Whether online or in the brick-and-mortar traditional classroom, elementary, secondary or higher education, students cheat. Instead of looking at how to catch them, discovering why they cheat may help curb the epidemic.
1. Students cheat when value is placed on grades instead of learning.
According to Denise Pope of Stanford University, student that feel master of a topic is emphasized instead of performance on assessments will work to master a concept. When the emphasis is on grades students are more likely to cheat.
The environment focusing assessments on grades include multiple-choice, fill in the blank, matching and true or false questions on tests. In contrast, teaching for mastery assesses students with portfolios, short answer or essay questions, and papers with multiple drafts.
2. Students cheat when they lack confidence with their ability.
Sometimes student think that they cannot do well on a test, either they are not smart enough, or they lack some skills they need. It creates a feeling that they will fail, and their only option to do well is to cheat.
3. Students cheat when they feel pressure to do well.
With only the best intentions parents and teachers often compel students to get good grades and pushing to get into the best colleges. But the high stress succeed at all costs mentality creates the innate feeling to cheat in order to meet the expectations.
4. Students who feel they are part of a school community are less likely to cheat.
As students feel comfortable being a part of a school and included in the school community, they value the school. According to Challenge Succes, honesty and integrity kicks in, regardless of how they are doing in their classes, because they value the learning community.
5. Students who feel their teacher cares are less likely to cheat.
This is all about the perception of the student. When students perceive they have a teacher that cares about them, and exhibits competence, they are less likely to cheat. However, regardless of whether the teacher does care or not, if the student perceives that the teacher does not, they are more inclined to cheat.
In schools all over, it is not just the kids with behavior issues, or poor grades that are cheating. What can we do to stop this?
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