A Study of Cheating Beliefs, Engagement, and Perception – The Case of Business and Engineering Students Abstract Studies have found that academic dishonesty is widespread. Of particular interest is the case of business students since many are expected to be the leaders of tomorrow. This study examines the cheating behaviors and perceptions of 819 business and engineering students at three private Lebanese universities, two of which are ranked as the top two universities in the country. Our results show that cheating is pervasive in the universities to an alarming degree. We first analyzed the data by looking at the variables gender, college (business vs. engineering), GPA, and whether the students had taken the business ethics course. We then supplemented this analysis by building an ordered logistic regression model to test whether these independent variables affect the level of engagement in cheating behavior when we control for the other variables. The results show that males engage in cheating more than females and that students with a lower GPA engage in cheating more. We initially find a difference between business and engineering students, but once we control for the other variables, this difference ceases to exist. Our most surprising result is that the business ethics course seems to have a detrimental effect on the cheating behavior of students. Finally, we find that perception plays a key role in defining the behavior of students. The more that students perceive that others are engaging in a certain behavior, the higher the probability that they will engage in the behavior, even if they believe that this behavior constitutes cheating.

Using a Student Authentication and Authorship Checking System as a Catalyst for Developing an Academic Integrity Culture: a Bulgarian Case Study Abstract This paper presents a case study carried out at Sofia University in Bulgaria, describing the relationship between two developments, firstly an expanding involvement with online learning and e-assessment, and secondly the development of institutional approaches to academic integrity. The two developments interact, the widening use of e-learning and e-assessment raising new issues for academic integrity, and the technology providing new tools to support academic integrity, with the involvement in technological developments acting as a catalyst for changes in approaches to academic integrity. The aim of this study is to describe in what ways the integration of technologies for student authentication and authorship checking in this university has begun to influence teachers’ approach to academic integrity, and has also helped to identify specific issues that need to be resolved for the future of academic integrity in the university. Data collected during the implementation of pilots for the project TeSLA - An adaptive trust-based e-assessment system - enabled an examination of the perspectives of administrators, teachers and students on approaches to cheating and plagiarism, and on possible future directions. The data suggests that the piloting of the TeSLA system has triggered a deepening consideration of approaches to academic integrity, and has also helped to identify important issues for future developments.

Students’ Perceptions of Plagiarism Policy in Higher Education: a Comparison of the United Kingdom, Czechia, Poland and Romania Abstract Students’ attitudes towards plagiarism and academic misconduct have been found to vary across national cultures, although the relationship between national culture and students’ perceptions of plagiarism policy remains unexplored. Student survey data (n = 1757) from the UK, Czechia, Poland and Romania were analysed for differences in students’ perceptions of three specific aspects of plagiarism policy – access, support and detail – at their respective universities. Considered through the lens of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, the study found significant differences between the UK and the three Eastern European countries for all measures except students’ awareness of the penalties applied for plagiarism. Low ‘power distance’ and high ‘individualism’ were related to positive perceptions of plagiarism policy and process. The findings suggest that institutional plagiarism policy and procedures need to be responsive to the unique characteristics of national cultural context.

The Charles Koch Foundation and Contracted Universities: Evidence from Disclosed Agreements Abstract Since 2000, the Charles Koch Foundation (CKF) has paid hundreds of millions of dollars to US universities in contractual exchanges. Many of these contracts have dictated the establishment or support of a CKF-affiliated center or institute on campus and university employment of CKF-affiliated tenured or tenure-track professors who agree to promote the CKF philosophy of minimal government regulation of business. While many in the academic community are opposed to these contracts because of concerns about academic freedom and the transfer of university decision-making from the campus to the external wealthy, the CKF has successfully forged many such contracts with universities. While most of these contracts are undisclosed, 14 of these contracts were obtained and analyzed to determine what the CKF has been purchasing from these universities.

Factors Influencing Academic Dishonesty among Undergraduate Students at Russian Universities Abstract Student academic dishonesty is a pervasive problem for universities all over the world. The development of innovative practices and interventions for decreasing dishonest behaviour requires understanding factors influencing academic dishonesty. Previous research showed that personal, environmental, and situational factors affect dishonest behaviour at a university. The set of factors and the strength of their influence can differ across countries. There is a lack of research on factors affecting student dishonesty in Russia. A sample of 15,159 undergraduate students from eight Russian highly selective universities was surveyed to understand what factors influence their decision to engage in dishonest behaviour. Ajzen’s Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) was employed to explain dishonest behaviour among students. The explained variance in the engagement in academic dishonesty equals 48% in the model for the full sample, and reaches 69% in the model for one of the considered institutions. The major findings of this study were: (1) subjective norms appeared to dominate as the strongest predictor of academic dishonesty across the Russian universities; (2) perceived behavioural control, appeared to be positively related to the dishonest behaviour. In the majority of universities, this factor was found to be insignificant. This finding indicates a specific feature of Russian students’ an ethical decision-making process discussed in the last part of the paper.

