Cheating in the Digital Age
Bob Jensen
Emeritus Professor of Accounting
Trinity University in San Antonio
190 Sunset Hill Road
Sugar Hill, NH 03586
603-823-8482
rjensen@trinity.edu
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen /
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Key Jensen Web Sites

Cheating --http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Plagiarism.htm
Local Link --- ..\..\plagiarsm.htm

Assessment --http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Assess.htm
Local Link --- ..\..\assess.htm
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54% of Accounting Majors Cheat

54% of Accounting Students Admit to Cheating
SmartPros, August 31, 2007 --http://accounting.smartpros.com/x58970.xml

Accounting majors are just as likely to cheat in college as other
business students, according to a new study.

The academic study -- titled Do Accounting Students Cheat? A
Study Examining Undergraduate Accounting Students' Honesty
and Perceptions of Dishonest Behavior -- surveyed 569
undergraduate business majors, including 294 undergraduate
accounting students, from seven universities in Georgia,
Mississippi and Texas.
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54% of Accounting Majors Cheat

The study set out to find out if students who were accounting
majors were as likely to cheat or act in an academically dishonest
manner as were students with other business majors.

The authors of the study, David E. Morris of North Georgia
College & State University, and Claire McCarty Kilian of the
University of Wisconsin at River Falls, found that 54 percent of
the accounting students they surveyed admitted to cheating,
compared to 52 percent of business majors overall
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
"MBAs most likely to cheat," India Times, September 22, 2006
--- http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/2018004.cms
BOSTON: Graduate business students in the United States and
Canada are more likely to cheat on their work than their
counterparts in other academic fields, the author of a research
paper said on Wednesday.

The study of 5,300 graduate students in the United States and
Canada found that 56 per cent of graduate business students
admitted to cheating in the past year, with many saying they
cheated because they believed it was an accepted practice in
business.

Following business students, 54 per cent of graduate engineering
students admitted to cheating, as did 50 per cent of physical
science students, 49 per cent of medical and health-care students
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Selected Illustrations

The University of Virginia has expelled one student for plagiarism after a
computer program caught him in the act. More than 100 cases are still pending
"Plagiarist Booted; Others Wait," by Katie Dean--http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,45802,00.html

Cheating Scandal in the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University
In the biggest cheating scandal ever at Duke University’s business school, 34
students are facing penalties for collaborating on exam answers, The News &
Observer of Raleigh reported. Nine students face expulsion, while others face a
range of penalties, including one-year suspensions from the MBA program.
Inside Higher Ed, April 30, 2007 --http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/04/30/qt
The ABC News account on May 1, 2007 is at
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=3105733
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Selected Illustrations

"Both Sides of Kenan-Flagler: MBAs run around like frantic idiots but are
courted by huge companies as rock stars. It is no surprise that this combination
of frenzy and entitlement leads to cheating," by Danvers Fleury, Business Week,
June 24, 2007
--http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/content/jun2007/bs20070624_280134.ht
m?link_position=link2

Ohio University has sent letters to more than 50 people who earned master’s
degrees with material believed to be plagiarized, asking them to return their
degrees, rewrite their theses, or demand a hearing, The Athens News reported. In
May the university found “rampant and flagrant plagiarism” among some
graduate students in its mechanical engineering department.
Inside Higher Ed, July 19, 2006 --http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2006/07/19/qt
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Two of Bob Jensen’s Cheaters

I had one student who submitted a paper with such fine writing I suspected
cheating. Using Google, I found where the paper was entirely pasted from three
different sources. He was the CEO of a small company, and his only argument
was that he hired one of his employees to write his paper. The employee was the
one who plagiarized. My student still got an F for cheating.

I had a graduating senior who, in his last semester, cheated and got an F from
me and did not graduate on schedule even though his parents were in town for
the graduation ceremony. They hired an attorney and confronted me and the
university with a threatened lawsuit. When a vice-president of the university
explained the facts of life about such lawsuits the student dropped the case and
pleaded for some way to take the course over from me in the summer.
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Another of Bob Jensen’s Cheaters

I do not allow students to use cell phones or other gadgets (e.g.,
PDAs or Blackberries) during examination. One of my graduate
students went to the bathroom during a final examination. I
caught him using a cell phone and gave him an F because the
conversation on the phone was about examination content.

