Three out of four college students have cheated at leastonce in their college careers, an ongoing study of several universities in theU.S. found. Students admitted their transgressions in surveys conducted by DonMcCabe, founding Director of the Center for Academic Integrity at DukeUniversity.
The severity of the cheating epidemic has increased inrecent years with technology. At Stony Brook University, the number of accusationsof cheating rose from 44 in 1996 to 144 last year, with the internet cited asthe greatest contributing factor.
‘?The biggest increase in cheating is internetplagiarism. Whole papers are taken, some are cut and pasted,’ said MariaDrueckhammer, Executive Director of the Academic Judiciary for College of Artsand Sciences, Marine Sciences, and Physical Education at Stony BrookUniversity. ‘?Three years ago, 75 percent of [Stony Brook] students feltthat internet cut and paste was cheating. That number fell to 30 percent lastyear. [But] it’s a problem across the whole nation.’
Other universities have had similar problems withtechnology-related cheating. In one of the more notorious cheating scandals ofthe year, 12 students at the University of Maryland were caught cheating on anexam using cell phone text-messaging. The professor, as part of a stingoperation, had posted bogus answers at the beginning of the exam online withthe object of catching cheaters.
Students who finished early sent those answers to theiraccomplices. Six of those students confessed, five are awaiting a trial withthe university judiciary, and one died of undisclosed causes over this pastwinter break. In another cell phone cheating incident, 26 students inJapan’s Hitotsubashi University failed this past December.
Cheating has its roots early in scholastic careers. Asearly as sixth grade, students have confessed to cheating on exams, homeworkassignments, and with their parents, according to a survey done by McCabe in aNew Jersey school district.
‘?As much of a problem that we may think we have at acollege level, there’s a problem in the pipeline that is coming towardsus that we need to be ready to address,’ McCabe said at an AcademicIntegrity conference. ‘?It’s an increasing problem: lots of youngstudents are involved in an increasing number as they go through thesystem.’
According to a survey by Who’s Who conducted in 1998,80 percent of high-achieving high school students have cheated on tests, and 83percent say cheating is common in their schools.
At Stony Brook, problems seem to arise with students wholack a solid understanding of what cheating entails. When several randomstudents were questioned on campus, many said they did not believe thatsubmitting multiple copies of their own work to different instructors withoutpermission was cheating, but it is considered as such by the university.Interviews with Teaching Assistants revealed reluctance to report dishonestythat was found in homework and tests. ‘?I would feel bad ruiningsomeone’s life because of one homework,’ said an unnamedengineering TA.
‘?We are encouraging faculty and staff to reportcheating, but since many of them handle it themselves, we can’t be sureof the percentage of cheating that does go on,’ Drueckhammer said.
The process for reporting cheating on campus has been madeeasier in recent years, she said, explaining that instructors can download theforms online.
Most accusations of academic dishonesty at Stony Brook occurin the Humanities, where papers are assigned frequently. The second largestrealm of dishonesty is in lab reports, where students sometimes collaborate tocompile, falsify, or fabricate data.
‘?I don’t believe the majority of people areactively trying to deceive their instructor,’ Drueckhammer said.’?They don’t fully understand because of differences in theirbackgrounds, or the high schools they went to. Most were never properly taughthow to cite.’
Once a student is accused of dishonesty, he or she isallowed 30 days to appeal the case. After the appeal is processed, theindividual must appear with the professor at a hearing with Drueckhammer, twomembers of the faculty or staff, and two undergraduates presiding. The case ispresented and a defense may be laid out by the accused. After a period ofquestioning, the board deliberates and reaches a judgment.
Drueckhammer stresses that the Judiciary’s goal is tocreate an environment where integrity for one’s own work is valued.
‘?We’re not out to ruin lives,’ she said.’?We’re out to protect the integrity of the Stony Brook degree, andto educate students so that they don’t make any more serious mistakes inthe future.’
If the student is found not guilty, his or her transcriptescapes unscathed, and successive accusations are treated as first offenses.For guilty students, there is a range of penalties. The most common is a’?Q’ for the course, which equals an ‘?F’ and a mark ofacademic dishonesty on the transcript. The student must then take a 10-weekinstructional class. Upon completion of the academic dishonesty course, the Qis erased from the student’s record?although an F remains. If astudent commits multiple offenses, he or she may be eligible for suspension orexpulsion from the university.
Judiciary members said they do not believe the number ofaccusations per year reflects the true rate of cheating on campus.
‘?As of today, I couldn’t tell you what the realpercentage of cheating on campus is,’ said Drueckhammer.
But perhaps more light will be shed on the prevalence ofcheating on campus once McCabe’s survey comes to Stony Brook later thissemester.
‘?We’re hoping that the data will give us an ideaof the magnitude of the problem here,’ Drueckhammer said. ‘?We wantto help professors create a classroom that deters dishonesty and reinforcesintegrity.’
The survey will ask students whether they’ve cheatedor known anyone who has, if they’ve reported it, and what their opinionson reporting dishonesty are. This survey comes during the Year of Ethical Leadershipat Stony Brook, in which programs will be held specifically to address theproblem of cheating on campus.
The Judiciary will hold a roundtable discussion to start adialogue with students concerning attitudes about cheating on March 26 duringCampus Life Time in the SAC. The talk will address what students can do tocreate a culture of academic integrity.
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Drueckhammer stresses that these programs should help changethe attitudes towards cheating on campus. ‘?You’re going to have acertain percentage of students who would never cheat,’ she said.’?Then, you’ll get those students who set out to cheat. And finallyyou have a huge number in between that can go either way. They are whowe’re fighting for.’
