The causes of cheating on college exams can be wide spread, but they all have one goal: to pass the test at any cost. College students who cheat know the risks of cheating, but often don’t believe that the consequences will apply to them. Sometimes, the student in question believes that they can get out of the consequences simply by a stealthy execution of the cheating technique, and other times, the student believes that although they will be caught, they can talk the teacher into letting them go “just this once”.
Certain students decide to cheat due to low self esteem. In other words, they believe that they aren’t smart enough to complete the exam. This causes the student to degrade themselves further saying that the student taking the exam is not good enough to pass the exam. (Anonymous.)
Some students cheat due to utter lack of care. In this case, the student has no reaction towards the subject at all, causing them to not study all together. In this case, the student is very reckless. (Anonymous.)
More commonly, the student feels over worked and stressed. They may feel stretched between subjects, causing them to feel the need to cheat on one subject to save a more important one. In this circumstance, the student may have studied for the exam, but not retained the information due to stress build up or over working. They then panic before the test, realizing that they have retained little or no information, and cheat out of desperation. (Anonymous)
Another cause of cheating is the availability of the information needed to cheat. This can be caused when the student is placed near another student with a high level of knowledge on the subject. This situation is more likely to happen spur of the moment, with the cheater aware that a student nearby is finishing the exam quickly and with ease. The student then believes that the student finishing the exam fast has all the correct answers, and cheats. (Bjorklund, Mikael; Wenestam, Claes-Goran.)
Other times, the student may have simply procrastinated. In cases with procrastination, the student is careless. They put off studying thinking that they will get to it later, inevitably never getting to studying or studying too late to retain the proper amount of information. In other cases with procrastination, the student tries to study but becomes distracted constantly, eventually giving up just for the moment, until just for the moment turns into last minute studying or not studying altogether. (Anonymous)
Some cases are caused by peer pressure. Cases where peer pressure is a factor can either be the cheater is pressured by others to copy information, or the student is pressured by another to give information. In the first situation the cheater may be told by others that they won’t be caught, and cheating is safe. When the student is pressured to give information, they are often told that they need to help the student, they need to be a good friend, or that cheating is cool. (Bjorklund, Mikael; Wenestam, Claes-Goran)
Some situations where cheating occurs happens because the student believes that the teacher dislikes them, and is making the test unfairly difficult to get back at them. Of course, this is absolutely untrue, however the student may believe otherwise at the time. (Bjorklund, Mikael; Wenestam, Claes-Goran.)
There are cases where a student cheats due to low grades. In this case the student may study, but still fears failing and feels that cheating is demanded of them. The student may feel that although they studied, they didn’t do an adequate job of studying, which means that cheating seems to be their only option. (Bjorklund, Mikael; Wenestam, Claes-Goran)
Test scheduling is also a cause of cheating. Exams may be scheduled to close to each other, drastically overwhelming the student, potentially causing the student to panic and cheat. The student may study some, and then give up, feeling that studying is useless. (Bjorklund, Mikael; Wenestam, Claes-Goran)
Most students who cheat are aware of the severe penalties they may receive for their actions. However, the student continues to cheat, often believing it is the only way that they can pass their exam. Cheating has many causes but yields to few outcomes with most leading to severe consequences. They are aware that being ejected from the school is very possible, academic suspension is common, and that the college may ruin their entire college record. Some students may have their record ruined to the point where admission to another college becomes impossible, and they are forced to abandon all hope of further college education.
Citations
(Bjorklund, Mikael; Wenestam, Claes-Goran. “Academic Cheating: Frequency, Methods, and Causes.” Education Line.21 March 2000.16 Nov 2010 http://www.leeds.ac.uk/educol/documents/00001364.htm)
(Anonymous.”The Causes and the Consequences of Cheating.” The Daily Californian 6 May 2005. 16 Nov. 2010 http://www.dailycal.org/article/18628/the_causes-and_the_consequences-of_cheating)
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