (Beasley, 2014). Are these good reasons to cheat? When should students accept the responsibility for cheating behavior? A number of studies report that students who cheat say they’re just doing it on occasion to get through school and plan to stop when they graduate. Lots of research says that they don’t. There’s more examples and references to these on the fact sheet.
Discussion Questions for Students
- What if you attempt to cheat but are unsuccessful?You text a friend asking for an answer, but the friend doesn’t reply. Have you cheated? When does cheating occur? When you attempt it or when you execute it successfully?
- What about those who enable cheating? (Examples: make it easy to copy their answers, provide information on test questions, cover for a friend who has skipped class and wants to make up a quiz). Are enablers cheating? Why? Why not? If they are, should they be punished? Should they be punished the same way the cheater is punished?
- What about when the playing field in a course isn’t level? Some students in the class have access to old exams; others to do not. Should those with the exams make them available to everyone? That way everyone is equally guilty of cheating?
- Should students who don’t cheat report those who do? Does failing to report cheating make you an accessory to the crime?
- How does cheating hurt those who don’t do it?
- Do your professors overlook cheating? How often? If they do, how does that make you feel? Are there ways you could share those feelings with the instructor?
- What are your feelings about ethics in the workplace? Are those who cheat in college likely to continue dishonest practices in the workplace?
Academic Integrity Policy Quiz
Most institutions rely on policies to prevent cheating. They appear in student handbooks and at many institutions faculty are required to include the policy in the course syllabus. Do students read the policy? At a large Australian university, students are sent a copy of the academic dishonesty policy. Fifty percent of more than 3000 surveyed reported that they hadn’t read the policy. Is familiarity with the academic integrity policy something that prevents cheating?
The details of the policy can be reinforced in your course by giving students a quiz on it. Generate a set of true and false statements regarding the institution’s or instructor’s academic integrity policy and give them to students as a quiz (make it worth a few points so it carries some weight).
Here are some incomplete, sample statements about policies. The missing information can be filled-in based on the policy.
- The policy defines cheating as _________
- The most severe penalties that can occur if cheating is confirmed are _________
- The policy says that students who enable cheating _________
- Instructors can refer instances of cheating to _________
- Instructors can handle cheating cases on their own if _________
- Instructors should have the following kinds of evidence to prove that a student has cheated _________
- Decisions as to guilt or innocence are decided by _________
- Due process insures that the student has the right to _________
- Students may appeal a cheating decision by _________