Possible Reduction Mechanisms of Exam Cheating Practices for First Year Management Regular Students in Human Resource Management Course

Wubalem Gobie; Gizachew Wesene; Mezgebu Aynalem; Zemenu Amare; Alemneh Melaku

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ajeit.20200401.13

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Possible Reduction Mechanisms of Exam Cheating Practices for First Year Management Regular Students in Human Resource Management Course

Wubalem Gobie, Gizachew Wesene, Mezgebu Aynalem, Zemenu Amare, Alemneh Melaku

Published in American Journal of Education and Information Technology (Volume 4, Issue 1)

Received: 17 January 2020 Accepted: 24 February 2020 Published: 3 March 2020

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Abstract

Exam cheating practice is one of the most bottlenecks in Ethiopian education system in general and Debre Markos University Burie Campus in particular. Complaints on devastating increase of exam cheating practice has been heard from different corners in the country including the apex of Ministry of Education, which is the core owners, teachers, students and school managers from elementary schools to higher education institutions. As a result, it is necessary to tackle such type of problem in order to improve the quality of education. Hence, an action research was undertaken in 2019 in first year students of management department Human Resource Management course so as to reduce exam cheating problems by identifying the different exam cheating methods, contributing factors for cheating and developing a strategy how to minimize such types of malpractice. The study was conducted by employing purposive sampling technique with well-prepared lakert scale and semi-structured questionnaires for students and the department staff instructors as well. Both primary & secondary data were incorporated. For this study 60 first year management students and 8 instructors were considered as the key respondents. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics after properly encoded by SPSS software. Regarding to the exam cheating prevalence, 73.3% of respondents were confessed that cheating practice was common in first year management students. The major contributing factors that provoked students’ academics dishonest were hard exam, fear of failure, time pressure, competition with others, peer pressure, poor understanding of the exam question, demanding high score, high grade and over crowed exam room. Moreover, the study also identified the most frequently cheating strategies of written exam were sheet cribs, writing on their body, looking at another answer sheet, signals/gesture, using unauthorized materials, whisper/undertone and medical reason. In order to reduce exam cheating practice close supervision during the exam process, effective class room management, punishment, ensure effective teaching and learning process, used coded exam type, advise the students properly to use their time effectively, provide clear examination rule and enable them to prepared for exam well were a paramount strategies that will bring an improvement for quality education and cheating reduction..

Published in	American Journal of Education and Information Technology (Volume 4, Issue 1)
DOI	10.11648/j.ajeit.20200401.13
Page(s)	19-27
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Cheating, Examination, Management, Students, Methods, Strategies

References

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[3]	Burton, J. H., Talpade, S., Haynes, J. (2011). Religiosity and test-taking ethics among Business School Students. Journal of Academic and Business Ethics.
[4]	Choi, C. (2010). The pull of integrity. ASEE Prism.
[5]	Clabaugh, G. K. & Rozycki, E. G. (2009). Preventing cheating sand plagiarism. Orlando, PA: New Foundations Press.
[6]	Dobrovska & pokorny, 2007. Avoiding plagiarism & collusion. Proceedings of the international conference on Engineering education, September 3-7, 2007, Coimbra, Portugal.
[7]	Finn, K. V., & Frone, M. R. (2004). Academic performance and cheating: Moderating role of school identification and self-efficacy. The Journal of Educational Research.
[8]	Harvey, V. S., & Chickie-Wolfe, L. A. (2007). Fostering independent learning: Practical strategies to promote student success. USA: The Guilford Press.
[9]	Joughin, G., & Macdonald, R. (2004). A model of assessment in higher education institutions. The Higher Education Academy.
[10]	Jensen, L., Arnett, J., Feldman, S. S. and Cauffman, E. (2002). It’s wrong, but everybody does it: Academic dishonesty among high school and college students. Contemporary educational psychology.
[11]	Manar Hosny & Shameem Fatima. 2014. Attitude of students towards cheating & plagiarism: university case study. College of computer & information Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Journal of Applied Science 14 (8).748-757pp.
[12]	McCabe, D. (2009). Academic dishonesty in nursing schools: An empirical investigation. Journal of Nursing Education.
[13]	McCabe, D. L., Butterfield, K. D., & Trevino, L. K. (2006). Academic dishonesty in graduate business programs: Prevalence, causes, and proposed action. Academy of Management Learning & Education.
[14]	Sheard, J., s. Markham & M. Dick, 2003. Investigating differences in cheating behaviours of IT undergraduate & graduate students: The maturity & motivation factors. Higher. Educ. Res. Dev., 22: 91-108.
[15]	Senate Legislation of Debre Markos University. 2012. Debre Markos Ethiopia. pp. 159.
[16]	Teferra Taddese and Kinde Getachew (2009). Faculties’ perception and responses to academic dishonesty of undergraduate students in education, business and economics, Addis Ababa and Jimma universities. Ethiopian Journal of Education and Science.
[17]	Wilkerson, J. (2009). Staff and student perceptions of plagiarism and cheating. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education.
[18]	Zimmerman, B. J., Banner, S., & Kovach, R. (1996). Developing self-regulated learners: Beyond achievement to self-efficacy. USA: American Psychological Association.

