Students' Perspectives of the Influence of Web-Enhanced Coursework on Incidences of Cheating

Abstract

Online course management systems, such as WebCT and Blackboard, provide instructors and students with new opportunities for academic freedom. With this freedom comes the potential for abuse, which many instructors believe will manifest itself as increased levels of cheating. This paper investigates what students define as cheating, why students cheat, and their perceptions of a course management system's effect on the level of cheating in a first-year chemistry program. Our results suggest that students define cheating primarily as copying or receiving answers from another student. The primary reasons for cheating include lack of motivation, desperation, and the pressure to obtain good grades. Statistical analyses show that although students with a grade-point average in the range of 2.4–3.0 were more likely to cheat on assignments, students do not believe a course management system will have any significant impact on the level of cheating that occurs in a Web-enhanced course.

Lessons Learned from the COVID-19 Crisis: Adjusting Assessment Approaches within Introductory Organic Courses

“…However, the rapid transition of these courses in mid-March 2020 to a 100% virtual learning environment, coupled with an FAS announcement that all further course assessments had to be conducted online, meant some different techniques were required. Necessary adjustments were also recently reported in administration of the 2020 Advanced Placement (AP) chemistry examination, and in assessments set by the American Chemical Society Division of Chemical Education Examinations Institute. , This communication extends previous work published in areas of evaluation in education (particularly multiple-choice testing), and associated academic integrity concerns in the context of short order assessment redesign. ,− The University of Toronto’s Office of Research Ethics has approved the reporting of anonymous student grade data in terms of secondary use.…”

“…Importantly, fears around matters of academic misconduct were largely unfounded. There are literature examples of apparent cheating during unproctored virtual examinations, and a case has been made that environmental factors may somewhat mitigate deception in online assessments. − However, other reports demonstrate that online quizzes and examinations do not necessarily increase the cheating instances found in the student population of particular classes. − Very little indication of collaboration between students was detected in any of the three final assignments (e.g., anomalous performances based on previous course assessments), even though each assignment was unproctored. Compelling evidence that dishonesty was not a major issue in CHM 247H is apparent from inspection of the two term test and online final assignment grade distributions (Figure ).…”

The Online Cheating Conundrum

“…Further studies of students' selfreported behavior add doubt about students cheating more online. Charlesworth et al (2006) found that only 8% of students reported being more likely to cheat online while Grijalva & Kerkvliet (2006) estimated that only 3% of students cheated online based on anonymous student data. In fact, online students reported cheating less frequently than face-to-face counterparts (Stuber-McEwan et al, 2009).…”

“…Indeed, when it comes to rethinking assessments and stopping academic dishonesty, we need to understand student motivations for cheating on assessments. As Adzima (2018) points out there is very little research into why students engage in cheating behaviors in the first place, although several studies reported that students with lower GPAs are more likely to cheat (Beck, 2014;Charlesworth et al, 2006). Yet, that information gives us very little to work with in terms of preventing this behavior.…”

Assessment à la Mode: Implementing an Adaptable Large-Scale Multivariant Online Deferred-Grade Exam for Virtual Learning

“…Complicating the matter, online examinations meant providing safeguards against new possible avenues of academic misconduct. 3,4 Educators reported noticeable increases in academic misconduct with online exams during the transition. 5,6 Many universities switched to open resources or open notebook exams in order to negate the effects of cheating on exam performance.…”