Trent Consultants News Epidemic Of Student Cheating Can Be Cured

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} "We know when kids cheat, why kidscheat and how kids cheat," said Eric Anderman, a recognized expert onstudent cheating and professor of educational policy and leadership at OhioState University. "We know how to motivate kids sothat they are much less likely to cheat. The only problem is that what we knowabout reducing cheating often isn't put into practice in schools,"Anderman said. Anderman discussed the latest researchon cheating in schools and how to eliminate it during his presidential addressAugust 8 at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association inToronto. Anderman is ending his term aspresident of APA's Division of Educational Psychology. There's no doubt that cheating amongstudents is widespread and has been growing. In some studies, up to 80 percentof high-achieving high school students and 75 percent of college students admitto cheating, a percentage that has been rising the past 50 years. In one study, Anderman and hiscolleagues found that 21 percent of students who say that cheating is"unacceptable" still engage in cheating behaviors. "What we know for sure is thatstudents cheat a lot," Anderman said. "Parents don't think their kidswill do it, but many do. I've seen that in my research, and also in the time Ispent as a teacher." Studies have shown that boys cheat morethan girls. Students with high-driving "Type-A" personalities aremore likely to cheat. And there is little relationship between cheating andmoral development, research shows. New research by Anderman and hiscolleagues finds that students with impulsive tendencies are more likely cheat. In two studies from 2004, Anderman andhis colleagues found that cheating also tends to increase when students makethe transition from elementary school to middle school, and then again frommiddle school to high school. That's not surprising, he said. "During those transitions,teachers start changing how they talk to students. While earlier in school,teachers emphasize how learning is fun, as students get older teachers beginsaying things like 'Now it's serious. Your grades matter.' That's directlyrelated to cheating," Anderman said. Anderman said how teachers present the goalsof learning in class is the key to reducing cheating. But this is the knowledgethat is rarely put into practice in classrooms. Research has consistently shown thatcheating is more likely to occur in classrooms that focus on performance –getting the best possible grades, doing the best on tests. Cheating is less likely to occur whenthe goal for students is "personal mastery" of the material – inother words, learning and understanding what is being taught. Federal mandates under "No ChildLeft Behind," with its emphasis on test scores, send exactly the wrongmessage to students and teachers and actually encourage cheating, Andermansaid. "These standardized tests aren'tgoing to go away, but we don't have to talk about them in the classroom as theultimate outcome and goal," he said. "This produces anxiety and stressin both teachers and students, and that's what leads to cheating." Ironically, students may actually dobetter if the focus in classrooms was on personal mastery and not on the tests.Students will learn better, remember the material longer, cheat less, and stilldo just as well, if not better, when they do standardized testing, according toAnderman. Schools should work to help teacherschange the goals in classrooms from test-taking to mastering the materials, andhelp them communicate effectively to their students. "It doesn't help when teachersalways talk about 'the test' and reminding students that something 'will be onthe test.' The goal should be learning, and not test-taking," Andermansaid. "You can change the goal structurein classrooms. If you change that, you will likely reduce cheating." Adaptedfrom materials provided by Ohio State University , via EurekAlert! , a service of AAAS .     TrentConsultants Psychology Clinic. Dedicated to the study, diagnosis, and treatmentof mental, emotional and behavioral disorders. Trent Consultants has a varietyof programs for parents who want to give their children a headstart in life. TrentConsultants website www.trentconsultants.org Email:childcare@trentconsultants.org

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