Why do students cheat? That’s an important question that we often don’t ask ourselves. I have a tendency to get mad about cheating rather than ponder this question.
I think many students cheat because they are worried about their grade, they don’t want to do the work, and/or they aren’t aware that they are cheating. Whatever the reason is, it’s our job as educators to make sure that we’re meeting our student’s needs. Whether that be education on what is plagiarism and cheating, or making ourselves available to students so that they are comfortable asking for help and don’t need to resort to cheating. I also think we need to motivate students to enjoy learning.
This isn’t all on us, much is on the students to make sure that they are taking responsibility for their own education and learning. I think working with mentors and making sure that they are aware of the issues that we have and how to stop them is a great place to start. I also think that making it clear to students what we consider cheating is crucial. If they aren’t aware of your policies, how can we expect kids to know? We all know what they say about assuming right?
