Students are driven to cheat when there are too much emphasis to ace exams from both parents and school officials. It’s difficult to dismiss entirely of why students cheat, but taking the pressure away, students are less likely to engage in such conduct. Cheating implies breaking the rules. Academic dishonesty is using reference materials during a closed-book test or getting the answers ahead of time. Cheating is a significant concern in distance education programs. Students might find someone else to log in and take the exam for them or even have a teacher or more advanced student work with them while they take the exam. No matter how carefully a program is designed to prevent it, some students will always be able to circumvent the safeguards. This might seem like an easy way for a student to get a good grade and get ahead in his or her career. However, when students cheat on exams, everyone is affected.
Consequences can vary considerably if a student is caught cheating. A grade of a zero is a standard consequence. Some professors may not report the cheating which only allows the student to continue the wrongful behavior. In most cases, the student will be put on academic probation for a first offense. This will affect the students’ career development because no one can succeed in their career if they have not learned what they were supposed to during the course of their college studies. The student may be able to get a job with more responsibilities and more pay, but they may not be able to keep it, or might even harm people. Whether the student’s career is medical assistant or lawyer, the exams are supposed to show the level of knowledge required for them to perform well. Another consequence of students cheating is that current and future students who do not cheat are penalized for being honest. When students cheat they change the rules of education in favor of themselves. If the course is graded on a curve, then