A recent story by the Vancouver Sun said that on-line based acts 0f academic dishonesty have tripled in the past five years at Canadian universities. Using data from the University of Waterloo, plagiarism was highlighted as the most common form of cheating. The revelation is certainly a shock, but it shouldn’t be that much of a surprise.
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The real question is whether or not cheating on a whole has increased, or if only the form has changed. I have not come across any study that has authoritatively dived into this. If you have, please let us at Digital Tattoo know.
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I often wonder about such studies as the one referenced in the article and the impact it has on public perceptions of new technologies in the classroom. Yes, the internet makes it easier to cheat by the simple fact that a person can copy and paste entire works into a Word document and call it heir own. But this also has a flip side – it is easier to get caught. A suspecting instructor only needs to re-copy and paste a section of the suspicious material into the google window, and boom, the perpatrator is busted.
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The bottom line is don’t cheat.
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