Cheating. Many students reported that they cheated in preparation for and during tests. The reasons varied, from wanting to maintain a high grade point average at any cost to not wanting to put in the effort to prepare for an exam.
Others viewed academic success as doing well on exams, no matter how that was accomplished. Some justified cheating because of the perceived irrelevance of the material they were studying. Others simply believed that there was so much material that they would have no chance unless they cheated.
Cheating was reported to occur in a number of ways:
• An advantage of joining a fraternity or sorority is access to old exams, which is especially helpful for professors who repeat questions.
• Access to examination questions can sometimes be obtained from a secretary’s desk or through access to the secretary’s computer.
• Potential answers can be written on sneakers, desks, hands, cheat sheets, and so on.
• When an instructor leaves a room during an exam, students can exchange answers, talk with one another about answers, look through notes and textbooks, and may even look through papers on the instructor’s desk.
• During take-home exams, some students ask others for answers. Students reported that sometimes students would work together, with students dividing the questions among themselves.