Cheating in the Cyberworld

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Cheating in the Cyberworld

• Jennifer B. Summerville
• Beth Allred

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Stories from the trenches
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Four Personalities of Dishonest Academics

• Cheater
• Plagiarizer
• Excuse Maker
• Bully

Source Summerville, J. Fischetti, J. (2006).
The Loophole Generation. Article under final
review.
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Reasons why students cheat

• The pressure to get good grades
• Being unprepared
• The challenge of getting away with it
• PLUS
• Not understanding what constitutes
  cheating/plagiarism
• Source http//www.educationnews.org/writers/alan/
  Why-students-cheat.htm

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Who is most likely to cheat?

• Students involved in more extracurricular
  activities such as work, sports or clubs
• Students who are lower performers, academically
  or those who do not have the prerequisite
  knowledge required in the class
• Students who are not motivated or challenged
• Students who do not feel connected to the teacher
  (which is a prime concern for online classes)
• Students who see classmates cheat
• Students who have a tremendous external pressure
  for success
• Students who do not understand the consequences
  of cheating.

Source http//www.educationnews.org/writers/alan/
Why-students-cheat.htm
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Electronics make it easier

• Easier to obtain entire projects by paying for
  them
• Easier to obtain information and not site the
  original source
• Easier to copy and distribute exam copies
• Easier to cheat via handheld electronic devices
• Due to the proliferation of cheating
  opportunities, it is more difficult to discover
  cheating and plagiarism.
• 70 of college students admit to cheating
• 95 of them state that theyve never been caught

Source http//www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?
id35393
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What can you do to prevent cheating and
plagiarism?

• Understand who and why and THINK like a student
• Create clear policies with consequences for
  cheating and other unethical behavior
• Make it difficult to cheat!
• Test bank with randomized questions
• Test items with randomized answer sequence
• Open note/open book with time limits
• Create authentic assessments
• Change your assessments from semester to
  semester.
• Utilize creative writing assignments such as
  position papers instead of literature reviews

Summerville, J. (2000). Developing an on-line
ethics policy. Society for Information Technology
and Teacher Education International Conference
2000(1), 36-39. Online. Available
http//dl.aace.org/443
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What can you do to prevent cheating and
plagiarism (cont.)

• Assume that students will have EVERY resource
  available to them at all times
• Consider setting a trap
• Use all statistics possible and encourage the
  development of additional features as needed.
• Plan for the worse hope for the best
• Change your course from semester to semester
• Explain the impact of unethical behavior on their
  ability to get a job in the future (with WIIFM)

Christe, B. (2003). Designing online courses to
discourage dishonesty. Educause Issue 4)
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Take Advantage

• CMSs (Course Management Systems) offer a variety
  of tracking and statistical features
• It serves a dual purpose for you to tell students
  about what is tracked
• It helps to deter cheating
• It is an ethical consideration for you

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Questions?