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A study of faculty and student perceptions regarding cheating behaviors at a small private college in Northeast Indiana

. Ball State University, Muncie, IN, Doctoral Dissertation, (1998)

Abstract

The subject of this study was academic cheating among college students. Academic cheating has been described as both epidemic and endemic. It is considered a significant problem because it is occurring on all college campuses with high frequency and because it undermines the foundation of the college as a learning institution. A review of the literature on cheating behaviors revealed percentages of self-reported cheating ranging from 23.7\% to 98\%. The present study explored the relationship between academic dishonesty and student backgrounds, along with student attitudes. A replication of the research previously done by Melody Graham, Jennifer Monday, Kimberly O'Brien, and Stacey Steffen, (1994) was conducted at Indiana Institute of Technology (IIT). The faculty and the students were included in the research study. Three main areas explored in the present study concerned the relationship of student background variables, perceptual differences between faculty and students, and faculty background variables to attitudes of cheating. More lenient attitudes toward cheating were found with the variables of race, religiosity, coming from urban areas, living in dorms or college apartments, majoring in business, and playing sports. The findings of the present study indicated that 94.81\% of the student respondents had engaged in one of the seventeen cheating behaviors that were identified in the Graham et al. study. However, these seventeen cheating behaviors included some acts that were less serious than others. Also, it should be noted that many students engage in such behaviors infrequently. The seventeen behaviors along with an explanation of the tabulations for the 94.81\% statistic, were included on pages 221-222 of the study. The severity rating of each behavior was listed in Table 7, page 134. A Synthesis Model of Cheating Decision Making was developed as an implication of the research conducted for the present study. This Model can assist faculty in understanding the cheating decision process of students. Also, students can use the Model to facilitate a self evaluation of their decisions.

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