I have had many conversations over the years with students who truly don’t understand how to write a research paper. This is not because they were taking credit for someone else’s words, but simply because they were never taught how to write a research paper. Over my many years addressing the issue of plagiarism, I have seen student after student who has written a research paper and not given proper attribution. High schools are not teaching researchĪnother reason for student cheating is being unprepared for college level work. When they believe they are going to fail (which nowadays is often anything less than an “A”), students will do whatever it takes to avoid it, because they don’t want to let others (often family) down. These students have grown up in a culture where even the team that scores the least gets a trophy. This also gets combined with a pressure to succeed. The example we set as a society is what I have found to be the most significant reason for students cheating. If I get caught, it isn’t as bad as what Enron did, so the consequence won’t be so bad.” My experience shows students engage in a cost/benefit analysis that goes like this: “If I cheat and don’t get caught, the reward is an ‘A’ in the class, admission to a graduate/professional school of my choice or a great job. Students then come to believe that dishonest behavior is rewarded and often do not hesitate to engage in it. What’s worse, society seemingly rewards these individuals for their dishonest behaviors. Often, it is motivated by the path to success that they see around them – people cheating without incurring any real consequences.įrom politicians cheating, to corporate scandals such as Enron, to the steroid scandal in Major League Baseball, to the NFL’s “deflategate,” our students are surrounded by examples of dishonest acts. It can be an intentional, calculated decision in order to get ahead. And I can say these results are not at all surprising to me. All these positions have given me unique insights into the issue of cheating beyond my institution. I have also served as president of the Association for Student Conduct Administration (ASCA), an organization of over 3,300 professionals doing student conduct work at over 1,800 institutions across the US and Canada. So, what could possibly lead to such behaviors?Īs Director of Student Conduct, I have been responsible for addressing these behaviors for the last 16 years. These survey results, which have remained consistent over time, represent a variety of behaviors. Surveys indicate as high as 70% of students report some kind of cheating in college. Statistics for cheating for college students are much the same.
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