In a speech, Boston University (Massachusetts) president Jon Westling used "Somnolent Samantha" as an example of potential for student abuse of identification as learning disabled. Because Samantha was fictitious, 10 students have sued the university, charging Westling with holding an unfair view of students with learning disabilities.…

Asserts that members of cartels have tremendous incentives to cheat on production limits to maximize profits. Describes a classroom activity in which grading an examination using a "curve" permits students to establish "cartels." Provides instructions on how the activity is used in the classroom. (CFR)

Examined perceptions of cheating held by 480 college students and 48 faculty members at 2 small colleges. Eighty-nine percent of students surveyed admitted they had cheated. Attitudinal variables were better at predicting cheating than were background variables. Faculty agreed on a definition of cheating yet did not agree on how to deal with…

The second of a three-part series on academic integrity, this paper offers intervention strategies for evaluating the extent to which the ethos, policies, and programs used in responding to academic dishonesty are developmental. Presents framework consisting of seven components of intervention (honor codes, communication, training, faculty…

Investigates the academic integrity climate of a mid-sized, comprehensive, private university. Seeks to assess gender differences in motivations surrounding cheating behaviors among 532 undergraduate students. Findings indicate that while both males and females are reluctant to report instances of academic dishonesty that they witness, there…

In a survey of 443 U.S. and 174 Russian undergraduate business students, 64% of Russian and 55% of U.S. students reported having cheated; the two groups had different perspectives on what constitutes cheating; and 69% of Russian and 24% of U.S. students believed that fellow students cheated. (Contains 61 references.) (SK)

This study uses students' evaluations of a hypothetical situation to assess their beliefs about other students' decisions to cheat on an exam. Participants read a vignette describing an examination in which the protagonist has the opportunity to cheat. The description of the vignette's protagonist was manipulated with respect to his perceived…

This article reviews the empirical evidence on college student cheating and places it in a context that combines economic theories of benefit/cost analysis and unobservable behavior with social network analysis of how widespread rule breaking can develop in an organization. The implications are that students cheat because the benefit/cost…

Academic dishonesty (cheating) has been prevalent on college campuses for decades, and the percentage of students reporting cheating varies by college major. This study, based on a survey of 643 undergraduate engineering majors at 11 institutions, used two parallel hierarchical multiple regression analyses to predict the frequency of cheating on…

A 13-item questionnaire was administered to 287 engineering students at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to obtain information about their grade point average, financial assistance, membership in honorary societies, living arrangements, sex, and frequency and type of cheating on homework assignments and tests. Also included were four questions…

Academic cheating behavior by university students was surveyed using the randomized response technique and by conventional anonymous questionnaire methods. Underreporting is concluded to be a serious problem with anonymous questionnaires. (Author/MLW)

A survey of 97 teacher education students investigated perceptions of peers' cheating behaviors, perceived maturity level of the persons most likely to cheat, and degree to which respondents felt cheaters "neutralized" their cheating behaviors. Results indicate that, although cheating is not seen as a major problem, perceived neutralization and…

Research and practice in detecting and controlling for cheating on objective tests are reviewed and a small survey of attitudes and practices is reported. Potential of two computer programs to detect error similarities and use of multiple answer-sheet forms to control cheating are discussed. Teacher cheating is also addressed. (Author/MSE)

Ramifications of cheating include underqualified graduates and the probable continuation of unethical behavior into dental practice. Dental educators are encouraged to stress pride in professionalism, to reinforce positive student behaviors, and to administer swift punishment to violators. (DB)