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Wubalem Gobie, Gizachew Wesene, Mezgebu Aynalem, Zemenu Amare, Alemneh Melaku. (2020). Possible Reduction Mechanisms of Exam Cheating Practices for First Year Management Regular Students in Human Resource Management Course. American Journal of Education and Information Technology, 4(1), 19-27. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajeit.20200401.13

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Wubalem Gobie; Gizachew Wesene; Mezgebu Aynalem; Zemenu Amare; Alemneh Melaku. Possible Reduction Mechanisms of Exam Cheating Practices for First Year Management Regular Students in Human Resource Management Course. Am. J. Educ. Inf. Technol. 2020, 4(1), 19-27. doi: 10.11648/j.ajeit.20200401.13

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AMA Style

Wubalem Gobie, Gizachew Wesene, Mezgebu Aynalem, Zemenu Amare, Alemneh Melaku. Possible Reduction Mechanisms of Exam Cheating Practices for First Year Management Regular Students in Human Resource Management Course. Am J Educ Inf Technol. 2020;4(1):19-27. doi: 10.11648/j.ajeit.20200401.13

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@article{10.11648/j.ajeit.20200401.13,
  author = {Wubalem Gobie and Gizachew Wesene and Mezgebu Aynalem and Zemenu Amare and Alemneh Melaku},
  title = {Possible Reduction Mechanisms of Exam Cheating Practices for First Year Management Regular Students in Human Resource Management Course},
  journal = {American Journal of Education and Information Technology},
  volume = {4},
  number = {1},
  pages = {19-27},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ajeit.20200401.13},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajeit.20200401.13},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajeit.20200401.13},
  abstract = {Exam cheating practice is one of the most bottlenecks in Ethiopian education system in general and Debre Markos University Burie Campus in particular. Complaints on devastating increase of exam cheating practice has been heard from different corners in the country including the apex of Ministry of Education, which is the core owners, teachers, students and school managers from elementary schools to higher education institutions. As a result, it is necessary to tackle such type of problem in order to improve the quality of education. Hence, an action research was undertaken in 2019 in first year students of management department Human Resource Management course so as to reduce exam cheating problems by identifying the different exam cheating methods, contributing factors for cheating and developing a strategy how to minimize such types of malpractice. The study was conducted by employing purposive sampling technique with well-prepared lakert scale and semi-structured questionnaires for students and the department staff instructors as well. Both primary & secondary data were incorporated. For this study 60 first year management students and 8 instructors were considered as the key respondents. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics after properly encoded by SPSS software. Regarding to the exam cheating prevalence, 73.3% of respondents were confessed that cheating practice was common in first year management students. The major contributing factors that provoked students’ academics dishonest were hard exam, fear of failure, time pressure, competition with others, peer pressure, poor understanding of the exam question, demanding high score, high grade and over crowed exam room. Moreover, the study also identified the most frequently cheating strategies of written exam were sheet cribs, writing on their body, looking at another answer sheet, signals/gesture, using unauthorized materials, whisper/undertone and medical reason. In order to reduce exam cheating practice close supervision during the exam process, effective class room management, punishment, ensure effective teaching and learning process, used coded exam type, advise the students properly to use their time effectively, provide clear examination rule and enable them to prepared for exam well were a paramount strategies that will bring an improvement for quality education and cheating reduction..},
 year = {2020}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Possible Reduction Mechanisms of Exam Cheating Practices for First Year Management Regular Students in Human Resource Management Course
AU  - Wubalem Gobie
AU  - Gizachew Wesene
AU  - Mezgebu Aynalem
AU  - Zemenu Amare
AU  - Alemneh Melaku
Y1  - 2020/03/03
PY  - 2020
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajeit.20200401.13
DO  - 10.11648/j.ajeit.20200401.13
T2  - American Journal of Education and Information Technology
JF  - American Journal of Education and Information Technology
JO  - American Journal of Education and Information Technology
SP  - 19
EP  - 27
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2994-712X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajeit.20200401.13
AB  - Exam cheating practice is one of the most bottlenecks in Ethiopian education system in general and Debre Markos University Burie Campus in particular. Complaints on devastating increase of exam cheating practice has been heard from different corners in the country including the apex of Ministry of Education, which is the core owners, teachers, students and school managers from elementary schools to higher education institutions. As a result, it is necessary to tackle such type of problem in order to improve the quality of education. Hence, an action research was undertaken in 2019 in first year students of management department Human Resource Management course so as to reduce exam cheating problems by identifying the different exam cheating methods, contributing factors for cheating and developing a strategy how to minimize such types of malpractice. The study was conducted by employing purposive sampling technique with well-prepared lakert scale and semi-structured questionnaires for students and the department staff instructors as well. Both primary & secondary data were incorporated. For this study 60 first year management students and 8 instructors were considered as the key respondents. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics after properly encoded by SPSS software. Regarding to the exam cheating prevalence, 73.3% of respondents were confessed that cheating practice was common in first year management students. The major contributing factors that provoked students’ academics dishonest were hard exam, fear of failure, time pressure, competition with others, peer pressure, poor understanding of the exam question, demanding high score, high grade and over crowed exam room. Moreover, the study also identified the most frequently cheating strategies of written exam were sheet cribs, writing on their body, looking at another answer sheet, signals/gesture, using unauthorized materials, whisper/undertone and medical reason. In order to reduce exam cheating practice close supervision during the exam process, effective class room management, punishment, ensure effective teaching and learning process, used coded exam type, advise the students properly to use their time effectively, provide clear examination rule and enable them to prepared for exam well were a paramount strategies that will bring an improvement for quality education and cheating reduction..
VL  - 4
IS  - 1
ER  -

