Office of Institutional Research
The Academic Integrity Survey (2010) The results of this survey are based on 174 faculty and 1606 student, respectively, respondent participants SUMMARY OF RESULTS Faculty Although faculty believe the prevalence of cheating is high, and is a serious problem on campus, it is under-reported by faculty with the main reason given as ‘lack of proof’. Nearly half the faculty felt the effectiveness of the current policy was low or very low and were unsure if the Investigation of suspected cheating is fair. Students At substantial proportion of students were aware that cheating was occurring at high levels particularly in the area of inappropriate sharing in group assignments and cheating and plagiarism. Nearly half were unsure whether cheating was a serious problem. However, students were unlikely to report an incident of cheating especially if it was done by a close friend. They also believed that faculty reported incidents of cheating at a higher rate than indicated by faculty themselves. Half of students did not believe they should be monitoring each other’s integrity with about a fifth of students unsure on this issue. Half of students were unsure if the investigation of suspected cheating was fair. Students rated the current policy effectiveness much higher than did faculty.
Office of Institutional Research
The Academic Integrity Survey (2010) Quantitative Data Supporting Survey Results: 1. Faculty: 48% of faculty rated the effectiveness of the current policy as ’ low’ or ’very low’ and only 12% rated it as ’high’ or ‘very high’. Students: In contrast to faculty , 50% of students rated the effectiveness of the current policy as ‘high’ or ‘very high’ and only 14% rated it as ‘ low’ to ‘very low’ 2. Faculty: 58% of faculty agreed/strongly agreed that cheating is a serious problem on campus. Students: 27% of students agreed/strongly agreed that cheating is a serious problem on campus, and a further 48% were unsure. 3. Faculty: 64% of faculty indicated that they have seen incidences of cheating on an exam more than once. Students: 58 % of students indicated that they have seen incidences of cheating on an exam more than once 4. Faculty: The majority of faculty believe that ‘Plagiarism on written assignments’ (65%) and ‘Inappropriate. sharing in group assignments’ (59%) occur ‘often’ or ‘very often’. Students: 42% of students believe that ‘Plagiarism on written assignments’ and 66% of students believe that ‘Inappropriate sharing in group assignments’ occurs often or very often. 5. Faculty: 51% of faculty indicated that they have ignored incidents of cheating, Students: 87% of students said it was ‘unlikely’ or ’very unlikely’ that they would report an incident of cheating. 96% said they have never reported another student for cheating and 97% said they would be ’unlikely’ or ’very unlikely’ to report a close friend.
Office of Institutional Research
The Academic Integrity Survey (2010) 6. Faculty: Reasons given for ignoring cheating were ‘lack of proof’ (41%), the belief that the ‘cheating was trivial’ (16%), ‘lack of support’ (10%), or there was ‘no time’’, they ‘didn’t want to deal with it’ or they felt ‘the student would suffer’ (the latter three together comprising 18% of respondents). Students: 56% of students ‘disagree’ or ‘strongly disagree ‘that they should monitor each other’s integrity and a further 21% were unsure. 7. Faculty: 48% of faculty indicated they were unsure if the ‘Investigation of suspected cheating is fair.’ Students: 50% of students indicated they were unsure if the ‘Investigation of suspected cheating is fair.’ 8. Faculty: 38% of faculty agreed or strongly agreed that ‘Faculty report suspected cases of cheating’ with a further 33% indicating they were unsure. Students: 50% of students believe that that ‘Faculty report suspected cases of cheating’ with a further 29 % indicating they were unsure. 9. Faculty: It should be noted that of the 59% of faculty who claimed they did report incidents of cheating, 69% were either ‘satisfied’ or ‘very satisfied ‘with the outcome. Students: No equivalent question.