...Cheating on exams in online courses Proctored exams are necessary in order to maintain the credibility and integrity of currently offered online degree programs. There has been much written on the subject of cheating by students on the college level and studies conducted to support the conclusions. With the advent of the internet and the recent trend of colleges pressured to offer totally online degree programs the opportunity to cheat has expanded with the same exponent. “Academic integrity has been a perennial issue in higher education. Undoubtedly, the advent of the Internet and advances in user-friendly technological devices have spurred both concern on the part of faculty and research interest in the academic community regarding inappropriate and unethical behavior on the part of students. 73.6% of students in the sample held the perception that it is easier to cheat in an online versus traditional course.” (King, Guyette and Piotrowski 2009) Internet based classes are experiencing a growth surge. With the recent employment crisis, and the increased weight on academic achievement, more adults are now able to enroll in online classes, and still maintain full time jobs and meet the demands of busy families. In a study conducted by Oskar Harmon and James Lambrinos they used a “model that predicts exam scores from independent variables of student characteristics. In one course, the final exam was proctored, and in the other course, the final exam was not proctored...
Words: 621 - Pages: 3
...Cheating comes in many variations. Just because you are not leaning over and peaking at somebody else's exam does not mean that you are not cheating. Cheating includes any dishonest action used by a student to complete an assignment without actually having to complete it themselves. Some of the most common forms of cheating are looking at someone else's exam, using materials without permission, collaborating with other students without permission, and not reporting another student if you see that he or she is cheating. Students cheat for all types of reasons: pressure to succeed, no time to study, peer pressure, laziness, and the list goes on. While schools claim that a student can be expelled for cheating, many cheating students escape the consequences. I do not think that it's possible to set consequences based on the reason why a person cheated because the severity of a reason can be relative, but it's more logical to base consequences on the method in which the cheating was done. Perhaps the most classic form of cheating on an exam is taking a quick peek at the exam of the person sitting next to you or in front of you. Oftentimes it's easy to see answers in the corner of your eye and the teacher seldom notices. I believe that this type of cheating should result in automatic failure of the exam, no questions asked. Likewise, if the student tries to cheat again then he or she should fail the whole course. Looking at someone else's exam is extremely unfair because you're putting...
Words: 986 - Pages: 4
...Helen’s best friend. Helen’s friend violates the University’s Code of Conduct of maintaining academic integrity by taking a copy of the final exam from the professor’s mailbox and giving it to Helen. And as a student, it is Helen’s duty is to maintain academic integrity. By participating in courses and taking an exam, Helen agrees to bide by the policies set down by the university. It is like entering into a contract or making a promise. If Helen accepts her friend’s offer and read the copy of the final exam, she will fail to maintain academic integrity and break her promise to the professor. It is unfair between Helen and the other students if she takes advantage of the copy of the final exam because it will be unequal to the other students in the class and the department. If Helen reads the final exam in advance, the conditions under which Helen and students who don’t cheat are being judged will be different. On the other hand, if Helen cheated in this course she would get the highest academic honor—summa cum laude. That will be unfair between what she did (cheat of ting) between the honor she got. When facing this ethical dilemma, Helen has two alternatives: to cheat or not to cheat. From my point of view, cheating is unwise, because chances are that the professor or other students find out Helen’s cheating in the final exam. In that case, several bad consequences would happen: Helen would get a C or fail the class, she would lose the job opportunity at Big&Apple...
Words: 412 - Pages: 2
...more on exams. To conclude he says everybody cheats in some way or other. Becker, D'Arcy A., and Ingrid Ulstad. "Gender Differences in Student Ethics: Are Females Really More Ethical?" Plagiary (2007): 77-91. Education Research Complete. Web. 2 Nov. 2015. In this essay, “Gender Differences In student Ethics: Are Females really more Ethical?”...
