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Like to cheat? Me too

By Maurice Cacho

Ryerson’s Academic Integrity intiative and use of Turnitin.com is a result of a survey’s scary findings on cheating in high schools and universities.

The recently released results of a study completed in 2002 show first-year students are the worst offenders. Seventy-three per cent admit to cheating on written work, up from the 53 percent average. More than half of the 15,000 students surveyed cheated on exams in high school and 18 per cent did the same in university.

Diane Schulman, Ryerson’s director of the provost’s office, says the school participated in the major study. She hopes Ryerson’s anti-cheating projects encourage students to learn, rather than take the easy way out.

But it’s not just the students’ fault. The study says one out of two professors ignore suspected cases of cheating, leaving students with warnings.

Instructors have also been given extra support when it comes to dealing with cases of academic integrity.

The study was conducted by the University of Guelph and Rutgers University and surveyed students at high schools and universities across Canada.

The Toronto Star reported the results last week. The full study is set to publish in the Canadian Journal for Higher Education this fall.


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