Avoidance of Academic Dishonesty in Selected Secondary Schools of Jimma Towne

Abstract

Academic dishonesty, academic misconduct or academic fraud is any type of cheating that occurs in relation to formal academic exercises. This study primarily focused on cheating of examination in the classrooms through application of different techniques, mostly disguised ones. Qualitative research activity, employing interview and classroom observations as its basic tools of data gatherings were used on sources of the study. Two secondary schools (Jiren and Jimma Secondary schools) were study sites involved in the exploit where purposefully selected students of grade nine and ten with their classroom teachers chosen as resourceful informants. Finding of this study clearly indicated that cheating is common problem of all schools where it became more comprehensive and intricate. Most of the respondents clearly indicated that side copying of examination results, tossing of written answers of the exam, collaboration and mischief with invigilators, enforcing invigilators to cooperate, exchanging of answer sheets willingly or forcefully from active ones, mobile transfer or text and use of sitting arrangements for cheating as major ones. It was underlined that cheating was found as major challenge of the town and the country which is now uncontrollable at secondary school level. Consequently, cheating is envisaged as major mechanism of receiving excellent grade points without any effort and difficulty. Collaborative effort of education offices, judiciary, schools and parents to minimize or curb the problem is recommended where all stakeholders of the government and public affairs work together by advising, guiding and teaching the new generation about badness of cheating, its ethical and moral failure to pass on development of self confidence and self assertions. Index Terms- Academic dishonesty, cheating, examination, practices, outcome I. INTRODUCTION ackground: Cheating in high schools is growing globally in an alarming and at an exponential rate. There is also a great difference in students' perceptions and the realty of their own ethical behavior which may nowadays highly obscured within their personality development. In USA, a survey was done in 2008 on 30,000 students in high school which was carried out by the Josephson Institute for Youth Ethics, where 62 percent of students polled said that they "copied another's homework two or more times in the past years” (EAY, 2008). Yet, on the same survey, 92 percent said they were "satisfied with their personal ethics and character" (Ibid). Hence, there is generally a discrepancy between actual behavior and self-image of secondary school students' character that is internalized and in use through education system starting from K-1 level. Consequently, different studies done in various countries revealed that there are a number of techniques, mechanisms and ways of cheating examinations to secure pass marks, better grade points or pass national examinations. A study done in the US indicated that online services that offer to prepare any kind of homework of high school and college level and take online tests for students were cheated (Fall, 2009). While administrators are often aware of such websites, they have been unsuccessful in curbing cheating in homework and non-proctored online tests, resorting to a recommendation by the Ohio Mathematics Association to derive at least 80% of the grade of online classes from proctored tests (Fall, 2009). While research on academic dishonesty in other countries is less extensive, anecdotal evidence suggests cheating could be even more common in all the countries of the globe. Hence, Ethiopia is one of the countries under jeopardy of examination cheating at all levels of education system where online transfer through mobile texts, bribery of the school administration and/or education offices to secure examinations and direct copy employing different cheating techniques in a classroom (disguised or forceful) are the common ones with not worth mentioning research undertakings on the issue.