Cheating in school has likely been an issue since formal education began. However, with the rise of technology and increased competition, many believe that cheating may be on the rise. Let’s take a look at the evidence surrounding academic dishonesty and whether it is increasing.
What is academic dishonesty?
Academic dishonesty refers to cheating behaviors in school settings. This can include:
- Copying from another student during an exam
- Using unauthorized materials like cheat sheets
- Plagiarizing work from other sources
- Copying homework from a classmate
- Having someone else complete assignments on your behalf
- Submitting the same work for multiple classes without permission
Essentially, any attempt to get credit for work that is not your own original effort qualifies as academic dishonesty. This undermines the core purpose of education and assessment.
What are the main ways students cheat?
While cheating can take many forms, some of the most common methods include:
1. Copying from peers
This traditionally involves looking at another student’s test paper during an exam. It may also include working with others on assignments meant to be completed individually. With many classes now online due to COVID-19, new cheating methods like sharing answers over text have emerged.
2. Using technology
Cell phones, smart watches, and other tech devices allow students to photograph test questions, look up answers online, text classmates, and more. Cheating through technology is easy and hard for teachers to detect.
3. Plagiarism
Copying chunks of text from websites or other sources without attribution is common. While not new, internet access makes plagiarism much easier today. Purchasing pre-written essays online also allows students to submit work that is not their own.
4. Cheat sheets
The classic cheat sheet with formulas, notes, etc. remains popular. Students conceal these forbidden resources and sneak peeks during quizzes and tests. Evolving technology allows for innovative, harder to spot cheat sheets.
5. Misconduct around exams
This includes behaviors like stealing copies of tests ahead of time, using a proxy test-taker, and more elaborate schemes. These tactics often require planning and coordination.
What factors drive academic dishonesty?
Understanding why students cheat can help address the root causes. Reasons commonly cited include:
- Pressure to get top grades: Fierce competition for college admissions and scholarships leads some students to cheat to boost GPAs and class rank.
- Lack of preparation: Students who do not study adequately may cheat as a last resort.
- Laziness: Some students cheat because it is easier than properly learning the material.
- Lack of integrity: Character weaknesses lead a subset of students to willingly cheat.
- Unclear rules: Ambiguous expectations around collaboration and use of notes can lead to unintentional cheating.
- Easy opportunity: Technology and lax proctoring facilitate cheating.
- Minimal consequences: Weak penalties encourage students to take the risk.
How prevalent is cheating in schools today?
Measuring cheating rates precisely is very difficult due to the inherently covert nature of the activity. However, anonymous student surveys can provide insight into the frequency of various cheating behaviors. Research indicates that:
- Over 80% of high school students admit to cheating at least once.
- Over 75% of college students report academic dishonesty.
- Estimates suggest up to 98% of college students have participated in some form of cheating.
While self-reported rates should be taken with caution, most experts believe a majority of students engage in some cheating during their academic careers.
Has academic dishonesty increased compared to the past?
Many observers argue that cheating has risen significantly in recent decades:
- A 1940 study found just 23% of college students had cheated. Today’s rates above 75% suggest a sizeable upward trend.
- 94% of teachers surveyed in 1964 reported no cheating issues. Only 9% made this claim in 1993, indicating a major shift.
- Multiple studies show cheating becoming more common between the 1940s and early 2000s.
However, some counter that cheating has always been widespread. Improved monitoring and research have simply made us more aware of the practice. But most evidence does suggest an increase has occurred alongside societal shifts.
Potential causes of increased cheating:
- Technology makes cheating simpler than in the past.
- Competition for college admissions and scholarships has intensified.
- Teachers often have less autonomy and flexibility today.
- Standards for academic achievement have increased over time.
- Parental pressures for children to succeed academically have grown.
How does the rise of technology enable cheating?
The digital age has undoubtedly changed the cheating landscape. Specific ways technology facilitates dishonesty include:
- Internet access enables plagiarism through copying and pasting content.
- Smartphones allow stealth photography of tests, texting answers, and information lookups.
- Elaborate graphing calculators can be used to store formulas and content.
- Online paper mills provide custom essays on demand.
- Home printers make counterfeit documents and cheat sheets easy to create.
- Online forums exist where students buy and sell exams, papers, and homework assignments.
Regulating technology use during assessments is extremely challenging for schools. Cheating via devices is easy, discreet, and difficult to monitor in practice.
Percentage of students who have used technology to cheat
| Looking up information on the internet | 52% |
| Texting friends about answers | 35% |
| Using digital photos of tests, etc. | 29% |
| Emailing schoolwork to/from classmates | 21% |
Source: Common Sense Media, 2019
Are certain demographics more likely to cheat?
Research provides insights into whether some students are more prone to cheating:
- Boys versus girls: Studies consistently show boys cheat more than girls in high school and college.
- Undergraduates versus graduate students: Graduate students self-report lower rates of cheating than undergraduates.
- STEM versus humanities: Cheating rates tend to be higher among STEM majors compared to humanities majors at the university level.
- Athletes versus general students: Student athletes cheat more than average students, likely due to time demands of sports.
- Affluent communities: High rates of cheating tend to be concentrated in affluent school districts.
This data on demographic trends should inform targeted anti-cheating initiatives.
What are the consequences of cheating in school?
Cheating has adverse effects for individual students, the classroom environment, and society broadly:
- Students do not fully learn material, undermining the purpose of education.
- Ill-gotten high grades can lead to students taking on college/career paths they are unprepared for.
- It creates an uneven playing field among peers.
- Ethical development of students suffers when dishonesty is condoned.
- Diminished trust among students hampers collaborative learning.
- Escalating cheating fosters cynicism about achievement based on merit.
In summary, cheating distorts assessment validity, weakens the integrity of schools, and sends the wrong message about ethical life skills.
What can be done to curb cheating in academics?
Stemming the rise in cheating requires comprehensive initiatives targeting root factors:
- Clearly communicate academic integrity standards for students
- Institute honor codes
- Ensure reasonable workloads to limit incentive to cheat
- Develop alternative modes of assessment beyond high-stakes testing
- Leverage plagiarism detection software
- Implement proctoring protocols for exams and online classes
- Ban use of unauthorized electronics during tests
- Centralize exam schedules to avoid test conflicts
- Enforce firm consequences for confirmed cheating
- Foster classroom cultures that value ethics and integrity
While not a quick fix, administrations and teachers can help mitigate cheating through vigilance, deterrence, values development, and reducing motivational factors where feasible. Families also play a key role in instilling ethical behaviors in children from a young age.
Conclusion
In reviewing the evidence, academic dishonesty does appear to have grown over past decades, enabled by technology and influenced by societal pressures. Exact cheating rates are uncertain, but research confirms it is commonplace on high school and college campuses today. Meaningful progress will require cross-cutting efforts engaging all stakeholders. But curbing cheating is critical for upholding integrity in education and beyond.