University students’ understanding of contract cheating: a qualitative case study in Kuwait

Language Testing in Asia

Research

Inan Deniz Erguvan¹ 

[1] Gulf University for Science and Technology, West Mishref, Kuwait;

关键词: Contract cheating;    Online learning;    Academic integrity;    Student perspectives;    Focus group;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s40468-022-00208-y

 received in 2022-08-29, accepted in 2022-11-19,  发布年份 2022

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

Contract cheating, or students outsourcing their assignments to be completed by others, has emerged as a significant threat to academic integrity in higher education institutions around the world. During the COVID-19, when traditional face-to-face instruction became unsustainable, the number of contract cheating students increased dramatically. Through focus group interviews, this study sought the perspectives of 25 students enrolled in first year writing in a private higher education institution in Kuwait during the pandemic in 2020–2021, on their attitudes towards contract cheating. MAXQDA 2020 was used to examine the data. The participants believe that the primary motivations for engaging in contract cheating are mainly the opportunities presented by online learning and the psychological and physical challenges they experienced during online learning. Those who did not cheat had some shared traits, such as a competitive spirit, confidence in their talents, and a strong desire to learn. Additionally, those with high moral values avoided cheating. To combat contract cheating, students believe that teaching and evaluation techniques should be drastically altered and that students should be educated about plagiarism, while institutions should impose tougher sanctions on repeat offenders.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s) 2022

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