Yıl 2021, Cilt 7, Sayı 1, 16 - 28, 30.12.2021

Henry CHOW Rozzet JURDİ-HAGE H. Sam HAGE

https://doi.org/10.17985/ijare.951714

Öz

Justifying academic dishonesty: A survey of Canadian university students

Öz

Academic dishonesty is a growing problem in the higher education sector. Using a sample of 321 undergraduate students at a medium-sized Canadian university, this paper explores the respondents’ acceptability of the various reasons for engagement in academically dishonest behaviour. The findings revealed that respondents displayed moderately negative attitudes toward academic dishonesty and that the top three circumstances under which academically dishonest behaviour would be considered acceptable were pressure to maintain a scholarship, pressure from parents to perform well, and the heavy academic work load. Multiple ordinary least-squares regression analysis revealed that male respondents and those who reported a higher family income, enrolled in more classes, witnessed academic misconduct more frequently, expressed dissatisfaction with academic performance, indicated dissatisfaction with school life, placed less emphasis on intrinsic motivation to pursue higher education, and adopted a surface approach to learning were found to be associated with a greater likelihood of accepting the various justifications for academic dishonesty. The results of this investigation may be utilized by university administrators, academic advisors, and academic counselors to aid in the design of support services and interventions (e.g., explicit guidelines and practical teaching/learning resources) that will serve to prevent academic misconduct and to promote academic integrity.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Justifying academic dishonesty, university students, Canada

