4 Rationalizing Factors for Cheating and Plagiarism
In a 2-part Turnitin webcast entitled, "Engaging Faculty and Students to Resist Plagiarism Through Policy and Practice," David Wangaard, Ed.D., the Executive Director for The School for Ethical Education (SEE) touched on four rationalizing factors for student cheating and plagiarism.
- Under Pressure
- Uninterested
- Unable
- Unfair
"What's the point of recognizing these kinds of rationalizations?" asks Wangaard. "There are things that we can do as faculty and teachers to resist these things all appropriately."
Under Pressure: Pressure, "either from parents or from their own academic pressure to achieve and get in to a good college, university or an excellent grad school," is the most common of rationalizations for cheating says Wangaard. High Academic pressure is certainly going to exist in a lot of environments, but we, "should encourage the idea of mastery learning instead of just performance and earning the grades."
Uninterested: "There's a small component of folks that just not interested," says Wangaard, "They just don't want to do the work and have low motivation." A lot of this lack of interest can translate to a lack of engagement. Think about how you can make a topic relevant to them
Unable: "Some students have a "perceived inability to complete the project either because of their time or cognitive skill to get it done," Wangaard explains. Students typically have a low mastery of most subject matter they are writing about, so it creates a feeling of uneasiness for some. While some educators will say that it's not supposed to be easy, you can help students by teaching proper research skills to get adequate background information on topics in and out of class.
Unfair: "The student may have a low regard for what's happening in the class," says Wangaard. Whether it's the student's perception that a teacher is incompetent, a teacher is showing favoritism toward certain students, or a sense that other students are cheating and getting away with it.
According to the book that Wangaard cowrote with Jason M. Stephens, Creating a Culture of Academic Integrity:
Most people want to distance themselves from any allegation of theft and fraud. Thus, it is easy to understand how e use justifications or rationalizations to separate ourselves from behaviors we know to be wrong. A "good" justification will help me avoid taking responsibility for theft or fraud and allow me a psychological back door to keep my reputation clear in my own mind. One type of justification for cheating has been observed in students who perceive their teachers as unfair or uncaring.
Having a clear understanding of these rationalizations and being able to identify them can help educators and students resist the urge to accept their rationalization for cheating and plagiarism.