Another professor, a tax professor, was suspicious of this student
and his buddy when they went to the bathroom several times
during an examination. At the bottom of a trash can in the
bathroom, this professor found a hidden textbook.
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Other Illustrations

Others?
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Major Problems in the Digital Age

Internet search engines have made it both easier to find modules
to plagiarize and to cut and paste modules without even having to
actually read those modules.

Students write papers in digital files that can be stored and
plagiarized by future students (e.g., fraternity brothers).

Companies exist that, for a fee, will both research and write
papers on a vast array of topics,
"B-Schools Take on Essay Consultants," by Rob Capriccioso,
Inside Higher Ed, February 6, 2006
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Hired Guns for Cheating

SchoolSucks.com --http://www.schoolsucks.com/

Termpapers R Us --http://www.termpapersrus.com/

CheatHouse.com --- http://www.cheathouse.com/
(Free papers)

PaperWizards.com --http://www.paperwizards.com/
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Major Problems in the Digital Age

Students taking examinations on a computer may actually
communicate with other persons by such things as instant
messaging during examinations.

Gadgets like cell phones (including ones with cameras), PDAs,
Blackberries, and even digital watches make it easier to cheat.

Some students have pasted crib notes on the back sides of labels
on water bottles. Tiny, tiny fonts become readable when views
through the water of the bottle.
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Major Problems in the Digital Age

Examinations and homework solutions are now stored on
computers. Some students are very good at hacking into systems.
Countless times professors are not even aware that their
examination and homework files have been compromised.

Students have become increasingly skilled at hacking into files of
the Registrar and use these skills to change course grades for
themselves and for their friends.
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Major Problems in the Digital Age

Over 80% of students cheated in clever ways while they were in
high school. They come into college believing that cheating is just
being street smart.

The increased focus on grade averages for college admission and
employment opportunities have made grades the primary focus of
most students. This obsession with grades increases motivations to
cheat for higher grades.

Some parents are so concerned about grades of their children that
the parents themselves condone cheating.
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Major Problems in the Digital Age

Parents will sometimes give students money to hire experts or top
students to write papers and take-home examinations for their
children. Admission essays are sometimes not the work of students
applying for admission.

With large classes or online classes, surrogates may be hired to
take examinations.

Being street smart is deemed more important than being a
scholar.
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Major Problems in the Digital Age

“Faculty are reluctant to take action against suspected cheaters.
In a 1999 survey of over 1,000 faculty on 21 campuses, one-third
of those who were aware of student cheating in their course in the
last two years, did nothing to address it. Students suggest that
cheating is higher in courses where it is well known that faculty
members are likely to ignore cheating.”
Quoted from the research of Donald L. McCabe of Rutgers University (founder
and first president of CAI)

The Age of Litigation increases faculty and college administrator
paranoia.
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Major Problems in the Digital Age

Faculty that attract large numbers of students are sometimes
rewarded for their popularity. However, in some cases they may
be popular because they are week in detecting and/or punishing
cheating.

Faculty have become paranoid about teaching evaluations.
Evidence shows that teaching evaluations have led to grade
inflation and concerns with popularity rather than student
scholarship.
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Major Problems in the Digital Age

Others
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Tricks to Control Cheating

Be very clear in the course syllabus about what constitutes
cheating and what happens to cheaters in the course.

Point to your college’s honor code and/or procedures for dealing
with cheating incidents.

Stress the importance of integrity and professionalism both in
college and in life after college.

Make students sign pledges on papers and examinations.
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Tricks to Control Cheating

Use completely or slightly different versions of problems or
questions.

Point to video cameras in classrooms or other test sites.
Better yet use those cameras.

Verify student IDs and compare faces with pictures.

Forbid students to leave the test site unaccompanied during an
examination.

Ban gadgets, including wrist watches and PDAs. Check backsides
of water bottle labels.
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Tricks to Control Cheating

Enforce cheating detection and punishment policies.

Encourage students to report cheating even if the whistleblowers
remain anonymous. Cheaters generally repeat what they think are
successful ploys.

