Academic Integrity Survey Preliminary Report*

Qualitative Student Comments
(quoted as written with no editing)

I think people make way too big a deal about it. Not many people cheat, for their own reasons, and I think the professors and some students are just tense. Some students want rules like this because they think people cheat if the "cheater" gets a better grade. People just need to realize you can't get the highest grade all the time.

Students can't be the enforcers; they aren't the authority figures. At best students can encourage honesty among peers by example & rhetoric. Faculty & administrators are in the position of authority, and they must be the ones to make & enforce the rules. The two pieces together-authority & peer pressure-are necessary to foster an honest environment.

There are classes that allow old tests to be acquired and used during test examinations.

In most all of my classes, there seem to be plenty of proctors or aides walking around that I sometimes find it hard to even look at the floor, because I'm afraid they'll think that I'm cheating. There seems to be very few times a student could cheat even if they really wanted to. I've never really heard instances at…..of anyone being caught or punished-so either no one gets caught-or if they do, they're just quietly told not to do it again.

I believe cheating at college is a serious thing that is socially accepted amongst college students. Although the offense of cheating inflicts harsh reprimands, the chances of getting caught seem pretty slim.

I am currently not aware of any cheating. I'm sure it happens but I do not know a lot of people at K-State. The people that I do know have never said anything about it.

It's a joke. The whole zero tolerance statement is just that, a statement. There is no backbone to the threat.

Cheating is inevitable.

It's really not that widespread.

I choose not to cheat because it's morally wrong. No consequences that the school issues affect my personal non-cheating policy. (Although I have faltered from this policy a couple of times.)

I don't think that there is much "bad" cheating going on, "bad" meaning cheating on tests or major papers. I don't know what grades the person next to me gets. For all I know I do better than they do. Why look at their work when I don't know if it is correct or not. Most teachers split the students apart during a test so that there is a gap in between. This pretty much eliminates cheating in classes where there are too many students, too close together. Get smaller classes and everything will go better. Smaller classes, better learning environment, better learning less cheating. I don't cheat on tests because I don't think it is right. If I can't do it on my own during a test then I don't worry about it.

The problem with cheating & other ethical questions like this is often it depends on circumstances. This made question 13 difficult to answer. I see cheating on an exam as being a very serious offense. But when it comes to copying the work of a friend for a physics problem I couldn't understand, it may change my view. Especially when it seems 99% of other students are all doing it too. Instead of a competition where we would shut each other out we instead tried to help each other to be able to turn in the assignments. The way a class is taught and graded, the teacher's attitude makes a big difference too. To me there's somewhat of a gray area on assignments that are small. As for lab or research data, it depends on what the data is used for. It it's data that may be published? I would never falsify data. But in some labs where the goal is only for students to learn the process and understand concepts, a little fudging on data may be forgivable. It's hard to explain, but a lot depends on circumstances. Also, #8 leaves off two important reasons (maybe the most important) not to cheat. One, that it's wrong, dishonest and against your value system. And two, that be cheating, you're not getting the most out of your education, not pushing yourself to work and learn & that's what school is about.

Atmosphere in the classroom sets the stage for students monitoring others for cheating. Most students here are friendly, making it difficult to turn them in. I've seen cheating in the class, but it is accepted because everyone is looking for an edge in classes. Most people don't think honesty in the classroom is that important.

I believe cheating is very prevalent and is a significant problem at KSU. I heard often of people who had cheated or were planning on cheating. The one instance I witnessed myself was blatantly obvious. A Pakistani student copied his Chemistry notes in Arabic onto his hand and used them throughout the test. I had no idea how to handle the situation. Later, I heard of students who used their beepers as a way of receiving messages during tests. I heard of students falsifying data in lab tests and in book reports and papers. Part of why I never reported these incidents is that I did not know who the student was or who to report such allegations to. It was all second or even third hand information.

Cheating is generally not a problem here. Fore the simple reason that a cheater is not going to be able to make it through this University and graduate, because he/she is not learning what he/she needs to learn to succeed in the next class down the road.

In my experience & opinion, it is wrong to cheat & if one does somehow it will come back to them. I hate how it throws off a curve when people cheat and you work hard. More likely than not, you can't get away with cheating in the real world. So cheating in school on tests until then just causes the people to cheat themselves.

