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Why Do College Students Cheat?

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Why Do College Students Cheat?
Professor Kruger

English 1164

31 March 2008

Why Do College Students Cheat?

Cheating among students in college has worsened over the years and not much is being done to stop it. Where is the line drawn when it comes to cheating in the classroom? And why do kids do it? In today’s world people are growing lazier and always looking for ways to do less work and a lot of that has to do with improved technology. Improved technology has also made cheating easier. Students can send each other e-mail’s back and forth in the middle of class with answers. So as long as computers are a part of our world and apart of classrooms, how could cheating ever be stopped then? The major reasons that college students cheat is because they want to get better grades without doing as much work, they feel pressure from their parents to succeed, and because the benefit/cost tradeoff favors cheating.

According to the book “Next Text: Making Connections Across and Beyond the Disciplines” in today’s age some students want to get better grades without doing as much work that’s why it is one of the major reasons that college students decide to cheat. Better grades could possibly mean better jobs and eventually more money. Student these days are cheating more than ever and that’s because getting a good education is basically a matter of economic life and death (Kress, p. 21). Even students that earn straight A’s cheat because they say they don’t have the time to do the work carefully. They also say that it’s kind of like insurance; like it feels safer and better, knowing that for sure got the right answer (Kress, p.41). Most parents these days are more inclined to want their children to get a good education. The financial burden prevented kids from getting a good education back then compared to now. Most anyone is eligible to receive loans these days compared to back then. They also want them to succeed in school and achieve high grades. Some students believe



Cited: Daugherty, Timothy K., and Thomas F. Moore. "Deep Integrity: Campus Ethics in the Flat World." (2007): 1-8. ERIC. First Search. Criss Library, Omaha. 4 Mar. 2008. Dowd, Steven B. "Academic Integrity: a Review and Case Study." (1992): 1-27. ERIC. First Search. Criss Library, Omaha. 3 Mar. 2008. Hughes, Teresa A., Norman L. Butler, William A. Kritsonis, and David Herrington. "Cheating in Examinations in Two Polish Higher Education Schools." The Lamar University Electronic Journal of Student Research 4 (2007): 1-4. ERIC. First Search. Criss Library, Omaha. 3 Mar. 2008. Hutton, Patricia A. "Understanding Student Cheating and What Educators Can Do About It." College Teaching 54.1 (2006): 171-176. ERIC. First Search. Criss Library, Omaha. 7 Mar. 2008. Kress, Anne, and Suellyn Winkle. Next Text: Making Connections Across and Beyond the Disciplines. Boston: Bedford/ St. Martin_ 2008. 27-43. Mustatine, Elizabeth E., and Richard Tewksbury. "Southern College Students ' Cheating Behaviors: an Examination of Problem Behavior Correlates." Deviant Behavior 26.5 (2005): 439-461. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Criss Library, Omaha. 5 Mar. 2008. Pittenger, David J., Maleah F. Thorpe, and Brenda D. Reed. "Cheating the Researcher: a Study of the Relation Between Personality Measures and Self-Reported Cheating." College Student 33.1 (1999): 11-49. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Criss Library, Omaha. 3 Mar. 2008. Puka, Bill. "Student Cheating: as Serious an Academic Integrity Problem as Faculty-Administration Business as Usual?" Liberal Education 91.3 (2005): 32-35. ERIC. First Search. Criss Library, Omaha. 11 Mar. 2008. Strom, Peter S., and Robert D. Strom. "Curbing Cheating, Raising Integrity." Education Digest: Essential Readings Condensed for Quick Review 72.8 (2007): 42-50. ERIC. First Search. Criss Library, Omaha. 3 Mar. 2008. University of Nebraska At Omaha 2007-2008 Undergraduate Catalog. Omaha: University of Nebraska At Omaha, 2007. 51-56.

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