Verify that special needs students are really special needs students
certified by college counselors.
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Tricks to Control Cheating

Others?
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Tricks to Control Plagiarism

Announce that some (unspecified) software to detect plagiarism
will be used for each submitted paper or take home examination.

The easiest first step is to used the Advanced Search option in
Google and/or Yahoo. Beyond that are the various commercial
services, one or more of which might be available in your college.

Require all submissions to be MS Doc/Excel or similar files and
announce that all works submitted in previous semesters are
stored for comparative purposes in college files.
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Software to Detect Plagiarism

Comparisons --http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/SER07017B.pdf
Local Link --- ..\PlagiarismDetection.pdf

Turnitin

MyDropBox

PAIRwise

Others
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Tricks to Control Plagiarism

Others?
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Cheating Issues Somewhat
Unique to Distance Education

Greater ability to fake presence at exams, forums, chat rooms,
and team projects with surrogate (paid) experts or friends.

Greater ability to use cheating materials not allowed in onsite
examinations.
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Combating Online Cheating

Outside proctoring of some type. In the early
days of correspondence schools in the U.K. it was
the village vicar.

Sylvan or related nearby testing centers.

Webcams
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Gray Zones

Authors, including professors, often pay writing experts to turn
rough drafts into well-written finished products. Although the
rough drafts may not be plagiarized, hired writing or even content
consultants may then turn the rough work into polished works.
This is accepted in academe and the media. Whether or not it is
ethical students in an education environment is one of those gray
zones where being a student is unique from being on-the-job.

People we respect for ethics, such as the clergy, often plagiarize
ideas and even entire sermons. These ministers, priests, and
rabbis contend that the message is what is important, and they
will deliver the best and most entertaining message possible.
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Useful Links

The Center for Academic Integrity is affiliated with the Kenan Institute for Ethics at
Clemson University --- http://www.academicintegrity.org/
(Note the CAI Assessment Guide for a campus)

Useful Links --- http://www.academicintegrity.org/useful_links/index.php
Applied Ethics Resources on WWW
(Maintained by the Center of Applied Ethics, this site is organized
by categories such as business ethics, media ethics, computer
ethics, and ethical/moral decision-making.)

Association for Moral Education

Association for Student Judicial Affairs

Canadian Resource for Professional Ethics
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Useful Links

The Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions
Illinois Institute of Technology

CHARACTER COUNTS!

Character Education Center

The Character Education Partnership

College and Character

CollegeValues.org

Creating a Code of Ethics for Your Organization
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Useful Links

Stanford Center on Ethics

Electronic Reference Formats Recommended by the American
Psychological Association

Emory University's Center for Ethics

Ethics Center for Engineering & Science
(Case Western Reserve University has organized this site to
include engineering ethics, research ethics, corporate ethics and
solving problems.)
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Useful Links

Ethics on the World Wide Web
(The School of Communications at California State University,
Fullerton, provides this site, which has many listings in areas such
as military ethics, sports ethics, medical ethics, and legal ethics.)

Ethics Resource Center

Ethics Updates
(Updates on current literature, both popular and professional,
pertaining to ethics in areas of ethical theory, applied ethics, and
case studies.

Institute for Global Ethics
(This is an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to
elevating
public awareness and promoting the discussion of ethics
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Useful Links

Joint Services Conference on Professional Ethics (JSCOPE)
(JSCOPE is an organization of military professionals, academics
and others formed to discuss ethical issues relevant to the
Military.)

Josephson Institute

The Kenan Institute for Ethics
(The Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University provides this
site. The KIE provides a strong focus on ethics at Duke University
in teaching, training, research, and everyday life by inspiring
personal integrity and civic commitment.)

National Association of Student Personnel Administrators

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The
Official Site of the National Collegiate Athletic Association
Useful Links

The Practical Ethics Center

Society for Values in Higher Education

United States Air Force Academy Center for Character
Development

United States Department of Education
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Key Jensen Web Sites

Cheating --http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Plagiarism.htm
Local Link --- ..\..\plagiarsm.htm

Assessment --http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Assess.htm
Local Link --- ..\..\assess.htm
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The End
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