Research Paper

On
An increase in Bangladeshi university students’ cheating
tendencies in the face of the pandemic

Submitted to
Noora Shamsi Bahar (NSB)
Senior Lecturer
North South University

Submitted By
Md. Tawsif Uddin Mollah
ID: 1931513630

Course: ENG105
Section: 14
Date: May 19, 2021
Acknowledgement

At the very beginning, I would like to thank my course instructor, Noora Shamsi Bahar,

who continuously guided me throughout the semester. To be honest, I actually learned few things

in this course that will not only help me in academic purposes but also in practical life as well. I

would also like to thank my family and friends who supported me mentally in this challenging

time. Last but not the least, my heartiest gratitude to those who took out the time to participate in

my survey.
Abstract

I did this research on the increase in Bangladeshi university students’ cheating tendencies

in this time of pandemic. I expected to find form this research paper if cheating in online exams

increased or not. Also, I wanted to know the methods of cheating in online exams and how it can

be reduced. I did my research by conducting a survey and by looking through different online

articles. After finishing the research, I found that most of the participant of my survey agreed that

cheating has increased compared to offline exams. Along with that I got know that most of

students search for answers in different search engines and go through slides, books, notes etc. I

also found that to reduce this rise of cheating, faculties can distribute different sets of questions

to the students and they can strictly use plagiarism checking software. So in the end I found that

my hypothesis was proven to be correct as majority of my participants agreed with my

hypothesis.
 Table of Contents

Introduction...............................................................................................................1

Background................................................................................................................2

Research Questions...................................................................................................3

Hypothesis.................................................................................................................4

Methodology..............................................................................................................5

Data Presentation and Analysis.................................................................................6

Summary of Research Findings...............................................................................14

Recommendations...................................................................................................15

Conclusion...............................................................................................................16
Introduction

Ever since the lockdown was put into effect in Bangladesh, the whole education system

shifted from offline to online. Along with that, the whole assessment process also shifted to

online. Now, the problem with online assessment is that it is very limited. One of the major issue

is that the teachers are unable to proctor the students’ while conducting an online examination as

they would like to in an offline examination. And this has triggered a fair amount of students’.

They took the advantage of this fact and increased the amount of cheating. As there are more

advanced devices and chips easily available, students use these to gain extra advantage in their

exams. Now, not all of the students are the same but definitely it inspires one and another.

The focus of my research will be to see if the rate of cheating tendencies of the

Bangladeshi University students’ has increased or not in this period of pandemic. Although

universities came up with different ideas time to time to reduce the rate of cheating, but I wonder

if that had made an impact or not. I would also like to know what are the specific reason for this

increase in cheating tendencies, if there are any, in online-based exams. So, I hope I will be able

to find these answers through my research work.

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Background

In Bangladesh, cheating in exams have been one of the big academic issues. In the

recent years it has been rising at a large scale. Now, academic dishonesty is easier, more

wide-spread, and more problematic (Hudgens, 2016, para 4). The students now a days

don’t think about actual learning. All they care about is grades. But they cannot be

blamed alone. The society has a big role in it. Previously, knowledge was given more

value than grades. So there was no rush to get a first class grade. People back then

studied to acquire knowledge. But now the society only values grades. They don’t care

how knowledgeable a person is. Rather, he/she is judged by his/her grades. They are

valued only by their grades. They see that no matter what, in the end of the day they get

judged by their grades and not by their intelligence. So they see no other way but to cheat

in exams to get high grades.

This has gotten so worse that now student compete with each other on how they

can make innovative ideas to cheat in an exam. Their friend circle praises them for

cheating in exam more innovatively. It has become a trend to cheat in exam. Whoever is

not so skilled in cheating or doesn’t want to cheat has to face embarrassing situations

among their friend circle. They feel that they are left behind. Which also sometimes

forces them to engage in cheating.

Recently as the whole world is going through a pandemic, the education system

shifted from offline teaching to online teaching. It is also the same in Bangladesh. Now

as it is all online teaching, the assessments are also conducted online. Now, this has

opened a huge opportunity for the students who tend to cheat in exams. Because there are

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too many limitations in online assessment. So it is even harder to proctor in online exams.

So the students took the advantage of this situations and figured so many methods to

cheat in online exams. They use different tool to communicate and search answers in

different search engines and what not.

Now, seeing this most of the universities tried to use different method to reduce it.

Also the education ministry and the University Grants Commission (UGC) gave guidelines

for taking online assessments (Priyo & Hazra, 2020, para 7). The universities are following those

guidelines and trying to reduce the rate of cheating.

But in the end both the student and the teachers need to put more effort to reduce it.

Because ultimately the only thing matters is what a student has actually learned.

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Research Questions

1. Have the university students’ increased the rate of cheating in online exams compared

to offline exams?