Words: 544 - Pages: 3
...with it most students are more likely to cheat than not to. Your Opinion: Its a fact that students feel the pressure to make good grades. In a situation in which the student is unprepared for an exam, he/she may cheat in an effort to keep from receiving a grade for which his/her parent will scold or punish the child. I also believe social pressure or pressure in any form causes people to have an inclination to cheat. Pre-Test: In order to really test out this theory I decided to take a visit out to my old college campus. The university of Orono at Maine and take a visit to a class which was having an exam. I sat in on the class and acting as if i was a student to really test out the theory of whether or not students would be more inclined to cheat or not given the opportunity. But before I had even gone out to the actual class itself I decided to post a status on the Umaine Facebook page to see what peoples opinions were. Of course you had your generic responses such as Cheating is morally wrong. Or the responses such as its taking the easy way out and it is not fair for the fellow students were most of the responses that I have gotten. So with taking the responses on Facebook and keeping that in mind I decided to test out the theory myself. Reason For Research: Cheating is a primordial inclination in man. I feel like everyone honestly if given the opportunity to cheat and to get away with it can do it and will. So i wanted to test that and really see peoples morality...
Words: 1160 - Pages: 5
...Cheating does not Help Students Learn Better In the modern society, almost every student occasionally cheats during tests or exams. It is found more beneficial to cheat rather than study for upcoming examinations. Willfried Decoo argues that 70% of high school students in the United States have at least cheated once in their high school career. However people are not aware of the harmful side effects that cheating brings along such as its addiction, losing self-belief, and the trouble it can cause. Cheating does not help students learn better in their education, but it only harms them. Cheating can be very addicting. It can make an individual think that cheating is the best and only way of getting a high grade in an exam or a test. It is commonly known that students will perform every possible way to stay floating in academic classes. For this reason, it is very likely for students to cheat in classes. The mind of an individual only starts to conclude that the only way of getting a high grade is to cheat. This is where the second topic links in and people feel like they cannot achieve a good grade without cheating. Self-belief is a very important characteristic. Cheating however decreases that characteristic from an individual. After the addiction process is complete, people tend to lose confidence in studying. It is commonly thought that without cheating an individual wont be able to get a high grade. This occurs because people lose self-belief. Dependency occurs within...
Words: 386 - Pages: 2
...carefully read the story below that summarizes the incident, behaviors associated with cheating using technology, and how you can relate this story to your own situation. You should incorporate answers to the following questions into your assignment, as they are related to issues of integrity, ethics, professionalism, and personal reflection: - Why do students cheat? What can be done to address cheating in schools? - What lessons have you learned from the case? Has learning about this case inspired you to make changes in your own life? - How do you relate this behavior to ethics from the Islamic perspective? Assignment Requirements: Length: Minimum 750 words (Approximately 2.5 typed pages, 12 pt font, 1.5-spaced) Style: This paper should be written in an academic style. The tone of your work should be thoughtful and respectful. Be sure to edit your work for grammatical and spelling errors. Papers must be submitted to the instructor by 11:59 pm on the stated due date. Reading Case: Cheating and Technology Cheating in the classroom has been happening since the first schoolhouse was built; however, it has more than doubled in the last decade due to the emergence of new technologies that give students high tech alternatives to looking at their classmate's paper. "A 2002 survey by the Josephson Institute of Ethics of 12,000 high-school students found that 74 % of students had cheated on an exam at least once in the previous year. According to Donald McCabe, who conducted the Rutgers...
Words: 2400 - Pages: 10
...definition of cheating in the academic realm. With the availability of smart phones, portable laptop computers and online courses, students have found a way to use these tools to their advantage. As we will discuss in this paper something as simple as a text message or photo message can allow the student the ability to easily complete an exam or assignment without putting in the necessary time to correctly learn the material. The reason cheating with technology has grown is because the actual meaning of cheating has changed in the eyes of new students. The actual definition is a violation of intellectual property but, if the act is not seen by others as wrong, then it can be justified. We intend on showing the means used by cheaters to advance themselves to achieve an “education” and the measures taken by learning institutions to curb this epidemic. There are many different things which seemingly contribute towards the current increasing problem of cheating at the University level. While the concept of cheating has been around for years, recent studies and indications show that cheating do too many factors including larger college classes and technological advances such as the widespread use of the internet and mobile computing devices, make cheating both easier and much more widespread throughout college campuses nationwide. Technology devices like picture phones, mobile devices with texting and internet capabilities heavily contribute towards the widespread problem of cheating at the...
