Communications of the ACM
College Students Demonstrate Integrity in Learning and Ignore Cheating Opportunities
College students demonstrate integrity in online learning, a study by researchers at the University of California, Riverside shows.
Credit: UCR Today
A University of California, Riverside (UC Riverside) study found most college students make a legitimate attempt to answer questions in homework assignments, even when a shortcut is available to them.
"With the right interactive material, we see that many students are interested in truly learning, rather than simply doing whatever it takes to get their grade," says UC Riverside researcher Alex Edgcomb.
The study also confirms digital textbooks can aid learning.
The study analyzed 550 students enrolled in a fall 2014 Introduction to Programming course at four different institutions, including a four-year public research university, a four-year public teaching college, and two community colleges. Students completed short-answer homework questions using interactive digital textbooks that offer a "Check" button to submit an answer, and a "Show Answer" button to reveal the correct response without any grade penalty. The researchers found 84% of students responded on their own without, or before, revealing the correct answer. Only 1% "cheated the system" by attempting less than 20% of questions.
"We created the material under the assumption that, fundamentally, students want to learn," says UC Riverside professor Frank Vahid. "We believed they would challenge themselves to answer questions if those questions really help them learn. We were delighted that the study confirmed our assumption."
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