Why Do Students Cheat Or Plagiarize?

797 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Pressure on student

The pressure on students in high school and college students can be quite overwhelming. A student may have several different classes, each with a heavy workload and none of which they are interested in taking. With their parents breathing down their necks and their financial aid dependent on passing grades, some are tempted and even go through with acts of academic dishonesty in the forms of cheating and/or plagiarizing. There are many reasons why students cheat and plagiarize, they may not even understand the difference between the two, but there are also possible solutions to prevent cheating and plagiarizing in education.
To begin, “the rate of students who admit to cheating at least once in their college careers has held steady at somewhere around 75 percent since the first major survey on cheating in higher education in 1963” (Lang 2). This statistic shows that cheating is not a new problem and that the degree of cheating has been at a constant for many years, but why is this? Why do students …show more content…

In this context, to cheat is to get unauthorized help on an assignment, quiz, or test. Whereas, plagiarism is presenting someone else’s work or idea as your own. Cheating is a deliberate attempt to deceive. While, plagiarism can be intentional or not intentional. When a student intentionally plagiarizes they are cheating, but not all forms of cheating include plagiarism. Compare this to a rectangle and a square. A square is always classified as a rectangle, but a rectangle is not always a square. This is how plagiarism and cheating are related. However, it is not necessarily cheating when a student unintentionally plagiarizes. Unintentional plagiarism occurs when a student does not cite their sources properly, or does not cite paraphrased information. When students are confused and intimidated by citations and their complex rules, then they may plagiarize without knowing they have done

Show More
Related

  • Colleen Wenke's Too Much Pressure

    1517 Words  | 4 Pages

    That stomach churning feeling of guilt for many seems to appear as a small price to pay when completing an act of academic dishonesty. Colleen Wenke wrote an essay on cheating eighteen years ago called “Too Much Pressure”. In the past fifty years, the number of students who admit to cheating has increased fifty to seventy percent(Gaffe). Many people wonder what leads the students to make this unjust decision. Today, the reason for a rise in cheaters is because of how easy it has become, leading many students to the false conclusion that they aren’t breaking any rules; It is simply viewed as a shortcut to success in the classroom and beyond.

    Read More

  • Why college students cheat

    787 Words  | 2 Pages

    How bad has cheating become over the years, the numbers in some cases are mind-boggling. In today’s day and age the amount of college students cheating is numbered to have maintain a steady figure of about 75 percent. (Lang, 2013) Cheating has been around since the beginning of time, some of the reasons behind most of the prolific cheaters are centered on what seems to be three main issues plaguing our society. Cheaters be it young or old, all seem to have what I call the “Big Three” in common. In my research on cheating, there were three things that continued to stick out, such as; procrastinating, the pressure to make the grade and it is easier to cheat rather then to do your own work. To the answer the question why college students cheat, we must first understand why, in order to find a solution on how to help avoid this continuing going forward. After reading this paper you will see that cheating has become prevalent in college, caused by a need to get better grades with less original work being done eventually the ends don't justify the means.

    Read More

  • Impact of Cheating on Future Prosperity and Safety

    716 Words  | 2 Pages

    I have been misappropriated! In other words my future has been subjected to delays as well as more stress and more difficult hoops to jump through to prove myself worthy of an abundant and successful career position. One might ask why I feel this way and some might even ask for a more detailed explanation. The word that stands out like a bright neon sign on the darkest night would be “Cheating”. I strongly believe cheating is wrong and is a form of not only stealing from someone’s hard work, but also stealing from everyone’s future as well as endangering people’s lives. Some might say what harm does cheating on a paper or exam really do to anyone and how can something so small have such a large impact on the world, people’s safety and professional

    Read More

  • Cheating Is Cheating

    865 Words  | 2 Pages

    What is cheating? Cheating is the dishonesty of an individual for their personal advantage. Base on various studies conducted cheating is getting worse among students. Students are cheating to get higher grades so that they look smart. Students are even cheating their way into colleges and universities. This is becoming a major problem and it does not only affect students but school administrators, employers and even generations to come. Don McCabe (2010) conducted a survey among 24,000 high school students at 70 high schools in the United States. 64% Of students admitted to cheating on a test, 58% admitted to plagiarism and 95% participated in some form of cheating. For college students, 70% of students, report to some form of cheating.

    Read More

  • Cheating In College Essay

    1331 Words  | 3 Pages

    Cheating is a big issue that has reached the most competitive campuses around the United States. It is increasing more and more with the new technology that we have in the 21st century because students have easy access to many sources of information. Cheating is something all students have done at some point in their lives, but as they reach a higher academic level, they are faced with more rigorous consequences that can affect their futures in many different ways. Cheating might be seen as an easy way to obtain a good grade, get into a good college, or maintain scholarships or financial aid, but the consequences could affect the life and the future of the student.

    Read More

  • Academic Dishonesty: Applying Technology To Cheat

    1468 Words  | 3 Pages

    Modern students face many pressures for academic success. They are often unwilling to disappoint their parents or spouses. Some fear that not cheating will weaken a student’s ability to compete with their peers. They rationalize their unethical behavior, unwilling to accept a poor grade, consequently justifying cheating as the only means to that end.

    Read More

  • Cause and Effect Essay - Plagiarism and Cheating

    911 Words  | 2 Pages

    School systems today are so lenient in their rules, guidelines and consequences; thus causing cheating, copying or forgeries to be frequently used. Many students take advantage of copying someone else's work whenever they are given the chance. Other times, students will simply have someone else do their work and turn it in as their own, not realizing the effects this behavior can create. This creates a lack of creativity, no sense of responsibility and the students will never acquire new knowledge. These practices of cheating, copying and forgery by students are unethical and should be brought to the surface whenever possible.

