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Should students who cheat on tests be punished? 

Research Question

Should students who cheat on tests be punished? 
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Academic Insights

Students who cheat on tests should be punished, but the effectiveness of the punishment depends on various factors including the severity and certainty of the punishment, as well as the students' perceptions and motivations.

Key Insights

  • Perception of Punishment Severity and Certainty:
    • Increased perception of fellow students reporting cheating reduces cheating at both the extensive margin (decision to cheat) and the intensive margin (decision about how much to cheat) .
    • Increasing the severity of the punishment for cheating does not deter academic misconduct; however, an increased certainty of being caught does decrease the likelihood of cheating behaviors .
  • Motivations for Cheating:
    • Fear of failure is a main motivation for cheating; students perceive cheating acts treated as minor offenses as ‘helping’ peers .
    • Students' perception of ethical values does not determine the level of prevalence of cheating; peer loyalty or fellow feeling is dominant .
  • Effectiveness of Sanction Reminders:
    • Reminding students about academic dishonesty sanction policies can reduce cheating in exams .
  • Faculty Attitudes and Responses:
    • There is a range of faculty attitudes about confronting suspected cheaters, with some believing that severe penalties like failing grades are appropriate, while others think they are too harsh .

Conclusion

Punishing students who cheat on tests is necessary, but the approach should consider the severity and certainty of the punishment, students' motivations, and the effectiveness of sanction reminders. Faculty attitudes towards penalties also play a significant role in shaping the overall strategy to deter academic dishonesty.

1

It's The Students, Stupid: How Perceptions of Student Reporting Impact Cheating

18 citations | The American Economist | R. Burruset | 2013Cite
2

Cheating Behaviors among Undergraduate College Students: Results from a Factorial Survey

25 citations | Journal of Criminal Justice Education | Tina L. Freiburgeret | 2017Cite
3

Guilty in Whose Eyes? Student-Teachers' Perspectives on Cheating on Examinations.

3 citations | Journal of Education and Practice | E. Amua-Sekyiet | 2016Cite
6

The Case for Consequences for Academic Dishonesty

3 citations | College Teaching | M. Kiviniemi | 2015Cite
7

Self-Reports of Student Cheating: Does a Definition of Cheating Matter?

139 citations | The Journal of Economic Education | R. Burruset | 2007Cite
9

Game Theory Analysis on College Student Cheating

5 citations | 2011 Third Pacific-Asia Conference on Circuits, Communications and System (PACCS) | Jiao Maet | 2011Cite
10

Academic dishonesty: Honor codes and other contextual influences

1777 citations | The journal of higher education | DL McCabeet | 1993Cite
14

Crime and Punishment in Classroom: a Game-Theoretic Approach for Student Cheating

5 citations | Revista Brasileira De Economia | M. Griebeler | 2017Cite
15

Challenging cheating in higher education: a review of research and practice

2 citations | Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education | M Tight | 2023Cite
17

Addressing academic dishonesty among the highest achievers

89 citations | Theory Into Practice | AD Milleret | 2017Cite
18

It Takes a Village: Academic Dishonesty & Educational Opportunity.

316 citations | Liberal education | DL McCabe | 2005Cite
20

Academic integrity and contract cheating policy analysis of colleges in Ontario, Canada

84 citations | International Journal for … | BM Stoeszet | 2019Cite
21

Cheating in the first, second, and third degree: Educators' responses to high-stakes testing

207 citations | Education policy analysis … | A Amrein-Beardsleyet | 2010Cite
26

The Role of Gender When Faculty Members Assign Consequences for Academic Dishonesty

3 citations | New Directions for Community Colleges | Hope Witmeret | 2018Cite
27

Academic misconduct in higher education: Beyond student cheating

30 citations | Academic integrity in Canada … | J Christensen Hugheset | 2022Cite
28

Academic dishonesty among nursing students

159 citations | Journal of Nursing Education | L Krueger | 2014Cite

Related Questions

  • What are the consequences of cheating in school?
  • How can schools effectively prevent cheating?
  • What are the ethical implications of cheating?
  • Should the punishment vary based on the severity of cheating?
  • How does cheating affect a student's future opportunities?

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