I am sure cheating goes on in classes, but I know that I would never see it because I am so afraid to look during an exam for fear of the teacher thinking I was cheating.

Here at KSU we have just started a new program for academic dishonesty. We have always had a policy about it but now there are signs in every classroom that talk about it. Especially about reporting your classmates & friends. I just don't believe that is this going to work because most students have been there where they have either worked together on an individual assignment or something and they just are [not] going to get their peers in trouble like that. I don't think that we don't have a problem here but I don't think that this is the way to handle it. I'm not sure of the way, but turning students against each other is not a good way of doing it.

The times I may have cheated were my freshman year & usually resulted in a bad grade anyhow b/c of not knowing the information for the complete test. I don't see how I should worry about others cheating. I am here for my own education & have paid for all of it by working full time.

Cheating is a problem here, I have seen it, and I have reported it. The problem is that the teachers don't try hard to catch it. Faculty Senate at K-State requires all faculty to print the section of the faculty handbook on cheating in their syllabus. This says that a student who is caught cheating may be expelled from the University. If you do get caught and brought in front of the academic judicial board, if it is proven that you cheated you get expelled, it is that simple. You have one chance, if you blow it, that's it. You should have thought of that before you blew it. The system is fair, not many people are found in violation of cheating, but those that are get expelled without a second thought. Now if we could get the teachers to start looking harder and catch more people we would all be set. It will be interesting to see how this new honor code we have works out.

I don't find cheating that bad. Some of the professors in this college expect way too much out of students that are not in the major of the class. For instance, I heard a professor say that he expected and tested his students to his level. I see that as a little ridiculous because we have not spent a whole year writing a thesis on the subject nor have we seen anything remotely like what is in class sometimes. Also with this new ABET college thing and the teachers making group projects along with normal homework load when there was no projects is way too much work for working and having other classes.

In my first semester at Kansas State University I saw a student I didn't know cheating on an exam. The class had about 200 students and during the exam the professor didn't observe the students at all. I didn't report the incident, however, I feel differently today. I would report regardless of the consequences for myself. I think many students that do honest work feel uncomfortable reporting dishonesty.

I don't think cheating is any worse than it's ever been. I don't cheat mostly because I don't think it's right, and I doubt that I would do that much better, to justify the risk of getting caught cheating.

I feel it is not common at all in my major. I think it is totally up to the professor-if they allow it, and don't take it seriously, it will happen!

In engineering, quite a few students cheat because it is so important to them to keep a GPA close to 4.0. A few students have even admitted that if they can't do the homework in a reasonable amount of time, they copy it from students who took the class the previous year. Our professors assign almost the exact same assignments each year, so copying is the most common cheating in our department. This is very frustrating to those of us who have the same overwhelming workload and spend hours trying to complete it. I will be lucky to graduate with a 3.0, but I feel I will be a good employee despite the large gap that exists between my GPA & the GPA of some students who cheat. I am not saying all 4.0 students are cheaters, but there is a particular group that manages to cheat an get very high grades, even when some professors are aware of their copying of labs or assignments. I am very tried of it all, and very frustrated, especially when I'm trying to interview for jobs but I have to compete with these students, and employers tend to grant interviews to the people with higher GPA's written on their resumes.

I am a non-trad. student. I am here to learn. I think students who are serious about learning suffer, wrongly, for the cheating that goes on here. Plus, I think out of the majority of students, the minimum cheat! I really am disappointed in this aspect of distrust for and towards all students simply because of a small number of young, dishonest, (or non-traditional & dishonest!) students.

I have no idea what would happen to me if I got caught cheating, perhaps that should be more publicized.

Personally, I am in college to learn myself so that one day in the real world I can apply that knowledge. If I cheat now is that going to help me in the future? Simple-Its not! I think a lot of students may cheat because of parental pressures to excel in school and also because they would rather be out partying with their friends than study. (I am a married, 21 year-old woman so these things aren't important to me.)

I believe people know the consequences that go along with cheating so I think everyone should be responsible for their own actions.

Many people don't believe they cheat because the definition of cheating is so large and vague at times.

