Exam cheating among Cambodian students: when, how, and why it happens

Abstract

This study examines Cambodian students’ exam cheating practices throughout their schooling. Based on a thorough analysis of interviews with 19 university students, the study found that, although cheating was more prevalent at the secondary level, individual students’ cheating experiences varied in frequency and timing (i.e. when they started, stopped, increased, or decreased such practices). Curricula, parents’ attitudes, peer behaviour, institutional policies, and–most significantly–relationships with teachers were identified as influencing factors for students’ cheating practices. These findings largely echo academic dishonesty literature, but they also indicate the context-specific features of these factors.