Understanding the Motivations behind Student Cheating

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Thirty-six percent of students in high school admitted to cheating (“A Cheating Crisis”). Students feel overwhelmed with the homework load that teachers assign the students. Students feel the pressure to do well in school from both parents and teachers. Teachers do not fully understand why the students feel the need to cheat. Students cheat in school for many reasons, but a few reasons are not understanding material, not asking the teacher, wanting to pass without doing the work, not studying for a quiz, procrastination, pressure from parents and teachers, the use of technology, and finally the attitude of not caring about passing. Students cheat because they do not understand the material that is being taught. Some say the work is overly complicated and they do not understand what is being done. Some may feel as if the material was not presented in a way that was easy to understand. They need materials that would help guide in the directions the material is being presented in. Students feel as if the tests and homework do not match up, so they feel the need to cheat to help understand and pass the test. This is a major problem for students in the classroom. …show more content…

According to a survey by Josephson Institute of Ethics, “with allowing students to bring smartphones into a testing site it has created an easy outlet for students to cheat (Perez-Pena).Today students cheat by looking up answers and writing them down in ways that would not make it look as if cheating is being done. Antics used are: writing facts and answers on appendages or inside the wrapping of water bottles, or even writing answers on the desk. Students may try to cheat on a test to pass, but end up failing and not passing the class in some cases. Studies have also found that students cheat by plagiarizing papers or not citing sources that were used (Perez-Pena). When students are overwhelmed with tests, the desire for cheating

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