Consequences of college student exam cheating

Cheating

Students cheat for a number of different but related reasons: to finish a course quickly and with as little effort as possible; to ease the burden of a heavy work load; or to earn a grade beyond what the student could achieve on his or her own. Types of cheating depend on the nature of the course. A student might cheat on a formal exam by copying from other students in class, stealing the exam content from the previous semester, preparing a cheat sheet, or having someone else take the exam as a proxy. For in-class assignments or essays, students might plagiarize material directly, purchase material online and pass that off as his or her own, or have a friend or relative complete the course material. Each of these types of cheating affects the student, the educators, and the culture as a whole. The effects of cheating can be classified as psychological, practical, moral/ethical, and social.

The psychological effects of cheating are broad, and can be far-reaching. Psychologically, the student may internalize guilt and shame especially if ethics are important to that individual. Those psychological consequences might not even be apparent at first, and could manifest as depression or anxiety later. Another way that cheating personally affects the student is by reducing that individual's already low sense of self-esteem. Cheating to succeed means that the student did not achieve goals organically, with personal effort. Thus deep down the student may feel terribly inadequate and end up being an underachiever.

Moreover, the student who cheats also impacts the psychological health of the teacher because cheating violates the trust implicit between educator and student. In this sense, students who cheat on exams are not much different than spouses who cheat in extramarital affairs. Teachers dedicate their lives to education, and feel violated when students cheat in their classes. The student's cheating can be viewed as a direct moral affront to the teacher, and to the education system in general.

Other effects of cheating are related to the student's academic achievement. Even if the student is not caught cheating, the consequences of the action can be serious. For example, a student who cheats on a critical exam has not learned the material well enough to succeed in successive courses that build upon that material. That might lead to a viscous cycle of cheating in future classes. The student falls behind, and starts to depend on cheating as a means to succeed. The student who cheats because of a heavy work load also fails to learn how to manage time wisely. Instead of reducing course load, the student cheats. This means that the individual never learns how to set time management boundaries.

In severe cases, cheating can impact a student's professional development and even impact the lives of others. For example, student who cheats on a first aid exam and then performs a life-saving technique jeopardizes the other person's life. A law student who cheats his or her way through school does not provide adequate representation for clients. Any time a student gets away with cheating in class, a bad precedence has been set. That student learns that cheating leads to success, and may cheat in their business transactions and even in their romantic relationships. Cheating can essentially become a way of life.

If the student is caught cheating in school, the practical effects are more direct. First, the student violates the teacher's trust. That teacher is unlikely to spend time with that student and offer personalized support. The student might stop showing up for class at all. Some students cheat defiantly, pointing out that a heavy work load "made them do it." Second, the student might fail that particular course. Teachers have every right to flunk students who cheat. That means not only did the student waste time but also tuition money. Third, the student might get kicked out of school. This most serious consequence could even prevent that individual from being accepted to another university. Being expelled can spell disaster for academic and professional success. The consequences of cheating are therefore, long-term.

Another long-term effect of cheating is how it impacts the culture. The more cheating takes place, the less likely teachers are to trust their students. This can lead to an overall degradation of academic quality. Teachers who are jaded because of the proliferation of cheating might give up trying to reach out to their students. The quality of education suffers as innocent students are not trusted either. A culture of cheating creates a culture of mistrust.