201 Academic Dishonesty

Rachel Hester
Coastal Carolina University

Directions: 2) ANALYSIS (Apply, Analyze, Evaluate): Locate and read the full text (not just the
abstract!) of a recent journal article published about technology and academic dishonesty. Post a
link to the article and submit a summary in which you identify the following: a) the question(s)
targeted by the researchers, b) the methods used to investigate, and c) a synopsis of the most
important findings. Then reflect on why you think these findings are interesting or significant
and explain how they can inform or improve your own instructional practice. 1 page, Times New
Roman, double-spaced, APA format and citations, submitted as PDF

The study Assessing Faculty Perceptions and Techniques to Combat Academic

Dishonesty in Online Courses, focused on two questions. The first one is, “Is there a correlation

between faculty authentication methods used in online courses with age and gender?” (Paullet,

Chawdhry, Douglas, & Pinchot, 2016, p. 46). The second question states, “Do university faculty

adopt techniques to mitigate the risks of unethical behavior in online courses?” (Paullet,

Chawdhry, Douglas, & Pinchot, 2016, p. 46). The study examined and collected quantitative data

from faculty at two small universities. Out of the 451 faculty members at both universities, 75

completed the survey. The survey consisted of 15 closed ended and two open ended questions.

The first three questions focused on faculty demographics. Questions 4 and 5 focused on if the

faculty had taught online and how many classes they have taught. The rest of the questions

mostly focused on what authentication methods the faculty used in their online courses for

students and their experiences with students’ ethical behavior (Paullet, Chawdhry, Douglas, &

Pinchot, 2016).
 The findings of this study showed that as professor’s age increased, they relied more

heavily on proctors for their exams. They believed that younger generations were using other

technology solutions for their exams or modifying their assignments. The study found that

overall, 58.46% of faculty felt that students cheat more in online classes than they do in

traditional courses. Faculty felt that students have more liberty to use external resources to aid in

cheating than in-class tests. The study also said that 82.81% of faculty stated they have caught

students turning in work that was not their own during an online class. Forty percent of the

faculty caught students turning in work from students who had previously taken the class.

Researchers also found that only 21.51% of the faculty had their students sign an academic

integrity policy. Many of the faculty were unaware of the resources and services such as the site

Turnitin.com (Paullet, Chawdhry, Douglas, & Pinchot, 2016).

I found it very interesting that only 9.23% of professors who caught students cheating

had checked to see if their exams or assignments were posted online (Paullet, Chawdhry,

Douglas, & Pinchot, 2016). This study showed that many faculty members are unaware of the

resources that are out there to help them prevent cheating. In my last school, we did a lot of

online testing through Canvas. We had Apple Teacher to help us monitor our classrooms. I used

it frequently, but I noticed that a lot of my colleagues did not utilize the tool given to them. One

thing that can be done to help decrease academic dishonesty is to educate our educators how to

use services and tools to cut down on using outside aids during assessments and assignments. I

also feel it is important to talk to students about academic dishonesty at a young age. As an

elementary teacher, I can work with students and teach them what it means to value honesty and

that your best effort is always better than some else’s copied effort.
 References

Paullet, K., Chawdhry, A. A., Douglas, D. M., & Pinchot, J. (2016). Assessing Faculty
Perceptions and Techniques to Combat Academic Dishonesty in Online Courses.
Information Systems Education Journal, 14(4), 45–53. Retrieved from
http://search.ebscohost.com.login.library.coastal.edu:2048/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eri
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