Most high school students cheat in exams

Widespread vice

The study by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) gauged both the prevalence and perceptions of cheating among high school students. It found that the practice is widespread and many students carry misperceptions about academic dishonesty, and also identified patterns among students that may help teachers stop it.

“Students understand what constitutes cheating, but they do it anyway,” said Kenneth Kiewra, professor at UNL and one of the study’s authors.

“They cheat on tests, homework assignments and when writing reports. In some cases, though, students simply don’t grasp that some dishonest acts are cheating,” said Kiewra.

The results suggested that in some ways, students had clear views of what constituted cheating — not that it stopped them from doing it. For example, 89 per cent said glancing at someone else’s answers during a test was cheating, but 87 per cent said they’d done that at least once.  Also, 94 per cent said providing answers was cheating, but 74 per cent admitted to doing it.