Rationalizing Academic Dishonesty and Its Effect on Nursing

The University of Southern Mississippi The Aquila Digital Community Honors Theses Honors College 5-2021 Rationalizing Academic Dishonesty and Its Effect on Nursing Leah Salisbury Follow this and additional works at: https://aquila.usm.edu/honors_theses Part of the Nursing Commons Rationalizing Academic Dishonesty and Its Effect on Nursing by Leah Salisbury A Thesis Submitted to the Honors College of The University of Southern Mississippi in Partial Fulfillment of Honors Requirements May 2021 ii Approved by: Dr Elizabeth Tinnon, Ph.D., Thesis Advisor, School of Professional Nursing PracticeClick or tap here to enter text., Choose an item., Thesis CoAdvisor, School of Choose an item Dr Elizabeth Tinnon, Ph.D., Director, School of Professional Nursing Practice Ellen Weinauer, Ph.D., Dean Honors College iii ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of cheating in a bachelor’s degree nursing program and to determine if social normalization contributed to the increase Three major sources for the increase in cheating were identified, and these are technological advances, lack of a specific cheating definition, and cultural socialization towards academic dishonesty (Wideman, 2011; DuPree and Sattler, 2010; Jones, 2011; Burrus, McGoldrick and Schuhmann, 2007) Studies showed a positive correlation between engagement in academic dishonesty and engagement in dishonest behaviors in nursing practice, which is the biggest concern for nursing programs (Krueger, 2014; Johnstone, 2016; McCrink, 2010) The survey was emailed to 401 students across various semesters in the nursing program, and 99 students participated in the survey The survey was two parts with the first part being a 32 item Attitudes Towards Cheating Likert scale questionnaire and the second part being two qualitative questions asking about experience with cheating and tolerance of their peers cheating Overall, the students showed lower rates of cheating in nursing school compared to other majors, and the nursing students held a mildly intolerable attitude towards cheating However, most students were passive or tolerant of other students cheating, as the majority felt the maintenance of academic integrity regarding other students was not their responsibility Continuing research is needed, as dishonest acts in school translate to poor integrity in nursing practice The largest limitation to the study is that the prevalence rates of cheating are self-reported, thus lowering the accuracy of the study since there is negativity surrounding cheating iv Keywords: cheating, academic dishonesty, survey v DEDICATION To my beautiful grandma, Sue White, I think often of your past dreams and plans of becoming a nurse, and I’m grateful for the opportunity that you never received You taught me the importance of fearing God, putting family first, and being honest in all endeavors I appreciate your unwavering love and support All my love, Leah Salisbury vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my thesis advisor, Dr Elizabeth Tinnon, for her mentorship throughout the thesis process As this was my first time conducting research, I could not have finished this project without her advice and encouragement I would also like to thank the University of Southern Mississippi Honors College for allowing me the opportunity to conduct research and providing me with instructors and guidance through the process Lastly, I would like to thank my parents, John and Tammy Salisbury, for their constant support vii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES x INTRODUCTION BACKGROUND General Prevalence of Academic Dishonesty Background Defining Academic Dishonesty and Student Perspectives Motives for Participation Use of Rationalizations Future of Nursing Practice and Patient Care 11 METHODOLOGY 14 Design 14 Participants 14 Informed consent 14 Questionnaire 15 Procedure 16 RESULTS 18 Demographics 18 Attitudes Towards Cheating Survey Results 19 Written Responses 23 DISCUSSION 28 viii Discussion 28 Limitations 32 Future Research 33 Participant Consent Form 35 IRB Approval Letter 37 Participant Recruitment Email 38 Demographic Questionnaire 40 Attitudes Towards Cheating Questionnaire 41 Qualitative Survey 44 Attitudes Towards Cheating Questionnaire permission 45 REFERENCES 51 ix The survey is voluntary and anonymous, and neither I nor anyone else involved in the research will be able to link personal identifiers to your survey answers The study has been