Kaynakça

• Alt, D., & Geiger, B. (2012). Goal orientations and tendency to neutralize academic cheating: An ecological perspective. Psychological Studies, 57(4), 404-416.
• Anderman, E.M., Griesinger, T., & Westerfield, G. (1998). Motivation and cheating during early adolescence. Journal of Educational Psychology, 90(1), 84-93.
• Anderman, E.M., & Won, S. (2019) Academic cheating in disliked classes, Ethics & Behavior, 29(1), 1-22.
• Bacon, A.M., McDaid, C., Williams, N., & Corr, P.J. (2020). What motivates academic dishonesty in students? A reinforcement sensitivity theory explanation. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 90(1), 152-166.
• Balakrishnan, A., Palma, P.A., Patenaude, J., & Campbell, L. (2017). A 4-study replication of the moderating effects of greed on socioeconomic status and unethical behaviour. Scientific Data, 4(1), 1-7.
• Ballantine, J.A., Guo, X., Larres, P., & Larres, P. (2018). Can future managers and business executives be influenced to behave more ethically in the workplace? The impact of approaches to learning on business students’ cheating behavior. Journal of Business Ethics, 149(1), 245-258.
• Beasley, E.M. (2014). Students reported for cheating explain what they think would have stopped them. Ethics & Behavior, 24(3), 229-52.
• Bernardi, R.A., Banzhoff, C.A., Martino, A.M., & Savasta, K.J. (2012). Challenges to academic integrity: Identifying the factors associated with the cheating chain. Accounting Education, 21, 247-263.
• Blankenship, K.L., & Whitley, B.E. (2000). Relation of general deviance to academic dishonesty. Ethics and Behavior, 10(1), 1-12.
• Brunell, A., Staats, S., Barden, J., & Hupp, J. (2011). Narcissism and academic dishonesty: The exhibitionism dimension and the lack of guilt. Personality and Individual Differences, 50(3), 323-328. Buckley, M.R., Weiss, D., & Harvey, M. (1998). An investigation into the dimensions of unethical behavior. Journal of Education for Business, 73(5), 284-290.
• Carrell, S.E., Malmstrom, F.V., & West, J.E. (2008). Peer effects in academic cheating. The Journal of Human Resources, 43(1), 173-207.
• Chien, S.C. (2017). Taiwanese college students’ perceptions of plagiarism: Cultural and educational considerations, Ethics & Behavior, 27(2), 118-139.
• Chow, H.P.H., Hage, S., & Jurdi, R. (2010). Academic integrity, campus life, and perceptions of the criminal justice system: A survey of university students in Regina. Regina, SK: University of Regina.
• Coren, A. (2011). Turning a blind eye: Faculty who ignore student cheating. Journal of Academic Ethics, 9(4), 291-305.
• Cosenza, E. (2020, September 4). New laws passed could see cheaters who sell services to university students jailed. The Australian. https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/latest-news/new-laws-passed-could-see-cheaters-who-sell-services-to-university-students-jailed/news-story/599e268e4e5ff39e0766544688274092.
• David, L.T. (2015). Academic cheating in college students: Relations among personal values, self-esteem and mastery. Procedia, Social and Behavioral Sciences, 187, 88-92.
• Delgado, Á.H.A, Almeida, J.P.R., Mendes, L.S.B., Oliveira, I.N., Ezequiel, O.D.S., Lucchetti, A.L.G., & Lucchetti, G. (2018). Are surface and deep learning approaches associated with study patterns and choices among medical students? A cross-sectional study. São Paulo Medical Journal, 136(5), 414-420.
• DePalma, M.T., Madey, S.F., & Bornschein, S. (1995). Individual differences and cheating behavior: Guilt and cheating in competitive situations. Personality and Individual Differences, 18, 761-769.
• Draper, M.J., & Newton, P.M. (2017). A legal approach to tackling contract cheating?. International Journal of Educational Integrity, 13, 11.
• Dubois, D., Rucker, D.D., & Galinsky, A.D. (2015). Social class, power, and selfishness: When and why upper and lower class individuals behave unethically. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 108(3), 436-449.
• Eaton, S.E. (2020a, January 15). Cheating may be under-reported across Canada’s universities and colleges. CBC News. https://www.universityaffairs.ca/opinion/in-my-opinion/cheating-may-be-under-reported-across-canadas-universities-and-colleges/.
• Eaton, S.E. (2020b). An inquiry into major academic integrity violations in Canada: 2010-2019. Calgary, AB: University of Calgary.
• Eaton, S.E., & Edino, R.I. (2018). Strengthening the research agenda of educational integrity in Canada: A review of the research literature and call to action. International Journal for Educational Integrity, 14(1), 1-21.
• Eret, E., & Ok, A. (2014). Internet plagiarism in higher education: tendencies, triggering factors and reasons among teacher candidates. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 39, 1002-1016.
• Eriksson, L., & McGee, T.R. (2015). Academic dishonesty amongst Australian criminal justice and policing university students: Individual and contextual factors. International Journal for Educational Integrity, 11(1), 1-15.
• Esteves, G.G.L., Oliveira, L.S., De Andrade, J.M., & Menezes, M.P. (2021). Dark triad predicts academic cheating. Personality and Individual Differences, 171, 1-3.
• Giluk, T.L., & Postlethwaite, B.E. (2015). Big five personality and academic dishonesty: A meta-analytic review. Personality and Individual Differences, 72, 59-67.
