The Effect of Year in School Upon Cheating Rates

Overview

Cheating in academia has become a prevalent issue among students across America. This experiment aims to pinpoint the dynamics of cheating within the lives of different age groups: high school students and college students. A survey was distributed to over 300 high school and college students that asked questions regarding what they considered cheating, whether cheating was wrong, and how frequently they cheat in their everyday lives. 177 high school students and 132 college students participated. The results of these experiments fully supported the hypotheses. The hypothesis for college students was the more years left in education, the more frequently students will cheat per semester. The data showed that trend explicitly. College students that had more years left to complete their education, such as pre-med or pre-law students, cheat more frequently in exams per semester than a student that was about to graduate and begin their career. One result that was consistent within the high school and college data was the amount of students that considered cheating as morally wrong. 87% of college students and 89% high school students considered cheating as morally wrong, however, around 84% of students surveyed admitted to cheating in classes on a regular basis. These alarming figures only further the notion that the pressure of getting accepted into college or getting into graduate school has certainly taken its toll. The emphasis on GPA as opposed to learning has affected the way students perceive education and its benefits.

Competition history

• ISEF 2015 Systems Software · Entry BEHA004I

Resources

• ISEF abstract page ↗

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