Closer to the Truth: Electronic Records of Academic Dishonesty in an Actual Classroom Setting

Abstract

Studies of academic dishonesty typically rely on potentially inaccurate self-reports or on actual behavior during less realistic tasks. Eliminating the drawbacks of such approaches, we assessed cheating during completion of actual coursework via electronic records of online behavior. Thirty-six college students completed unproctored, online quizzes. The majority of students responding to a follow-up questionnaire reported that they never considered consulting online sources during the quizzes. Computer logs reveal that although some students accessed relevant online information during the quizzes, many did not: 6 instances over 72 quiz attempts are attributable to 3 or 4 individuals. Although online environments may offer more opportunities for academic dishonesty, electronic records of online activity provide a valuable and objective means of detecting such dishonesty.

Keywords:

• academic dishonesty
• cheating
• decision making
• technology
• self-report

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Emily Simpson is currently a graduate student in the Department of Psycology at Wake Forest University. We thank Warren Craft for comments and suggestions on an earlier draft of this article.

Notes

¹Two instances of cheating occurred in the same laboratory section on consecutive weeks. For ethical reasons, we do not trace activity to specific students; thus, we do not know whether those two instances are attributable to the same or different students.