Words: 2014 - Pages: 9
...Due to the emerging technological era, the propensity to cheat in an academic environment is becoming increasingly enticing for students and problematic for their instructors. As technologically savvy students become more creative in committing acts of academic dishonesty, their instructors must become increasingly competent in their endeavors to deter cheating. With the convenience of computers and online data, unfortunately, an unwelcome new challenge emerges: preventing the misuse of these technological advances in academic environments. Cheating is widespread from high schoolers to college students. Not only do academic and professional teams recognize the widespread problem of cheating, but “students themselves are acknowledging the problem as well” (Campbell, p.35). According to the San Diego Union-Tribune (2001), nearly a quarter of students believe that everyone at his or her high school cheats. Before the Internet, research was a laborious task, requiring trips to the library, searches within the card catalog and extensive handwritten note taking. In contrast, today the same information is readily available through the Internet, thus creating a convenient environment in which to engage in academic dishonesty. In this emerging technological age, many students fall prey and use the extensive amount of technology for negative reasons. Szabo and Underwood (2004) engaged 291 students in a survey of 12 questions on the use and misuse of the Internet. The survey...
Words: 1879 - Pages: 8
...believe cheating occurs more frequently when students are enrolled for online classes. Because students have access to books, internet, and other sources of information in their own homes, many times students will take online exams with the aid of such resources. Also because there is not an easy way to monitor the actions of students during an online exam, there is more opportunity for students to cheat. Coming from a four year institution where many students opt to take online classes instead of regular lecture classes, I have seen students become very resourceful in the ways they go about cheating. For example, I have seen students copy the online homework and exam questions and forward them to friends in order to have another, maybe more knowledgeable, person give them the answers. Another example of cheating would be that some students copy the online questions, complete the answers correctly, and sell them to other students so that those students will also have the correct answers. Lastly, I have seen groups of students taking an online class, meet together and complete an exam together, helping each other figure out the correct answers to the questions. In order to become more effective in preventing cheating in the realm of online classes, I believe that some limitations should be put on these students. If the school were to implement a time limit system, then students will not have as much opportunity to research the answers to questions during an exam. Also...
Words: 357 - Pages: 2
...students believe cheating can be justified in certain circumstances, including by rationalizing that a class is unreasonably difficult or a teacher is incompetent, according to a University of Missouri study that sheds new light on why teens across Orange County and beyond continue to be caught in high-profile cheating incidents. The study found that the most common way students justify cheating is through "denial of responsibility," such as by saying that they "accidentally" plagiarized, that they had too much to do and too little time, or that an exam was beyond the scope of the course. The findings, presented at a conference last week in the United Kingdom, are based on an anonymous survey of 420 undergraduate students....
Words: 725 - Pages: 3
...Jack Bass, Accounting Professor Case 2 Keiser University ACG 5075 Dr. Gray May 17, 2011 Jack Bass A cheating situation occurred with Jack Bass, an accounting professor. Bass had given his students an exam and at the end asked them to identify any test items that had been graded incorrectly by the Scantron machine and submit it to the teaching assistant. After this Bass suspected that some had changed their answers. So, for the next exam, Bass made a copy of the students’ exams and asked them to do the same thing for identifying incorrect answers. After comparison of the copy and the resubmission it was discovered that some had changed their answers. Jack brought the situation to the dean and this resulted in those students withdrawing from the course and receiving sanction letter on their academic file. All the cheaters agreed to this accept one, D.R. Street III. His argument was that he misunderstood the directions and that he should be allowed to withdraw without a sanction letter. When the dean said no he had his father talk with the chancellor and ultimately he was allowed to withdraw without the sanction letter. Entrapment Jack Bass did not entrap his students by withholding the Scantron information from them. Cheating is a serious offence at any academic institution. Regardless of the situation, whether the cheater was caught off guard or not, cheating still occurred. Students are completely aware of the consequences of performing an act of academic dishonesty...
