What do high school students excel at? Cheating

Posted at 11:45 AM on May 12, 2010 by Bob Collins (0 Comments)
Filed under: Surveys and trivia

A University of Nebraska study of a "Midwestern high school" reveals that most high school students cheat. The study was limited to a junior class at the unnamed school, but it supports previous studies on the extent of cheating in high school.

For example, 89 percent said glancing at someone else's answers during a test was cheating, but 87 percent said they'd done that at least once. Also, 94 percent said providing answers to someone during a test was cheating - but 74 percent admitted to doing it.

Other behaviours weren't as cut-and-dried in students' minds. Surprisingly, only 47 percent said that providing test questions to a fellow student who had yet to take a test was academically dishonest, and nearly seven out of 10 admitted to doing so.

Boys tend to cheat more than girls, the study said. There's no link between cheating and "moral development," according to the author.

They cheat on tests, homework assignments and when writing reports. In some cases, though, students simply don't grasp that some dishonest acts are cheating," the study's author said.

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