Using Technology to Cheat Academically

Out of the many reasons of why students choose to cheat, one is the high level of competition between students. This reason, plus students knowing that other students are getting away with it, makes it that much easier to do so.(Vencat, 2006). The decline of moral values may also play a big part in academic dishonesty, when they are replaced by good grades.

Our society has made technology very useful, and very accurate to support our many lifestyles. Students are taking advantage of such wonderful tools that society has to love. Some of these include prescription medications used to increase alertness and focus, cell phones for their instant messaging and picture massaging, and test banks.(Vencat, 2006) These tools can be used inside the classroom, usually unnoticed by testers.

"There is a fine line between plagiarism and poor academic practice and it is sometimes difficult to be sure that you are on the right side of that line." (Burkill, 2004, para. 6)

When a student is just beginning to learn how to do research, he/she may become impatient and find it easier to just copy and paste part of their assignment. The answer to this is practice. Everything always becomes easier with a little practice! (Burkill, 2004)

Discussion

At Duke University a study was conducted at their Center for Academic Integrity involving thousands of college and high school students. The results of that study show that in the past eight years the number of students who cheat has quadrupled. (Vencat, 2006)

As unbelievable as it may seem, some professors choose not to report incidents of academic dishonesty. The reasons involved in professors just turning their backs in these situations are that they do not want all the hassle and aggravation, which is involved. Wanting to avoid a possible lawsuit is also a reason that is often used as well as not wanting students to dislike them. (Schneider, 1999) Some professors do not want to go through the trouble to find the sources of plagiarism, during finals week when they have a staggering number of papers to go through and grade.

Nine different campuses were tested in 1992 to find out how many students had cheated at least once during the time they had been attending a college setting. The results reflected that this was true for seventy percent of those surveyed. After this survey, professors from sixteen different college institutions were surveyed to find out how many had reported cheating. Only sex percent of those professors surveyed had said that they reported academic dishonesty often. (Schneider, 1999)

In some extreme cases, when professors had reported plagiarism, some have been harassed as well as assaulted by students, they have been threatened, and some have also had their houses egged and the doors torn off the hinges. (Schneider, 1999) Harassment can come from other faculty members as well.

A study was conducted at 31 Colleges and Universities, 14 of which had an academic code, and 17, which did not. The results of this study reflected that about half of the students who were surveyed at the institutions with honor codes had cheated at least one time within the past year, and about one-fourth of the students from the institution without honor codes.(McCabe, 2005)

"While such comparisons would seem to support the power of honor codes, it was not the code itself that was the most critical factor. Rather, the student culture that existed on campus concerning the question of academic integrity was more important."(McCabe, 2005, para. 4)

Some academic institutions are not punishing offenders of cheating, but rather using an educational approach. The faculty member who suspects or knows about the academic dishonesty will confront that student in private. As long as the student confesses to the crime that he or she committed, it will stay between that student and that particular professor.(McCabe, 2005) A good thing about taking this educational approach, is that faculty members are more likely to address the issue of academic dishonesty. Students will then know that they will get caught, so there will be less cheating overall.

One of the most important things that needs to happen when a student has been found cheating, is that the faculty members need to be reporting these situations, and addressing them with the students.

References

Burkill, S. & Abbey, C. (2004). Avoiding Plagiarism. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 28(3), 439-446. Retrieved May 30, 2007, EBSCOhost.
McCabe, D. (2005). Academic Dishonesty & Educational Opportunity. Liberal Education, 91(3). 26-31. Retrieved June 4, 2007, EBSCOhost.
Schneider, A. (1999). Why Professors Don't Do More to Stop Students Who Cheat. Chronicle of Higher Education, 45(20). 8. Retrieved May 30, 2007, EBSCOhost.
Vencat, E. & Overdorf, J. & Adams, J. (2006). The Perfect Score. Newsweek, 147(13). 44-47. Retrieved May 30, 2007, EBSCOhost.