I would like to expand on question seventeen. As I mentioned already I know for a fact that most students are concerned with their own grades, so I ask you why should I be concerned with a cheater's grade? I can tell you this that person will get it one of these days because in college you would have to out more work into cheating than if you actually studied. I know it goes on, and no I have never seen anyone cheat (FYI most classes if you remember are very large) but I'm sure it goes on. So I'm not saying that students should spend more time in looking after everyone else. Also, as I mentioned before cheaters will always fail later, you have to look at it in general, if they are cheating they don't know the material very well so they may get a good grade for their efforts, but whose to say that (he or she) will be able to hold a job? Information, tests, essays, papers etc. are for our own good. If we don't take advantage of these things we won't get anywhere, but down. In short, I could care less about a cheater-they don't effect me because I don't cheat-they are the one that are failing, not me.

Students do cheat - but they lose in the long run; can't fake it on the exams or finals. So it bothers me, but they will get caught someday whether it is on their resumes with new employers, or as a student.

I think it is stupid to expect us to baby-sit each other.

If a teacher asks classes not to have partners on homework, and do; it is not cheating. Sometimes other individuals teach better than the teachers. I do not pay much attention to cheaters during tests because I am too worried about my grade to worry if anyone is peeping over someone else's shoulder. Do not feel as though the students should be held responsible for monitoring the academic integrity at K-State When writing term papers, it is sometimes hard to paraphrase without using the common pronouns, and similar adjectives as the source- this to me is not cheating. Just a writer's flaw. Internet sources, those who write word for word are naïve. Everyone knows those sources tend to be unreliable. Those who support those are gullible. Self-inflicted stupidity. If a cheater were to be handicapped, I would be hesitant to turn them in due to not knowing or understanding their physical body language. Could be wrongly accused.

I feel due to the lack of time and length of tests given at the college level students have very little time to see if others are cheating. Also most teachers make multiple test versions, which make it really difficult for those who want to cheat. I think people are more worried about getting all the questions answered rather than getting help on due to a time limit. I don't feel that cheating is a major problem, because those who cheat don't know their information and they won't get all the answers, maybe a few, but it won't effect much.

My knowledge of cheating at KSU is not very great.

Cheating is cheating. Wrong is wrong. Sin is sin. There is no such thing as a little cheating; it is either wrong or right. I believe that cheating is wrong.

Note to teachers-look for reduced notes hidden in calculator sleeves and backings. Go easy on people who over source and under source, since each teacher is different it is really hard to know; sometimes makes us over-cite, source paranoia.

Some of your questions are confusing. On question seven, I do not believe that there is a problem of understanding policies; it is a question of how seriously they are taken. On question 8, it is important to me that we have policies and it is important to get good grades. The other items are non-issues; if cheating is wrong it is wrong. Since returning to school, I have heard the presentations on plagiarizing. Only once did I get the feeling the professors were serious. The rest were presenting what was required. Cheating is, I suspect, not taken seriously when learning is not taken seriously. When you put 300 people or even 70 people in a classroom, they don't feel you've given much concern to whether they learn. (I have been in both situations. My education is important to me. But I am older than most. At 19-22 years I do not think a large number of college students realize the importance. I didn't then either.)

I studied at ….. and ….. Although ..... is a very hard school, however, it is very easy to cheat there. More than 50% of the students cheat there. However, here at K-State it is very hard to find a student cheating. In fact, I have never seen a student cheating on an exam. Sometimes, the teachers leave the room and leave the students alone, but no one could cheat, because if they cheated, and they were caught, then 100% of them would be out of school forever.

There is nothing that would cause me to cheat because of my professional ethics. I enrolled in KSU to learn, not to "get by." I also do not feel that it is my problem if others choose to cheat. That is between themselves and Kansas State University.

Cheating at KSU is rare in the classroom; many students are very serious about their school work and do not cheat. I have only two problems here and that is that the Greeks have old tests, term papers, written assignments from the past years like in the library. I do not think that it is fair that they could copy them on computers and turn them in. They also have many of the same classes; so one person does the homework and 15 others copy it. I do not have that option with my roommates; only 2 roommates. I am not trying to pin this on the frats, but it does happen. I think cheating here at KSU exists, but as well as at other schools. Our faculty does a good job of keeping track and punishing students for cheating. They are strict on tests but very lackadaisical on homework; usually there are three to four teachers in a room when testing. ….. is doing a good job; but with ~23 frats, cheating is bound to happen.

*Donald L. McCabe. 1999 Fall Semester Academic Dishonesty Survey Study conducted at Kansas State University.