Content area
Full Text
For many decades, academic cheating has been prevalent across many institutions and majors. This problem has been exacerbated by new technology that has increased opportunities for students to access and use information dishonestly. There is fear amongst faculty that dishonesty in the academic world could negatively impact professionals in their future careers. The greater prevalence of cheating may be related to students misunderstanding what constitutes cheating. To better understand students' perceptions of cheating, a group of faculty surveyed students across 11 academic programs at a college of health professions using a slightly modified version of a validated tool via an online platform. Data about cheating perceptions were collected from more than 400 students. Although most respondents agreed that cheating is wrong, some were open to explanations of innocence related to possible cheating scenarios. Also, most respondents did not agree that a person who cheats is an unethical person. These findings suggest that students believe cheating can occur unintentionally. Although the findings support that more education about academic dishonesty would be valuable, this study can inform efforts to develop more targeted education and interventions to reduce cheating behaviors. J Allied Health 2024; 53(1):25-31.
DISHONEST academic behaviors, including cheating, have been an area of concern in academia for decades.1 In the 1940s, researchers found that 23% of college students reported cheating on academic work.2 Later, in the 1990s, nearly 90% of college students reported cheating on an exam.3 These studies led faculty to wonder how to reduce academic dishonesty and how this dishonesty might be connected to future professional behavior.
Concerns related to cheating are frequently noted in scholarly literature.4 Faculty wish to avoid rewarding dishonesty and question students' ability to master material when the work they present is not theirs. Some faculty are concerned that cheating represents an overall lack of personal and professional integrity that may extend into students' professional careers. This possibility is especially concerning for students who enter health professions, where academic dishonesty could negatively impact patients' health and well-being.5
Given the increasing prevalence of cheating, and the new means to cheat using technology, the authors aimed to understand student perceptions of cheating in a college of health professions. To this end, the team surveyed student perceptions of cheating across 11 healthrelated...