Online Learning: A New Age In Academic Dishonesty

Abstract:

The challenges that came with the COVID-19 online learning period were quite daunting, especially regarding college students. Adapting to online learning was difficult and students possibly took to academic dishonesty to get by for several reasons, including a lack of motivation or the improvement of their GPA. It was hypothesized that students felt less motivated to complete their academic work during the online learning period and that the online learning period had resulted in an increase in the prevalence and severity of academic dishonesty. Our subjects were undergraduate college students of at least 18 years of age. Participants were asked to complete a survey with questions pertaining to their engagement in academic dishonesty and what factors contributed to this engagement. Our results showed that there was a significant relationship between academic dishonesty in online courses and a lack of motivation. These results imply that college students are in fact engaging in academic dishonesty more frequently in their online courses when compared to in-person courses. Our research also indicates that the increase in academic dishonesty was largely due to a decline in motivation among university students. The results of this study can be used to help professors understand the frequency and severity of academic dishonesty in online courses, and to help professors to design their exams and assignments to prevent the occurrence of academic dishonesty.