Tests and academic cheating: do learning tasks influence cheating by way of negative evaluations?

Abstract

Desirable difficulties like tests were often shown to increase long-term learning. However, due to the complexity and difficulty of such tasks, they are also argued to result in negative consequences like stress, anxiety, pressure, frustration, or negative evaluations. In other studies, such consequences were, in turn, often found to increase dishonest behaviour. Hence, the present work tests the assumptions that tests as difficult learning tasks, contrary to reading, lead to more negative evaluations of the learning situations, to more stress, and-directly and indirectly-to higher self-reported likelihoods of hypothetical cheating and to higher justifications for cheating. Thus, the learning situation itself, as well as negative consequences caused by the learning situation, is supposed to be linked to cheating. We conducted an online study in which participants read and imagined one of three hypothetical learning scenarios, either regarding one of two learning tests or a reading control task. Participants then rated negative consequences due to these scenarios, as well as likelihoods of cheating, and justifications for it, in a hypothetical examination. Our results showed no direct effects of the learning scenarios on likelihoods of hypothetical cheating or justifications. However, test scenarios were evaluated more negatively than the reading control scenario and these higher negative evaluations were in turn linked to higher likelihoods of own hypothetical cheating and to higher justifications. These findings indicate that tests as difficult learning tasks can indirectly influence cheating, at least in hypothetical scenarios. Future work should try to replicate and expand these results.

Relationship between Statistics Anxiety and Academic Dishonesty: A Comparison between Learning Environments in Social Sciences

“…A phenomenon like cheating raises the question as to the true extent of learning and its direct implications for a subsequently sustainable professional life [37] in terms of knowledge and unethical behavior. Studies have shown that Academic Dishonesty related behavior has intensified [20], as at some point of their careers, students engage in it [15,41]. This poses a significant ethical and educational problem that undermines the academic system's integrity, reputation [2], and sustainability, for these are built on the notions of trust in the knowledge produced and shared [42].…”

“…Academic Dishonesty can be traced back to different personal and societal factors [15,20,41]. Whereas there is enough scholarly knowledge on the prevalence, nature, and consequences of Academic Dishonesty, relatively little is known about its connection to Statistics Anxiety, including the fact that a person's behavior is determined by their circumstances [43].…”

“…An example may be students being required to work on complex and difficult educational tasks. They often turn to dishonest behavior [15] to avoid situations that they identify as potentially triggering anxiety feelings. A further example is highly anxious students who plan to cheat in their statistics course exams, as completing these courses is a compulsory requirement for graduation [14].…”

“…Statistics Anxiety has negative consequences for individuals [13,14], including engagement in academically unethical acts [10,15,16]. These are part of an intensifying trend toward academic misbehavior such as plagiarism and cheating [17][18][19].…”

The Relationships between Personal Values, Justifications, and Academic Cheating for Business vs. Non-Business Students

“…As stated, we do not have a complete understanding of why students cheat, or why business students cheat more often than other students, however, a proposed mechanism is that of justification (McCabe et al, 1993 ; Stone et al, 2009 ; Wenzel & Reinhard, 2020 ). Justification should enable students to cheat without experiencing dissonance – they justify their behavior by reframing it as something other than cheating.…”