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay For College Education

    1368 Words  | 3 Pages

    Many students take their high school years for granted and do not always pull off the best grades. But then when they get to college, or a higher degree of education than high school they start to straighten up. The reason being is because after high school everyone can choose what it is they want to spend the rest of their life doing. The classes they take, are of interest to them rather than all of the required ones in high school. For this reason I feel that students are more likely to take college seriously and not just because of the money.

    Read More

  • Plagiarism

    777 Words  | 2 Pages

    Plagiarism, or the unaccredited use of another's work or ideas, has become more and more of a problem in recent times than it was in the past. According to statistics found in a survey conducted by the Free Press, 58% of high school students let someone copy their work in 1969, but by 1989 this number had risen to 97%. The expansion of the World Wide Web and the number of people accessing the Web on a regular basis has caused an epidemic of plagiarism in this country, especially among students. This is a serious problem that must be addressed because many students feel that if they are not getting in trouble for cheating, than it is okay.

    Read More

  • Students Cheatwork

    1219 Words  | 3 Pages

    Cheating on academic work is a serious issue that most students admit to doing at some point in their academic career. Elite students are surprisingly the culprits of cheating, but hide it well. (Romm, para 5) Cheating is such a large issue that “70% of students from a sample of 1,800 from nine campuses said they had cheated at least once during their college careers.” (Schneider, para 9) Students cheat on academic work because of different, ongoing pressures in their lives. Understanding the student’s motives and pressures are essential to preventing cheating from occurring in the future. Students cheat for different reasons specific to them regarding their priorities, pressures and because of how easy it has become. Even though eliminating cheating will not happen, there are actions that educational professionals can and should take to prevent most of it from happening so often. Therefor cheating problems are minimized and have a positive impact on the student’s education and understanding of concepts.

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Academic Cheating

    1206 Words  | 3 Pages

    From a young age we are taught the differences between right and wrong, but as we get older the line between moral and immoral is often blurred. Things that were once thought of as unacceptable are now perfectly fine in our minds. Have you ever seen anyone cheat on an assignment or exam? Do you know anyone that’s been expelled from school for cheating? What if it was discovered that a U.S. senator plagiarized his college thesis paper? Imagine if it got out that one of the most respected universities in the U.S. was involved in a huge fraud scandal that involved thousands of students. Academic cheating is a terrible offense because it is unethical, self-degrading, and can be detrimental to the learning environment.

    Read More

  • Plagiarism Essay

    998 Words  | 2 Pages

    The better educated you are, the better off you are socially, and economically. Having a degree is, in general, a good indicator of your level of education. To get it some students study very hard. Others, on the contrary, prefer to take some shortcuts that seem to be easier for them. Those, not so much interested in acquiring a solid education, simply want to plagiarize to pass their classes, to get that degree. Plagiarism spreads out through any level of our education system. It even extends beyond that limit to reach almost any aspect of our society. With the internet revolution, this problem becomes more acute. “The web has provided global access to an unfathomable cornucopia of term papers, essays, and other scholarly works, right there out in the open for purchase or outright theft” (Simonson, Smaldino, & Zvacek, 2015, p. 160). This paper will discuss the different types of plagiarism. Before getting deeper into that discussion, we will start by explaining the word plagiarism.

    Read More

  • Plagiarism Essay

    968 Words  | 2 Pages

    Plagiarism is taking someone else’s work or idea and using as a benefit by making it look like it has not been copied from some sort of source. Plagiarism can be done unintentionally or intentionally either way it is a serious crime especially in schools and universities because it is known to be a form of cheating.

    Read More

  • Plagiarism Position Paper

    1870 Words  | 4 Pages

    Plagiarism is a serious offense and a growing trend in our society today. Some may associate plagiarism with the idea of taking someone else’s writing and making it their own. In fact plagiarism involves anything that is copied or taken and said to be of your own work. Dictionary.com defines plagiarism as “the unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work, as by not crediting the author”. In fact this definition covers all types of cheating and misrepresentation of ones own work. There are many numbers and statistics that can be found on the amount of individuals that have admitted to cheating. Perhaps the most astounding number is one that was reported by Moeck in 2002 aloft of 40% of higher education students commit academic dishonesty. This number I’m sure has grown since this report and will continue to grow with the development of the Internet. There are a number of ideas and strategies that can be employed in order to stop this ever-growing phenomenon. As teachers and adults, we are responsible for stopping this trend and educating students about the consequences and dangers of plagiarism. I believe there are a variety of reasons individuals plagiarize. First, students are insecure with their own ability; they don’t believe they can do the work therefore they take others. Second, students believe they can get away with the act because they know others who have plagiarized, and there were not any consequences. Lastly, students are uneducated on what plagiarism is and do not know the consequences of their actions if they commit an act. These ideas will be the focus of the position taken on plagiarism in today’s academic society.

    Read More

  • Plagiarism Essay

    1772 Words  | 4 Pages

    Plagiarism is the copying of another individual’s writings and ideas. Plagiarism is an idea that has been constructed by society. It revolves around society’s ideas of intellectual and private property. It is considered to be a form of cheating. Often times in elementary schools and high schools, plagiarism is discussed as bad but is not actually prevented. Teachers often do not detect plagiarism and even when they do, sometimes it is ignored. The student is then rewarded with a good grade, ingraining within the student that it is acceptable to plagiarize. Plagiarism affects the ways an individual develops as a person and as a writer.

    Read More

More about Why Do Students Cheat Or Plagiarize?

Open Document