approved by USM’s IRB (IRB-20-345) If you choose to complete the survey, you will be entered to win a $25 Amazon gift card The winner will be contacted by email in December 2020 Thank you for considering supporting my research and the completion of my Honors Thesis Please feel free to contact me by my email (leah.salisbury@usm.edu) with any questions or concerns regarding the survey Best, Leah Salisbury 39 DEMOGRAPHIC QUESTIONNAIRE Gender • • Male Female Race • • • • • • White Black or African American American Indian or Alaskan Native Asian Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander Other Age (type the number only) 40 ATTITUDES TOWARDS CHEATING QUESTIONNAIRE Attitudes Toward Cheating Opinion Questionnaire Rate each item below with the appropriate abbreviation: SA for strongly agree, A for agree, U for undecided (or if you not understand the statement), D for disagree, SO for strongly disagree *If during a test one student is looking at another student's answer sheet, the teacher should not point this out until after class because it might embarrass the student *If a teacher sees a student cheating, it is just the teacher's word against the student's, unless the student admits he or she was cheating Cheating on college tests is morally wrong *If during a test two students are looking at each other's answer sheet and talking, the teacher should not assume that they are cheating Some sororities and fraternities keep files of old tests to use in predicting what will be on future tests This is cheating *Only the student knows whether he or she was cheating; therefore, no decision should be made until the student is asked whether he or she cheated *If a student says that he or she did not cheat and gives some explanation for his or her behavior, only an unfair teacher would penalize the student If a term paper includes a series of exact statements from a book which is not listed as a source, the teacher must assume that the student intentionally plagiarized It is cheating to ask another student (from an earlier section) "What was on the test?" 10 If a student is offered a copy of a stolen test, the offer should be refused 41 II *If a student is caught cheating, that student should plead innocent and force the school to prove the accusation 12 When a student who denies cheating is found guilty, the student should receive additional punishment for lying 13 *If a student accused of cheating admits having cheated, the punishment should be reduced to reward honesty 14 A student who hands in a purchased term paper should be expelled from school 15 *If a teacher leaves the room during a test, that teacher is in effect okaying cheating 16 *Most students who don't cheat are just afraid of getting caught 17 *All tests should be open book, because in real life we can always look in the book 18 *A student who sees another student cheating and reports it should refuse to identify the cheater 19 *If over half the class is cheating on an assignment, the others are justified in cheating also 20 Students should report by name anyone seen cheating 21 *Students are justified in cheating if the teacher's grading system is unfair 22 *Studying usually doesn't result in a better grade 23 Most students who cheat are unethical people 24 Making up an excuse in order to withdraw from a course to avoid failing is cheating 25 *Smart students make good grades without really having to study 26 *The whole purpose of going to college is to get a degree 27 Students who cheat don't learn as much as others 28 *There is really nothing wrong with cheating, other than the risk of being caught 42 29 If a student accidentally sees an answer on someone's paper, that answer should not be used 30 *Testing and grading are just a game with the students on one side and the teachers on the other 31 *College tests don't measure useful knowledge or ability 32 *Most students who are accused of cheating are innocent 33 Most college students never cheat 34 It is lying when a student who cheated denies it 43 QUALITATIVE SURVEY *In the following two questions, your answers will be anonymous If you choose to not answer the questions, you may simply write “skip” or “pass” in the text box provided 35 During your undergraduate collegiate career, have you personally ever participated in at least one act of academic dishonesty? This includes, but is not limited to, using unauthorized information, materials, devices, or other sources in completing course work, plagiarism, facilitating another student to cheat, reusing old coursework for another course without authorization, fabricating sources, data, or other information, or deceiving a professor for scholastic gain (Remember, your answer is anonymous, so please answer honestly) 36 Have you ever known of a peer who participated in academic dishonesty, but you did not report his/her actions to an authoritative figure? 