Words: 811 - Pages: 4
...Jack Bass A cheating situation occurred with Jack Bass, an accounting professor. Bass had given his students an exam and at the end asked them to identify any test items that had been graded incorrectly by the Scantron machine and submit it to the teaching assistant. After this Bass suspected that some had changed their answers. So, for the next exam, Bass made a copy of the students’ exams and asked them to do the same thing for identifying incorrect answers. After comparison of the copy and the resubmission it was discovered that some had changed their answers. Jack brought the situation to the dean and this resulted in those students withdrawing from the course and receiving sanction letter on their academic file. All the cheaters agreed to this accept one, D.R. Street III. His argument was that he misunderstood the directions and that he should be allowed to withdraw without a sanction letter. When the dean said no he had his father talk with the chancellor and ultimately he was allowed to withdraw without the sanction letter. Entrapment Jack Bass did not entrap his students by withholding the Scantron information from them. Cheating is a serious offence at any academic institution. Regardless of the situation, whether the cheater was caught off guard or not, cheating still occurred. Students are completely aware of the consequences of performing an act of academic dishonesty. They should behave accordingly at all times, that is, be honest about your work. This is...
Words: 279 - Pages: 2
...Cheating in Business Schools and Creating a Culture of Integrity Nichole M. Roberts NorthCentral University Northcentral takes pride on the stature of giving its graduates the opportunity to earn a “U.S. Regionally accredited degree” (Mission Statement, 2012). Along with mentors, academic advisors, librarians, the writing center, deans and many other individuals; they all strive to keep students on the right path. Along that path, there could be temptation to veer from an honest path and cheat. Cheating could be getting someone else to write a paper for a class, taking a test with a group of students or using technology to outwit the program students are utilizing for class. If we are to become “valuable contributors to our communities and professions” (Mission Statement, 2012) we should take our classroom work and academics on a serious note by following the values Northcentral University set aside for students. The values of Northcentral University are made up of an acronym. “I.D.E.A.” founded through the integrity of values formulated at Northcentral have become a very serious guideline for the graduate and undergraduate MBA programs. Linda K. Trevino of Smeal College of Business stated that cheating is more prevalent in business schools than regular colleges. Some say it has to do with whom business school appeals to. Others say that is could possibly have to do with what is taught and learned throughout the journey of business school. With the problem...
Words: 1624 - Pages: 7
...midterm exam week. The midterm is a closed-book, proctored online exam. It is two hours long and covers all reading and assignments through module 5 of the course (chapters 1 through 13 of the text). It consists of five (5) essay questions. For the midterm, you are required to use the College's Online Proctor Service (OPS). Please refer to the "Examinations and Proctors" section of the Online Student Handbook (see General Information area of the course Web site) for further information about scheduling and taking online exams and for all exam policies and procedures. You are strongly advised to schedule your exam within the first week of the semester. Online exams are administered through the course Web site. Consult the course Calendar for the official dates of exam weeks. Statement about Cheating You are on your honor not to cheat during an exam. Cheating means: Looking up any answer or part of an answer in an unauthorized textbook or on the Internet, or using any other source to find an answer. Copying and pasting or, in any way copying responses or parts of responses from any other source into your exams. This includes but is not limited to copying and pasting from other documents or spreadsheets, whether written by yourself or anyone else. Plagiarizing answers. Asking anyone else to assist you by whatever means available while you take an exam. Copying any part of an exam to share with other students. Telling your mentor that you need another attempt at an exam because...
Words: 433 - Pages: 2
