{"id":56286,"date":"2021-03-05T00:00:54","date_gmt":"2021-03-05T08:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/world.edu\/?p=56286"},"modified":"2021-03-04T12:20:38","modified_gmt":"2021-03-04T20:20:38","slug":"motivation-is-a-key-factor-in-whether-students-cheat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/motivation-is-a-key-factor-in-whether-students-cheat\/","title":{"rendered":"Motivation is a key factor in whether students cheat"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic caused many U.S. colleges to shift to remote learning in the spring of 2020, student cheating has been a concern for\u00a0instructors<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0students<\/a>\u00a0alike.<\/p>\n

To detect student cheating, considerable resources have been devoted to using technology to\u00a0monitor students online<\/a>. This online surveillance has\u00a0increased students\u2019 anxiety and distress<\/a>. For instance, some students have\u00a0indicated<\/a>\u00a0the monitoring technology required them to stay at their desks or risk being labeled as cheaters.<\/p>\n

Although relying on electronic eyes may partially curb cheating, there\u2019s another factor in the reasons students cheat that often gets overlooked \u2013 student motivation.<\/p>\n

As a team of researchers in\u00a0educational psychology<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0higher education<\/a>, we became interested in how students\u2019 motivation to learn, or what drives them to want to succeed in class, affects how much they cheated in their schoolwork.<\/p>\n

To shine light on why students cheat, we conducted an\u00a0analysis of 79 research studies<\/a>\u00a0and published our findings in the journal Educational Psychology Review. We determined that a variety of motivational factors, ranging from a desire for good grades to a student\u2019s academic confidence, come into play when explaining why students cheat. With these factors in mind, we see a number of things that both students and instructors can do to\u00a0harness the power of motivation<\/a>\u00a0as a way to combat cheating, whether in virtual or in-person classrooms. Here are five takeaways:<\/p>\n

1. Avoid emphasizing grades<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Although obtaining straight A\u2019s is quite appealing, the more students are focused solely on earning high grades, the more likely they are to cheat. When the grade itself becomes the goal, cheating can serve as a way to achieve this goal.<\/p>\n

Students\u2019 desire to learn can diminish when instructors overly emphasize high test scores, beating the curve, and student rankings. Graded assessments have a role to play, but so does acquisition of skills and actually learning the content, not only doing what it takes to get good grades.<\/p>\n

2. Focus on expertise and mastery<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Striving to increase one\u2019s knowledge and improve skills in a course was associated with less cheating. This suggests that the more students are motivated to gain expertise, the less likely they are to cheat. Instructors can teach with a focus on mastery, such as providing additional opportunities for students to redo assignments or exams. This reinforces the goal of personal growth and improvement.<\/p>\n

3. Combat boredom with relevance<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Compared with students motivated by either gaining rewards or expertise, there might be a group of students who are simply not motivated at all, or experiencing what researchers call amotivation. Nothing in their environment or within themselves motivates them to learn. For these students, cheating is quite common and seen as a viable pathway to complete coursework successfully rather than putting forth their own effort. However, when students find relevance in what they\u2019re learning, they are less likely to cheat.<\/p>\n

When students see connections between their coursework and other courses, fields of study or their future careers, it can\u00a0stimulate them<\/a>\u00a0to see how valuable the subject might be. Instructors can be intentional in providing rationales for why learning a particular topic might be useful and connecting students\u2019 interest to the course content.<\/p>\n

4. Encourage ownership of learning<\/strong><\/h4>\n

When students struggle, they sometimes blame circumstances beyond their control, such as believing their instructor to have unrealistic standards. Our findings show that when students believe they are responsible for their own learning, they are less likely to cheat.<\/p>\n

Encouraging students to take ownership over their learning and put in the required effort can decrease academic dishonesty. Also, providing meaningful choices can help students feel they are in charge of their own learning journey, rather than being told what to do.<\/p>\n

5. Build confidence<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Our study found that when students believed they could succeed in their coursework, cheating decreased. When students do not believe they will be successful, a teaching approach called scaffolding is key. Essentially, the scaffolding approach involves assigning tasks that match the students\u2019 ability level and gradually increase in difficulty. This progression slowly builds students\u2019 confidence to take on new challenges. And when students feel confident to learn, they are willing to put in\u00a0more effort<\/a>\u00a0in school.<\/p>\n

An inexpensive solution<\/strong><\/h4>\n

With these tips in mind, we expect cheating might pose less of a threat during the pandemic and beyond. Focusing on student motivation is a much less controversial and inexpensive solution to curtail any tendencies students may have to cheat their way through school.<\/p>\n

Are these motivational strategies the cure-all to cheating? Not necessarily. But they are worth considering \u2013 along with other strategies \u2013 to fight against academic dishonesty.<\/p>\n

Author Bios:<\/strong> Carlton J. Fong is Assistant Professor of Education at Texas State University and Megan Krou is a Research Analyst, Teachers College at Columbia University<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic caused many U.S. colleges to shift to remote learning in the spring of 2020, student cheating has been a concern for\u00a0instructors\u00a0and\u00a0students\u00a0alike. To detect student cheating, considerable resources have been devoted to using technology to\u00a0monitor students online. This online surveillance has\u00a0increased students\u2019 anxiety and distress. For instance, some students have\u00a0indicated\u00a0the monitoring […]\n… learn more→<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":56288,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[12188],"coauthors":[11733],"class_list":["post-56286","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-higher-education","tag-student-cheating"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMotivation is a key factor in whether students cheat - World leading higher education information and services<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/motivation-is-a-key-factor-in-whether-students-cheat\/\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Motivation is a key factor in whether students cheat - World leading higher education information and services\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic caused many U.S. colleges to shift to remote learning in the spring of 2020, student cheating has been a concern for\u00a0instructors\u00a0and\u00a0students\u00a0alike. 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