44 ATTITUDES TOWARDS CHEATING QUESTIONNAIRE PERMISSION This Agreement between Leah Salisbury ("You") and Springer Nature ("Springer Nature") consists of your license details and the terms and conditions provided by Springer Nature and Copyright Clearance Center License Number License date Licensed Content Publisher Licensed Content Publication Licensed Content Title Licensed Content Author Licensed Content Date Type of Use Requestor type Format Portion Number of figures/tables/illustrations Will you be translating? Circulation/distribution Author of this Springer Nature content Title Institution name Expected presentation date Portions 4982860015142 Jul 07, 2020 Springer Nature Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society A scale for measuring attitude toward cheating William M Gardner et al Nov 7, 2013 Thesis/Dissertation academic/university or research institute print and electronic figures/tables/illustrations no - 29 no Rationalizaing academic dishonesty and its effects on the future of nursing University of Southern Mississippi May 2021 I would like to reuse the scale in my own research on baccalaureate level nursing students Leah Salisbury 128 N Seashore Ave Requestor Location Customer VAT ID LONG BEACH, MS 39560 United States Attn: University of Southern Mississippi Honors College UM2282234261 Total 0.00 USD Terms and Conditions Springer Nature Customer Service Centre GmbH Terms and Conditions This agreement sets out the terms and conditions of the license (the License) between you and Springer 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For Adaptations/Translations: Adapted/Translated by permission from [the Licensor]: [Journal Publisher (e.g Nature/Springer/Palgrave)] [JOURNAL NAME] [REFERENCE CITATION (Article name, Author(s) Name), [COPYRIGHT] (year of publication) Note: For any republication from the British Journal of Cancer, the following credit line style applies: Reprinted/adapted/translated by permission from [the Licensor]: on behalf of Cancer Research UK: : [Journal Publisher (e.g Nature/Springer/Palgrave)] [JOURNAL NAME] [REFERENCE CITATION (Article name, Author(s) Name), [COPYRIGHT] (year of publication) For Advance Online Publication papers: Reprinted by permission from The [the Licensor]: on behalf of Cancer Research UK: [Journal Publisher (e.g Nature/Springer/Palgrave)] [JOURNAL NAME] [REFERENCE CITATION (Article name, Author(s) Name), [COPYRIGHT] (year of publication), advance online publication, day month year (doi: 10.1038/sj.[JOURNAL ACRONYM]) For Book content: Reprinted/adapted by permission from [the Licensor]: [Book Publisher (e.g Palgrave Macmillan, Springer etc) [Book Title] by [Book author(s)] [COPYRIGHT] (year of publication) 49 50 REFERENCES Arvin, A (2009) A pilot study of nursing student’s perceptions of academic dishonesty: A generation Y perspective ABNF Journal, 20(1), 17-21 Bailey, P., (2001) Academic misconduct: responses from deans and nurse educators Journal of Nursing Education, 40(3), pp 124-131 Bates, I., Davies, J., Murphy, C., and Bone, A (2005) A multi-faculty exploration of academic dishonesty Pharmacy Education, 5(1), 69-76 Burrus, R., McGoldrick, K and Schuhmann, P (2007) Self-reports of students cheating: does a definition of cheating matter? 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Academic dishonesty in a school of nursing Canadian Journal of Higher Education 41(2), 28-43 Wright, K., Jones, S., and Adams, C (2018) Academic dishonesty: recommendations for the future of higher education Vermont Connection, 39(1), 48-54 53 ... participating in academic dishonesty The descriptive study focused on the prevalence of academic dishonesty and rationalizations of academic dishonesty in baccalaureate nursing students It questioned if... participated in academic dishonesty Two broad categories emerged from the responses: account of the student’s academic dishonesty and rationalizations of the dishonesty act The most common types of.. .Rationalizing Academic Dishonesty and Its Effect on Nursing by Leah Salisbury A Thesis Submitted to the Honors College of The University of Southern Mississippi in Partial Fulfillment of Honors