Faculty Assessments 1 Faculty Assessments of the Clarity and Prevalence of Academic Dishonesty

Despite the fact that cheating on tests and other forms of academic dishonesty are rampant, there is no standard definition of academic dishonesty, nor is there agreement as to the particular behaviors that constitute cheating. In this study, a survey was administered to 160 university professors in order to obtain faculty estimates of the clarity and prevalence of types of academic dishonesty. Results indicate that most faculty members had encountered incidents of cheating. While professors agreed on certain behaviors as clear examples of dishonesty, other behaviors produced a greater variety of opinions. The most commonly offered reasons for not taking action on encountering incidents of cheating were insufficient proof of the occurrence of an infraction and the difficult process involved in reporting violations. Increasing administrative support of professors and educating students about the University policy on cheating are suggested avenues for increasing faculty reports of cheating. (Contains 1 table and 11 references.) (Author/SLD) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. cr