Abstract
This study investigated high school students’ perceptions of cheating and its prevalence. Students were administered the Academic Honesty Survey to determine their perceptions and prevalence of cheating across three academic settings: tests, homework, and report writing. Overall, students had traditional perceptions of what constitutes cheating. Despite these perceptions, most students cheated. In addition, cheating perceptions and prevalence varied across academic settings. Perceptions and prevalence declined going from test to homework to report writing settings. Three other interesting patterns emerged. First, cheating was tied to effort. Cheating actions that still required students to exert effort were viewed as less dishonest than those that required little effort. Second, cheating was tied to giving versus receiving. Giving information was viewed less harshly than receiving it. Last, cheating perceptions were tied to environment. Cheating behaviors occurring outside the classroom were viewed less harshly than those occurring inside the classroom.
Recommended Citation
Honz, Kelly; Kiewra, Kenneth A.; and Yang, Ya-Shu
(2010)
"Cheating Perceptions and Prevalence Across Academic Settings,"
Mid-Western Educational Researcher: Vol. 23:
Iss.
2, Article 3.
Available at:
https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/mwer/vol23/iss2/3