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Author Information

Wubalem Gobie

Department of Agribusiness and Value Chain Management, Faculty of Agriculture & Natural Resource, Debre Markos University, Debre Markos, Ethiopia
Gizachew Wesene

Department of Agribusiness and Value Chain Management, Faculty of Agriculture & Natural Resource, Debre Markos University, Debre Markos, Ethiopia
Mezgebu Aynalem

Department of Agribusiness and Value Chain Management, Faculty of Agriculture & Natural Resource, Debre Markos University, Debre Markos, Ethiopia
Zemenu Amare

Department of Management, Faculty of Business & Economics, Debre Markos University, Debre Markos, Ethiopia
Alemneh Melaku

Department of Management, Faculty of Business & Economics, Debre Markos University, Debre Markos, Ethiopia

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APA Style

Wubalem Gobie, Gizachew Wesene, Mezgebu Aynalem, Zemenu Amare, Alemneh Melaku. (2020). Possible Reduction Mechanisms of Exam Cheating Practices for First Year Management Regular Students in Human Resource Management Course. American Journal of Education and Information Technology, 4(1), 19-27. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajeit.20200401.13

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ACS Style

Wubalem Gobie; Gizachew Wesene; Mezgebu Aynalem; Zemenu Amare; Alemneh Melaku. Possible Reduction Mechanisms of Exam Cheating Practices for First Year Management Regular Students in Human Resource Management Course. Am. J. Educ. Inf. Technol. 2020, 4(1), 19-27. doi: 10.11648/j.ajeit.20200401.13

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AMA Style

Wubalem Gobie, Gizachew Wesene, Mezgebu Aynalem, Zemenu Amare, Alemneh Melaku. Possible Reduction Mechanisms of Exam Cheating Practices for First Year Management Regular Students in Human Resource Management Course. Am J Educ Inf Technol. 2020;4(1):19-27. doi: 10.11648/j.ajeit.20200401.13

