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UCLA assistant professor Rick Grannis’ research suggests cheating, plagiarism is an epidemic

By Kylie Reynolds

April 20, 2011 2:01 a.m.

Cheating is a contagion ““ a disease that spreads from person to person.

Or so says Rick Grannis, a UCLA assistant professor of sociology.
In his class on the topic, Grannis teaches that academic cheating is actually a sociological phenomenon rather than an individual problem.

Students commonly lead peers to cheat, which transmits the problem among student populations, Grannis said.

Over three years, Grannis has surveyed over 2,000 UCLA students. Based on this data, he said UCLA students cheat slightly less than the national average: 55 to 65 percent versus 75 percent nationally.

Witnessing a fellow student cheat is one way it spreads between students, as students come to view the practice as normal.

Students also encourage each other to cheat as a helpful antidote to the stresses of schoolwork and life, Grannis said.

“My favorite example was a student who said he got his girlfriend pregnant, work was hard, his mom was sick, and an older friend of his said “˜Why are you working so hard? Just get it over with, cheat,'” he said. “(His friend) was not trying to be anti-establishment. He was just saying, “˜Life is hard. You are a good person, go ahead and do this.'”

Students may promote cheating to others to justify their own actions.
“It all comes down to the individual and what they are out to gain,” said Jonathon De La Cruz, a third-year history student.

De La Cruz, a full-time student who also runs his own business, said it has occurred to him that cheating would make his life easier. In the end, however, he said his ethics have stopped him.

The largest influence on students to cheat comes from their roommates, even though roommates are often chosen or paired randomly, as in the case of responding to an ad or living in the dorms, Grannis said.

Significant others are least likely to encourage cheating. In fact, they often don’t know if a partner cheats.

Cheating occurs similarly across all groups, including race and gender, Grannis said.

Although studies from 20 years ago reported that women cheated less than men, he said surveys now show there is nearly no difference in the frequency of cheating between genders.

Graduate students are also as likely to cheat as undergraduate students.

Considering the prevalence of cheating across student populations, Grannis said UCLA faculty do not spend enough time thinking about the problem and how to stop it.

“I think most faculty do not take it nearly as seriously as they could,” he said. “I am terribly concerned about (cheating in my own class).”

Yet Jean Turner, a UCLA professor of astronomy, said she feels she and her colleagues are extremely concerned about cheating. She said she has gone to great lengths, including giving different test forms and dividing large classes into multiple rooms, to stop it from occurring.

“I don’t think cheating in the classroom happens too often because professors take a lot of measures to prevent it,” said Mayra Gutierrez, a second-year political science student.

While honor codes are often used by universities to deter cheating, Grannis said studies report they only work when they can convince students that enough of their peers believe in the code.

Grannis said he hopes his research can look at ways to effectively diminish the problem.

“It can’t just be a piece of paper,” he said. “You need to do it in a way that students believe their peers meant it.”

Getting students to talk about cheating within his class is another way Grannis hopes to use his research to prevent it.

“From hearing students talk about (cheating), it is dealt with as if you are a bad or defective person,” he said. “If (people) talk openly about the hurt and the responsibility and injury (they) are causing others … they cheat less. I don’t think most students have sat down and just talked about it.”

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