• Goh, E. (2015). Exploring underlying motivations behind extreme cases of plagiarism in tourism and hospitality education. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Education, 27(2), 80-84. Graham, M., Monday, J., O’Brien, K., & Steffen, S. (1994). Cheating at small colleges: An examination of student and faculty attitudes and behaviors, Journal of College Student Development, 35, 255-260.
• Hadjar, I. (2019). To cheat or not to cheat? Sex differences and academic performance as factors of cheating behavior, Sawwa: Jurnal Studi Gender, 14(1), 1-20.
• Harper, R., Bretag, T., Ellis, C., Newton, P., Rozenberg, P., Saddiqui, S., & van Haeringen, K. (2018). Contract cheating: A survey of Australian university staff. Studies in Higher Education, 44(11), 1-17.
• Harding T.S., Carpenter, D.D., Finelli, C.J., & Passow, H.J. (2004). Does academic dishonesty relate to unethical behavior in professional practice? An exploratory study. Science and Engineering Ethics, 10(2), 311-24.
• Hensley, L.C., Kirkpatrick, K.M., & Burgoon, J.M. (2013). Relation of gender, course enrollment, and grades to distinct forms of academic dishonesty. Teaching in Higher Education, 18(8), 895-907.
• Jewett, A.V. (2006). Academic dishonesty among division III college athletes. Unpublished Ed.D. dissertation, Johnson and Wales University.
• Johnstone, M.J. (2016). Academic dishonesty and unethical behaviour in the workplace. Australian Nursing & Midwifery Journal, 23(11), 33.
• Jordan, A. (2001). College student cheating: The role of motivation, perceived norms, attitudes, and knowledge of institutional policy. Ethics and Behavior, 11, 233-247.
• Jurdi, R., Hage, S., & Chow, H.P.H. (2012). What behaviours do students consider academically dishonest? Findings from a survey of Canadian undergraduate students. Social Psychology of Education: An International Journal, 15, 1-23.
• Jurdi, R., Hage, S., & Chow, H.P.H. (2011). Academic dishonesty in the Canadian classroom: Examination of the behaviours of a sample of university students in Regina. Canadian Journal of Higher Education, 41(3), 1-35.
• Khalid, A. (2015). Comparison of academic misconduct across disciplines - Faculty and student perspectives. Universal Journal of Educational Research, 3, 258-268.
• Kerkvliet, J. (1994). Cheating by Economics students: A comparison of survey results. Journal of Economic Education, 25, 121-133.
• Korn, L., & Davidovitch, N. (2016). The profile of academic offenders: Features of students who admit to academic dishonesty. Medical Science Monitor, 22, 3043-3055.
• Kristin, V.F., & Frone, M.R. (2004). Academic performance and cheating: Moderating role of school identification and self-efficacy. The Journal of Educational Research, 97(3), 115-121.
• Kukolja T.S., Taradi, M., & Đogaš, Z. (2012). Croatian medical students see academic dishonesty as an acceptable behaviour: A cross-sectional multicampus study. Journal of Medical Ethics, 38(6), 376-379.
• LaDuke, R.D. (2013). Academic dishonesty today, unethical practices tomorrow? Journal of Professional Nursing, 29(6), 402-406.
• Lester, M.C., & Diekhoff, G.M. (2002). A comparison of traditional and internet cheaters. Journal of College Student Development, 43, 906-911.
• Lovett-Hooper, G., Komarraju, M., Weston, R., & Dollinger, S.J. (2007). Is plagiarism a forerunner of other deviance? Imagined futures of academically dishonest students. Ethics & Behavior, 17(3), 323-336.
• Ma, Y., McCabe, D.L, & Liu, R. (2013). Students’ academic cheating in Chinese universities: Prevalence, influencing factors, and proposed action. Journal of Academic Ethics, 11(3), 169-184.
• MacGregor, J., & Stuebs, M. (2012). To cheat or not to cheat: rationalizing academic impropriety. Accounting Education, 21(3), 265-87.
• Maeda, M. (2021). Exam cheating among Cambodian students: When, how, and why it happens, Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, 51(3), 337-355.
• Malesky, A., Grist, C., Poovey, K., & Dennis, N. (2021). The effects of peer influence, honor codes, and personality traits on cheating behavior in a university setting. Ethics & Behavior, 1-11.
• Marsden, H., Carroll, M., & Neill, J.T. (2005). Who cheats at university? A self-report study of dishonest academic behaviours in a sample of Australian university students. Australian Journal of Psychology, 57, 1–10.
• McCabe, D.L., Butterfield, K.D., & Trevino, L.K. (2006). Academic dishonesty in graduate business programs: Prevalence, causes, and proposed action. Academy of Management Learning and Education, 5, 294-305.
• McCabe, D.L., & Trevino, L.K. (1997). Individual and contextual influences on academic dishonesty: A multicampus investigation. Research in Higher Education, 38(3), 379-396.
• McCabe, D.L., & Trevino, L.K. (1993). Academic dishonesty: Honor codes and other contextual influences. The Journal of Higher Education, 64 (5), 522-538.
• McCabe, D.L., Feghali, T., & Abdallah, H. (2008). Academic dishonesty in the Middle East: Individual and contextual factors. Research in Higher Education, 49 (5), 451-467.
• Miller, A.D., Murdock, T.B., & Grotewiel, M.M. (2017). Addressing academic dishonesty among the highest achievers. Theory into Practice, 56(2), 121-128. Moore, H. (2014, February 25). Cheating students punished by the 1000s, but many more go undetected. CBC News. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/cheating-students-punished-by-the-1000s-but-many-more-go-undetected-1.2549621.
