Most students learn at some point in their education that they shouldn't cheat on tests, that they shouldn't plagiarize papers, that they shouldn't fake lab reports, or commit other acts of academic dishonesty. Most universities, including the University of Wyoming (UW), have regulations that forbid academic dishonesty. UNIREG 802 defines academic dishonesty as "an act attempted or performed which misrepresents one's involvement in any academic task, or permits another student to misrepresent the latter' s involvement in an academic task by assisting in the misrepresentation." UNIREG 802 also establishes procedures for investigating, adjudicating, and punishing acts of academic dishonesty. Students found guilty of academic dishonesty may receive a grade of "F" in a course, and second-time offenders can be suspended from UW for one year.

In the last 14 years, the Division of Student Affairs at UW has conducted two surveys relating to academic dishonesty, one in 1983 involving 2,176 students, and one in 1996 involving 1,258 students. These surveys obtained the following results:

Students reporting having witnessed an act of academic dishonesty:
1983: 78.8%; 1996: 71.2%

Students admitting that they have engaged in an act of academic dishonesty:
1983: 36.5%; 1996: 23.7%

Students indicating that academic dishonesty occurs frequently or very frequently at their college: 1983: 8%; 1996: 10.8%

The 1996 survey found that 79.5% of students were familiar with UW's regulations pertaining to academic dishonesty, and 76.6% indicated that instructors or advisors had discussed academic dishonesty with them. These surveys support the following conclusion: while most students know that University regulations forbid academic dishonesty or that they shouldn't cheat, this knowledge does not stop students from committing acts of academic dishonesty.

Cynics and skeptics could use this information to denigrate students and to justify additional regulations and punishments. According to this view, academic dishonesty occurs because many students are dishonest, untrustworthy, and lazy. The proper response is to "get tough" on cheaters and to institute additional rules or codes. The "get tough" approach would also recommend that UW clarify and expand UNIREG 802 and provide swift and steady punishment for students who violate it.

But this patronizing outlook does not square with my impression of students at UW or the causes of academic dishonesty. In my six years of teaching here, I have found most students to be honest, trustworthy, and hardworking. Students want good grades, but they are willing to work for them. When looking for the causes of academic dishonesty, we should not point the finger only at students. I am not denying that students should be held responsible for their behavior, but we need to address some additional factors in the academic environment that contribute to the problem.

So why do students cheat at UW? We can consider several different causes.
 

• Although students know about general prohibitions against dishonesty, they do not always know how these rules pertain to their academic work in a particular class. Many students do not understand what plagiarism is, whether they are allowed to work in groups, whether they are allowed to use old tests, and so on. UW's rules and regulations need to be interpreted in order to be applicable to particular cases.
   
• Although faculty claim to care about promoting academic honesty, they often spend very little time during the semester talking about academic honesty and how it pertains to the class they are teaching.
   
• Many students and faculty do not fully appreciate the importance of academic honesty. Students often excuse dishonesty by claiming that it "doesn't hurt anyone" and faculty often ignore it because "there's nothing we can do about it."

These explanations suggest three possible solutions to the problem:
 

• Students and faculty need to talk about academic honesty. Faculty need to discuss important concepts pertaining to honesty in their courses, such as proper documentation, group assignments, the use of note sheets, and laboratory procedures. Clear, effective, and open communication between faculty and students can help play a role in addressing honesty issues and concerns.
   
• Faculty need to do more than give "lip service" to academic honesty; we need to demonstrate a commitment to honesty by designing assignments that promote honesty (instead of assignments that actually encourage cheating), by talking about academic honesty issues in class, and by discussing honesty in course syllabi or assignments. The main point is that faculty are part of the problem and the solution.
   
• Everyone at UW needs to appreciate the importance of academic honesty. In order to get people in the community to understand why academic honesty is important, UW needs to take discussions of academic honesty beyond the classroom and engage the community in public forums. At such forums, people might come to understand how academic dishonesty harms students, faculty, and the University itself. Students who cheat compromise their own education by failing to learn things they need to know in order to succeed in life beyond UW. Students who cheat also harm their peers because courses are often graded on the curve. Dishonesty harms faculty by threatening fair and effective grading and trust between faculty and students. Finally, academic dishonesty can undermine UW's reputation by contributing to grade inflation and/or creating the perception that a degree from UW is tainted or worthless. Honesty lies at the heart of the University's educational mission, and dishonesty threatens the University's vitality and integrity. Education cannot take place when people lack a commitment to genuine learning, and the advancement of knowledge cannot occur when people have little regard for the truth.

My proposed solutions to the problem of academic dishonesty suggest that this issue is actually part of two larger issues at the University: the relationship between students and faculty and the health of the UW community. These solutions also suggest that the first steps toward a serious commitment to honesty at this University must involve further discussions of these issues and an increased awareness.

Case Studies for Discussion

CASE ONE:
Shannon is a pre-med student in a junior-level chemistry class. The class is very difficult, and the professor curves the grades. She belongs to a study group of four students who prepare for tests together. She finds out that two members of the group are planning to use cheat sheets on the next test. She asks them about this, and they respond that "everybody does this" and that "they need the grades." What should she do? Should she make up her own cheat sheet? Should she turn in her friends to the professor if she sees them cheat in class?

CASE TWO:
Dan has a heavy workload this semester and he hates writing terms papers. He has two term paper assignments, one in a philosophy course and one in a political science course. As he looks at the possible topics, he sees that he could recycle an old economics paper and use most of it for both paper assignments. Which of Dan's actions, if any, might be considered dishonest?

CASE THREE:
Laura is supposed to keep a weekly journal in her mass media course and the end of the semester she is supposed to turn in the journal. She has blown off the journal the whole semester, and she decides to put it all together a couple of days before it is due. Is this action dishonest?

CASE FOUR:
Melissa is writing a paper on civil war photography for her American History class. As she is doing her research, she discovers a paper in an obscure journal that says everything she wants to say and more. She decides to cite the paper, and she footnotes it in almost every paragraph. Many of the sentences in her paper, though cited, bear a strong resemblance to sentence s in this obscure paper. She has made only a few minor changes to reflect her "own" wording. Is this plagiarism? Should she be allowed to get credit for writing a paper like this?

CASE FIVE:
Karla's professor appears to have made a grading mistake in her favor. She had a "C" in the course going in to the final exam, and she made a "C" on the final exam. After she receives her grade report, she discovers that she made an "A" in the course. She can't believe her good luck. Should she keep quiet about this apparent mistake or take advantage of what appears to be a lucky break?

CASE SIX:
Jim is performing an experiment on laboratory rats for his psychology class. In his experiment he is training rats to run a maze. Each trial requires about 10 minutes of his time, and he is supposed to do 40 trials. After 20 trials the rat seems to have learned to do the maze. Jim decides to save some time and fabricate the remaining 20 trials. Is this dishonest? Should he be allowed to circumvent the remaining 20 trials?

CASE SEVEN:
George and Gina are partners in a chemistry lab. They both perform experiments together and collaborate when writing their lab reports. During their current experiment, they both are having trouble plotting their results on a linear curve; many of their data points fall outside the curve. They know from the chemistry lecture that they should be seeing a linear relationship between the two variables, so they decide to exclude some of their anomalous results from their final lab reports without telling the instructor. Is this dishonest? Is this "unscientific?"