Are college students cheating more in virtual school?
Are my students cheating?
That question looms over every teacher. With the shift to virtual learning due to the pandemic, some questioned if there was a way to prevent cheating at all.
Professors at Missouri State, Marshall and Kansas State universities are examining the issue of cheating, specifically, whether the conditions of the pandemic caused an uptick in academic dishonesty.
The original study
Eleven years ago, while working at Marshall University, Dr. James Sottile, professor in MSU’s counseling, leadership and special education (CLSE) department, conducted research to determine if college students were cheating. Then, he compared cheating in seated courses to that of online classes.
Online courses may not increase cheating, profs find
“Teachers and students are not adversaries, but rather co-learners. Overemphasis on cheating creates hostility and adversity, I prefer this different approach.
Written By:
Monica Marsh / Falcon News Service | 4:00 pm, Dec. 15, 2020 ×
For UW-River Falls students, a scene like this may greet them as they sit down to take final exams this semester. Photo by Monica Marsh
With the end of fall semester in sight at UW-River Falls, a concern facing some professors is how to discourage cheating on final exams, especially now that the coronavirus pandemic has forced courses online.
But the move to online learning doesn’t necessarily correlate to an increase in cheating, according to research conducted by two professors at West Virginia’s Marshall University. George Watson and James Sottile found that students are more likely to cheat in live classes than they are online.