A new study from the University of Nebraska—Lincoln examines the prevalence and perceptions of cheating among high school students.
“Students generally understand what constitutes cheating, but they do it anyway,” said Kenneth Kiewra, professor of educational psychology at UNL and one of the authors of the study. “They cheat on tests, homework assignments and when writing reports. In some cases, though, students simply don’t grasp that some dishonest acts are cheating.”
Key findings of the study show:
- 89 percent said glancing at someone else’s answers during a test was cheating, but 87 percent said they had done that at least once.
- Sixty-two percent said doing individual take-home tests with a partner was cheating, but 51 percent said they’d done so.
- 23 percent said doing individual homework with a partner was dishonest, but 91 percent had done so.
The results suggest that out-of-class misdeeds are viewed less harshly than in-class cheating, Kiewra said—a dynamic that is likely caused by teacher monitoring in class, and, therefore, a greater risk of getting caught. Read the press release here.
WHAT’S THE POINT?
The presence of Turnitin Originality Checking is a front line deterrent from cheating for many students. It reinforces the instructor’s and institution’s position on academic integrity, and at the very least, makes them try a little harder.
References:
Kiewra, Kenneth. (May 11, 2010). Most High Schoolers Cheat — But Don’t Always See It As Cheating. Retrieved May 12, 2010, from http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-05/uon-mhs051110.php .
Interesting research. They know right and wrong, but choose wrong. To an extent it comes down to an ethical positioning that probably occurs in earlier more formative years.
So, if I had my students submit to turnitin their daily assignments, would it show me that Suzy and Johnny had remarkably similar answers to open questions about Pride and Prejudice? I’m curious; obviously I notice them when I read them and they’re from the same class, but if Suzy’s my student in the fall and she give Johnny all her assignments when he enrolls in the spring, would Turnitin have the capacity to catch that? (assuming that I tell turnitin to add all submitted assignments to the institutional database)
Turnitin can compare current papers against our student paper database comprised of previously submitted papers. This will create a nearly 100% match in your scenario of Johnny turning in Suzy’s work from the previous semester.
When creating a new assignment (or editing an existing one), you can click ‘more options‘ and you will find the option that says, ‘Submit papers to:‘ with a drop down option to choose either ‘standard paper repository‘ or ‘no repository.’ There is also the options beneath that to decide which sources to search, including the student paper repository.