Plagiarism Intervention Using a Game-Based Tutorial in an Online Distance Education Course Abstract This project assesses the ability of a game tutorial, “Goblin Threat” to increase university students’ ability to recognize plagiarized passages. The game tutorial covers information about how to cite properly, types and consequences of plagiarism, and the differences between paraphrasing and plagiarism. The game involves finding and clicking on “goblins” who ask questions about various aspects of plagiarism. Sound effects and entertaining visuals work to keep students’ attention. One group of 177 students enrolled in an online Psychology of Adolescence course answered four multiple choice plagiarism recognition questions in the months after completing the online game tutorial while another group of over 400 students in the same online psychology course did not have access to the game tutorial, but answered the same multiple choice plagiarism recognition questions over the same period of time. The group who played the game tutorial showed an 11% improvement in recognizing plagiarized passages over the comparison group, a statistically significant difference. Results suggest the ability to keep students focused may be an important ingredient for plagiarism interventions.

Predicting Academic Cheating with Triarchic Psychopathy and Cheating Attitudes Abstract Recent research has suggested that both the Honesty-Humility dimension, psychopathic traits and cheating attitudes are important predictors of academic dishonesty. The present study examined: a) the incremental role of triarchic psychopathic traits in academic cheating over the Honesty-Humility dimension; b) the incremental role of cheating attitudes over personality; c) the mediating role of cheating attitudes in the relationship between different psychopathic components and academic cheating. Two-hundred-and-ninty-seven students (59% female, 23 years on average) completed several questionnaires: the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure (TriPM), The HEXACO-PI-R Honesty-Humility scale, Attitudes Toward Cheating Scale, and the Academic Cheating Behaviours Scale. As expected, triarchic psychopathy added incremental variance in explaining academic cheating, after controlling for Honesty-Humility. Cheating attitudes explained additional 24% after controlling for personality traits. Meanness lead to more lenient attitudes toward cheating, which lead to more academic cheating behaviours. On the other hand, the effects of boldness and disinhibition were not mediated by attitudes towards cheating. Overall, the results suggest that the psychopathic traits display the effects on the academic cheating via several different mechanisms. The findings have both important theoretical and practical implications.

What Prevents Students from Reporting Academic Misconduct? A Survey of Croatian Students Abstract Academic misconduct is widespread in all cultures, and factors that influence it have been investigated for many years. An act of reporting peers’ misconduct not only identifies and prevents misconduct, but also encourages a student to think and act morally and raises awareness about academic integrity. The aim of this study was to determine factors that prevent students from reporting academic misconduct. A questionnaire to assess views on reporting the academic misconduct of a colleague was developed and sent to all students enrolled at the University of Rijeka, Croatia. Results indicate that a tendency to protect fellow student and to comply with other opinions is the most influential factor that prevents students from reporting peers’ misbehavior. Furthermore, scientific discipline, gender, and age are all significant factors in students’ intention to report peer misconduct. Understanding the factors that influence students’ willingness to report academic misconduct enables faculties, administrators and students to strengthen the ethical culture in the academic community.

Academic Integrity in an Online Culture: Do McCabe’s Findings Hold True for Online, Adult Learners? Abstract This study examines how the self-reported cheating behaviors of students from a single large institution serving primarily adult students in online courses differ from those previously reported in large-scale studies of academic integrity among traditional-age college students. Specifically, the research presented here demonstrates that students at a large online university are no more likely to engage in most forms of cheating than the traditional-age students in residential institutions studied by Donald McCabe in his seminal research on academic integrity. Relatedly, our study finds that students’ age decreases the likelihood of engaging in cheating behaviors. Moreover, traditional-age undergraduates in our study were no more likely to engage in cheating behaviors than the undergraduate students McCabe surveyed. Our study offers a unique contribution to the extant literature on academic integrity, as we believe this is the largest survey of student attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors from a single institution. The research presented here confounds the common (mis)perception that cheating is more prevalent and easier to accomplish in online learning and assessment.

Faculty Perceptions of Consensual Sexual Relationships Between University Faculty and Students Abstract Consensual sexual relationships (CSR) between faculty and students at universities are a growing issue for administrators. Often times, administrators view these relationships as potential sexual harassment cases given the power disparities that often exist between the parties involved. Therefore, many universities have written policies essentially equating CSRs to sexual harassment. Despite the recent growth of these policies, how faculty compare CSRs and sexual harassment is often overlooked, particularly as it relates to perceived power differentials. The current study examined responses from 166 faculty members to explore these perceptions. Results indicate faculty had varying opinions, depending on previous experience with CSRs and beliefs around power differentials. These findings contribute to previous literature which indicates there is rampant ambiguity and subjectivity when defining and handling CSRs on campus.