Factors Affecting Cheating-Behavior at Undergraduate-Engineering

Abstract

This study is a fraction of a larger-research on cheating in exams at the School of Engineering (SOE). The study-design used a descriptive-survey-approach and a document-analysis. A designed confidential self-report-questioner was applied as the main-instrument for this-study, with the sample-size of 100-subjects, and a response-rate of 95%. The tool was pre-tested to ensure its validity and reliability. The study focused on the Attribution-Theory and the Pareto-principle. The data-collection-instrument was subjected to the statistical-analysis to determine its reliability via Cronbach’s alpha-coefficient, and found high inter-item consistency (a > 0.9). The major-results of this-study revealed that 65% of respondents declared that cheating is, in fact, a common-phenomenon in the SOE; 60% of students also affirmed, that it is, actually, difficult to eradicate cheating in examinations in the SOE; and 70% of students acknowledged that they use mobile-phones to Google or to assess notes, during examinations. The results also illustrate that cheating, undeniably, is a very-real-issue of massive-concern at SOE; accordingly, several-recommendations to fight cheating were given and areas for further-research were identified as well. The findings of the study would potentially help in curriculum-development and delivery approaches, and for the improvement of the exciting or establishment of new academic-integrity-polices, which would, in turn, limit the growing-tendency by candidates, to seek short-cuts to good-grades, in their academic-endeavors.

Keywords: cheating, engineering, students, questioner, integrity