ERIC Number: EJ1109406
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2016
Pages: 10
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-2222-1735
EISSN: N/A
Guilty in Whose Eyes? Student-Teachers' Perspectives on Cheating on Examinations
Amua-Sekyi, Ekua Tekyiwa
Journal of Education and Practice, v7 n21 p55-64 2016
The study explored student-teachers' views on cheating during examinations. A mixed method approach which involved a survey and focus group interviews was employed. Nine hundred undergraduate education students from a public university and three colleges of education in Ghana were surveyed. Focus group interviews were held with six students from each institution selected. A total of 942 students participated in the study. The findings indicate that fear of failure seem to be the main motivation for cheating; students perceived cheating acts treated as minor offences as "helping" peers; the severity of the punishment applied if students are caught cheating negatively influence their propensity to cheat; students' perception of ethical values does not determine the level of prevalence of cheating; peer loyalty or fellow feeling is dominant; and students perceive a correspondence between social corruption and cheating. It is recommended that the risk of detection should be increased and the penalty for the "less serious offences" reconsidered. If students perceive cheating within the context of their social experience, the overall quality of student experience needs to be considered if the likelihood of cheating is to be minimised. It is suggested that more attention needs to be paid to institutionalizing academic integrity instead of managing cheating.
Descriptors: Student Attitudes, Preservice Teachers, Mixed Methods Research, Focus Groups, Student Surveys, Foreign Countries, Cheating, Ethics, Student Motivation, Punishment, Values, Incidence, Peer Relationship, Social Problems, Questionnaires, Gender Differences, Anxiety, Academic Failure, Student Behavior, Likert Scales
IISTE. No 1 Central, Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong SAR. Tel: +852-39485948; e-mail: JEP@iiste.org; Web site: http://iiste.org/Journals/index.php/JEP
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Ghana
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A