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.ajeit.20200401.13,
  author = {Wubalem Gobie and Gizachew Wesene and Mezgebu Aynalem and Zemenu Amare and Alemneh Melaku},
  title = {Possible Reduction Mechanisms of Exam Cheating Practices for First Year Management Regular Students in Human Resource Management Course},
  journal = {American Journal of Education and Information Technology},
  volume = {4},
  number = {1},
  pages = {19-27},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ajeit.20200401.13},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajeit.20200401.13},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajeit.20200401.13},
  abstract = {Exam cheating practice is one of the most bottlenecks in Ethiopian education system in general and Debre Markos University Burie Campus in particular. Complaints on devastating increase of exam cheating practice has been heard from different corners in the country including the apex of Ministry of Education, which is the core owners, teachers, students and school managers from elementary schools to higher education institutions. As a result, it is necessary to tackle such type of problem in order to improve the quality of education. Hence, an action research was undertaken in 2019 in first year students of management department Human Resource Management course so as to reduce exam cheating problems by identifying the different exam cheating methods, contributing factors for cheating and developing a strategy how to minimize such types of malpractice. The study was conducted by employing purposive sampling technique with well-prepared lakert scale and semi-structured questionnaires for students and the department staff instructors as well. Both primary & secondary data were incorporated. For this study 60 first year management students and 8 instructors were considered as the key respondents. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics after properly encoded by SPSS software. Regarding to the exam cheating prevalence, 73.3% of respondents were confessed that cheating practice was common in first year management students. The major contributing factors that provoked students’ academics dishonest were hard exam, fear of failure, time pressure, competition with others, peer pressure, poor understanding of the exam question, demanding high score, high grade and over crowed exam room. Moreover, the study also identified the most frequently cheating strategies of written exam were sheet cribs, writing on their body, looking at another answer sheet, signals/gesture, using unauthorized materials, whisper/undertone and medical reason. In order to reduce exam cheating practice close supervision during the exam process, effective class room management, punishment, ensure effective teaching and learning process, used coded exam type, advise the students properly to use their time effectively, provide clear examination rule and enable them to prepared for exam well were a paramount strategies that will bring an improvement for quality education and cheating reduction..},
 year = {2020}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Possible Reduction Mechanisms of Exam Cheating Practices for First Year Management Regular Students in Human Resource Management Course
AU  - Wubalem Gobie
AU  - Gizachew Wesene
AU  - Mezgebu Aynalem
AU  - Zemenu Amare
AU  - Alemneh Melaku
Y1  - 2020/03/03
PY  - 2020
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajeit.20200401.13
DO  - 10.11648/j.ajeit.20200401.13
T2  - American Journal of Education and Information Technology
JF  - American Journal of Education and Information Technology
JO  - American Journal of Education and Information Technology
SP  - 19
EP  - 27
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2994-712X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajeit.20200401.13
AB  - Exam cheating practice is one of the most bottlenecks in Ethiopian education system in general and Debre Markos University Burie Campus in particular. Complaints on devastating increase of exam cheating practice has been heard from different corners in the country including the apex of Ministry of Education, which is the core owners, teachers, students and school managers from elementary schools to higher education institutions. As a result, it is necessary to tackle such type of problem in order to improve the quality of education. Hence, an action research was undertaken in 2019 in first year students of management department Human Resource Management course so as to reduce exam cheating problems by identifying the different exam cheating methods, contributing factors for cheating and developing a strategy how to minimize such types of malpractice. The study was conducted by employing purposive sampling technique with well-prepared lakert scale and semi-structured questionnaires for students and the department staff instructors as well. Both primary & secondary data were incorporated. For this study 60 first year management students and 8 instructors were considered as the key respondents. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics after properly encoded by SPSS software. Regarding to the exam cheating prevalence, 73.3% of respondents were confessed that cheating practice was common in first year management students. The major contributing factors that provoked students’ academics dishonest were hard exam, fear of failure, time pressure, competition with others, peer pressure, poor understanding of the exam question, demanding high score, high grade and over crowed exam room. Moreover, the study also identified the most frequently cheating strategies of written exam were sheet cribs, writing on their body, looking at another answer sheet, signals/gesture, using unauthorized materials, whisper/undertone and medical reason. In order to reduce exam cheating practice close supervision during the exam process, effective class room management, punishment, ensure effective teaching and learning process, used coded exam type, advise the students properly to use their time effectively, provide clear examination rule and enable them to prepared for exam well were a paramount strategies that will bring an improvement for quality education and cheating reduction..
VL  - 4
IS  - 1
ER  -

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