Common Cheating Behaviour Among Nigerian University Students: A Case Study of University of Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria

Abstract

The present study investigates the frequency of occurrences of some twenty one cheating behaviours among Nigerian University students and the reasons offered by them for engaging in these untowards behaviours. Participants are one hundred and fifty undergraduates in 200 and 300 levels of the Social and Management Science Faculty of a Nigerian University. Cheating Behaviour Questionnaire (Newstead et al, 1996) an instrument which contained 21 cheating behaviours and 21 reasons for engaging or not engaging in each of the behaviours was administered. Data analysis include frequency counts, ranks and chi-square, data revealed that the four cheating behaviours, which fell within collaborative cheating, were claimed to be the most frequent. They are: (1) premeditated collusion between two or more students to communicate answers to each other during examinations (2) doing another students' coursework for them (3) allowing own coursework to be copied by another student and (4) agreement to mark each others work more generously than is merited. Analysis of data on reasons for engaging in these behaviours also revealed that the most frequently offered reason was "to help a friend", this suggests an altruistic reason. The present findings were compared with Newstead's et al (1996) findings with a British sample. Implication of findings of the present study vis-a-vis controlling the incidence of academic cheating borders on the need to re-orient the ethical value of students from ethic of care to ethic of justice.