In a recent study researchers investigated the cheating habits of students taking online classes and found that college students in an online class are far more likely to cheat on an unproctored online quiz, regardless of whether or not they sign an honor code that explicitly condemns cheating.
How the Studies were Conducted
The researchers conducted three studies, the first in which they surveyed 40 undergraduates who each took 14 online unproctored quizzes and then were surveyed anonymously about whether they had cheated on the tests. In the second study 84 undergraduates were surveyed, took the same quizzes, and also had to electronically sign an honor code. Then, in the third study 165 undergraduates were surveyed. However, the class was taught in a blended course, where some of the material was taught in the classroom.
The results
Study 1: In the first study a shockingly high number of the undergraduates admitted to cheating on at least one of the 14 exams – a total of 72.5 percent. The researchers believe that this is because of a “distance” between the student and the professor, as well as their classmates. In other words, there is no immediacy or psychological weight to the student’s relationship with their professor. Studies have also found in these cases of social disconnect people are more likely to “justify dishonest behavior.”
The students also had ample opportunity to cheat. Without any proctor and only sheer integrity keeping them from switching screens in a heartbeat, they were likely to look up the material in their textbook or online.
Study 2: The second study attempted to find the effect of electronically signing an honor code that explicitly stated that cheating was against university policy. Half of the students in the study were randomly assigned to a section that required and honor code and the other half were not.
Typically, honor codes tend to reduce the amount of students who cheat on exams in a traditional setting; although their effectiveness drops as the size of the university or college increases. This is due to the fact that “students are less likely to collectively support a norm of academic integrity” on bigger campuses. However, it was found that the honor code did not actually have any effect on the rate of cheating at all. 61.5 percent of students who signed the honor code, and 50 percent of students who did not sign the code, all admitted to cheating on at least one of the unproctored quizzes. This shows the limitation of an honor code when used in an online setting.
Study 3: The third study then experimented with a blended online course format; which means that they mix face-to-face learning in a traditional classroom with online classwork. 81 of the undergraduates physically signed an honor code and 84 did not. In this case, the undergraduates who signed the honor code reported to cheating only 57.6 percent, while those who did not sign reported cheating 81.8 percent. That means the code made a significant difference.
With the additional “real-life” social support of the honor code students were less “distant” from their classmates and professors, which likely led the students down the more honorable path.
Read the report here.