• Mustaine, E.E., & Tewksbury, R. (2005). Southern college students' cheating behaviors: An examination of problem behavior correlates. Deviant Behavior, 26(5), 439-461.
• Muñoz-García, A., & Aviles-Herrera, M.J. (2014). Effects of academic dishonesty on dimensions of spiritual well-being and satisfaction: A comparative study of secondary school and university students. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 39(3), 349-363.
• Nonis, S., & Swift, C.O. (2001). An examination of the relationship between academic dishonesty and workplace dishonesty: A multi campus investigation. The Journal of Education for Business, 77, 69–77.
• Okoye, O.I., Maduka-Okafor, F., Matthias, R.C., Udeaja, A., & Chuku, A.I. (2018). Academic misconduct in Nigerian medical schools-A Report from focus group discussions among house officers. Journal of Academic Ethics, 16 (3), 275-285.
• O’Rourke, J., Barnes, J., Deaton, A., Fulks, K., Ryan, K., & Rettinger, D.A. (2010). Imitation is the sincerest form of cheating: The influence of direct knowledge and attitudes on academic dishonesty. Ethics & Behavior, 20, 47-64.
• Orosz, G., Farkas, D., & Roland-Levy, C. (2013). Are competition and extrinsic motivation reliable predictors of academic cheating? Frontiers in Psychology, 4, 1-16.
• Park, E.J., Park, S., & Jang, I.S. (2013). Academic cheating among nursing students. Nurse Education Today, 33(4), 346-352.
• Pell, D.J. (2018). That’s cheating: The (online) academic cheating ‘epidemic’ and what we should do about it. In Creativity and critique in online learning (pp. 123-147). Cham: Springer International Publishing. Piff, P.K., Stancato, D.M., Cote, S., Mendoza-Denton, R., & Keltner, D. (2012). Higher social class predicts increased unethical behavior. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS, 109(11), 4086-4091.
• Pino, N.W., & Smith, W.L. (2003). College students and academic dishonesty. College Student Journal, 37(4), 490-500.
• Pulvers, K., & Diekhoff, G.M. (1999). The relationship between academic dishonesty and college classroom environment. Research in Higher Education, 40(4), 487-498. Rakovski, C.C., & Levy, E.S. (2007). Academic dishonesty: Perceptions of business students. College Student Journal, 41(2), 466-481. Schwartz, B.M., Tatum, H.E., & Hageman, M.C. (2013). College students’ perceptions of and responses to cheating at traditional, modified, and non-honor system institutions. Ethics & Behavior, 23, 463-476.
• Simkin, M.G., & McLeod, A. (2010). Why do college students cheat? Journal of Business Ethics, 94(3), 441-453.
• Smith, K.J., Davy, J.A., & Easterling, D. (2004). An explanation of cheating and its antecedents among marketing and management majors. Journal of Business Ethics, 50, 63–80.
• Stogner, J.M., Miller, B.L., & Marcum, C.D. (2013). Learning to E-cheat: A criminological test of internet facilitated academic cheating. Journal of Criminal Justice Education, 24(2), 175-199.
• Storch, J.B., Storch, E.A., & Clark, P. (2002). Academic dishonesty and neutralization theory: A comparison of intercollegiate athletes and nonathletes. Journal of College Student Development, 43(6), 921-930.
• Teodorescu, D., & Andrei, T. (2009). Faculty and peer influences on academic integrity: College cheating in Romania. Higher Education, 57, 267-282. Vandehey, M.A., Diekhoff, G.M., & LaBeff, E.E. (2007). College cheating: A twenty-year follow-up and the addition of an honor code. Journal of College Student Development, 48(4), 468-480. Whitley, B.E., Nelson, A.B., & Jones, C.J. (1999). Gender differences in cheating attitudes and classroom cheating behavior: A meta analysis. Sex Roles, 41 (9/10), 657-680.
• Whitley, B.E., Jr., & Keith-Spiegel, P. (2002). Academic dishonesty: An educator’s guide. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
• Wilks, D.C., Cruz, J.N., & Sousa, P. (2016). Personality traits and plagiarism: An empirical study with Portuguese undergraduate students. Journal of Academic Ethics, 14(3), 231-241. 
• Williams, K.M., Nathanson, C., & Paulhus, D.L. (2010). Identifying and profiling scholastic cheaters: Their personality, cognitive ability, and motivation. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 16, 293-307.
• Williams, A.E., & Janosik, S.M. (2007). An examination of academic dishonesty among sorority and nonsorority women. Journal of College Student Development, 48(6), 706-714.
• Williamson, W.P., & Assadi, A. (2005). Religious orientation, incentive, self-esteem, and gender as predictors of academic dishonesty: An experimental approach. Archive for the Psychology of Religion, 27, 137-158.
• Xin, G. (2011). Understanding student plagiarism: An empirical study in accounting education. Accounting Education International Journal, 20,17-37.
• Yang, S.C., Chiang, F.K., & Huang, C.L. (2017). A comparative study of academic dishonesty among university students in Mainland China and Taiwan. Asia Pacific Education Review, 18(3), 385-399.
• Yoshimura, F. (2018). Another possible reason for plagiarism: Task representations of summary writing. TESL-EJ, 22(3), 1–17.
• Young, J.R. (2013). Online classes see cheating go high tech. The Education Digest, 78(5), 4.
• Yukhymenko-Lescroart, M.A. (2014). Ethical beliefs toward academic dishonesty: A cross-cultural comparison of undergraduate students in Ukraine and the United States. Journal of Academic Ethics, 12 (1), 29-41.