2. What is the opinion of the students about cheating in online exams?

3. Is it easier to cheat in an online exam than in an offline exam?

4. Why do the students choose this option?

5. What are the few common cheating methods?

6. Do the students cheat individually, or do the students cheat collectively?

7. Why don’t the students study instead?

8. What are the methods to reduce this cheating in online exams?

9. Do the students fix themselves after the punishment?

10. Do the students realize it is wrong?

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Hypothesis

I expected to find from my research that most of the university students’ have

increased the rate of cheating in online exams compared to offline exams . Although most of

the students might say that it should be avoided but when they find scope they engage in it

anyway. Mostly private university students are involved in cheating as most private

universities are taking online exam. It is because cheating is easier in online than cheating

offline. They choose this option because it is easier to cheat and get good grades than to study

and work hard for the grades. There are various methods of cheating. Like: writing down the

answers somewhere else, searching the answers in google, asking a friend for answers,

looking for answers in slides/books/notes/solutions etc. Sometimes they ask someone else to

do their assignments or give online exams for them. Craving for high grades drags them down

to this stage. They procrastinate and delay their studies. So when the time for exam gets closer

they can’t complete their syllabus. So they go for cheating. This affects a student’s learning

by distracting him/her to put more effort into his/her study. Few methods that can reduce

cheating in online exams are giving each of the students a different set of questions, strictly

using plagiarism checking software such as Turnitin and making sure all the students keep

their cameras on while taking the test. Although clear warnings are given to them for any

misconduct before an exam, they just ignore it. Even if they are punished for their misdeeds,

most don’t learn from their mistake. This has become so ordinary to them that they don’t even

realize that it is a crime to cheat in exam. And even if they realize it, they get stuck in the

process.

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Methodology

For my primary research, I conducted a survey through google forms. I designed a

questionnaire to get the answers for my research questions. My target group for this survey

was the university students of Bangladesh. My target was to get 50 responses. I stopped

collecting responses when I received 60 responses. Among them were people from different

public and private universities and different age groups. I asked my friends and seniors, who

are also university students, to spread the survey link to as many people they can. The sole

purpose of doing this was to collect data from different groups of people.

As for my secondary research, I browsed the internet and collected data from different

websites and newspaper article. Some of the author were teachers who shared their practical

experience on how cheating has affected students. I also got to know how online cheating can

be reduced through my secondary research.

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Data Presentation and Analysis

The 6 most important charts that contains the data I got from my primary research are

presented and analyzed below.

Figure-1

In this chart, the question asks about if a university student thinks that cheating in online

exams have increased or not compared to offline exam. In response to that question, 75% people,

which is three quarter of my respondents agreed that cheating has increased in online exam

compared to offline exam. The remaining percentage of people, which combinedly is a quarter,

thinks otherwise. So, 11.7% people said that they had no idea about this fact. Then comes the

other 10% who choose the option that said there is no change. The rest of 3.3% people said that

rather cheating has decreased compared to cheating in offline exams. So from the above chart, it

is clear that majority of my survey participants agreed that compared to offline exams, cheating

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rate has increased in online exams. Now, the reasons I think why my survey participants thought

this way are that either they had been directly or indirectly involved in cheating in online exams

or they have closely experienced that people around them have been misusing the liberty they are

getting in online exams.

Figure-2

In this chart, the question was, is it easier to cheat in an online exam than to cheat in an

offline exam? Here, the red area represents the 51.7% people who chose the option that it is

easier to cheat in online exam but they need to stay aware. The yellow area represents the 30%

people, who think that they can cheat anytime in an online exam. After them, are the 10% people

who said that they find it difficult to cheat in an online exam. And lastly the lowest percent of

people that is 8.3% said that they cannot cheat at all in an online exam. So we can see that little

over half of my respondents said they need to stay aware while cheating and the nearly a third of

my survey respondents said they can cheat anytime. Now, both of these options agree with the

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statement. So, if we combine these two option we get 81.7% which is a staggering majority of

my survey participants. As the majority agrees with the statement, so it confirms my hypothesis.

Figure-3

This chart contains another important question which asks about the most common

method of cheating in an online exam. Over half of my respondents that is 55% said that the

most common method of cheating is through using different search engines. Like using google to

find answers of a particular questions. The second highest option with 21.7% response agrees

that looking for answers in slides, books, notes or solutions is the most common method of

cheating. Then comes the 8.3% people who thinks the most common method of cheating is by

using social media. Ghostwriting and making a phone call to someone is level with 3.3% each.

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As there was scope for the participants to share their own thoughts, I received 5 other opinions.

Where 3 of the opinions were similar. The options were All of them, if on a generic platform,

everything mentioned above and All of the above. In total 5.1% people gave these responses.

Now, the other two options shared 1.7% each. The options are I don't know, I can't cheat at all in

online exam and I cannot multitask (cheat and give exam at the same time). If the highest two

options are combined, then 76.7% agrees my hypothesis which is the majority.

Figure-4
Here, the question asks about the best method to reduce cheating in online exam. We can

see that the largest part is the yellow one which has 36.7% responses. This option says that by

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giving each of the students’ different set of questions can reduce cheating in online exam. The

second highest option is the red part that got 23.3% response. It said that by strictly using

plagiarism checking software like turnitin, cheating in online exams can be reduced. In third with

18.3% is the option that said that by making sure all the students keep their cameras on while

giving the exam can reduce the cheating in online exam. Another 15% said that by reducing the

duration of the exam can be the most beneficial to reduce cheating in online exams. Just like the

previous chart, the participants also had the option to share their own thoughts. There were 4

participants who shared their opinion. Each of those options shared 1.7% each. Three of the

options are: you can't reduce it, use anti cheating platforms, I think all of them. I thought that the

remaining option that a participant shared was unique. The participant asked to make open book

system so that everyone can search or ask people or study for the problem but don’t have the

exact answer. Also if they have less amount of time they will try to think and study before the

exam. Also making different sets of questions will reduce more cheating. So the combination of

the highest two options confirms my hypothesis.

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 Figure-5

In this chart, the respondents were asked about their thoughts on cheating in an online

exam. It can be seen that majority of the respondents which is 61.7% said that cheating in an

online exam should be avoided as it ultimately ruins the purpose of learning. The two options; It

should be done even more because it is an easier way to get good grades and It is okay to do it

once in a while are 13.3%. Then comes the option with 8.3% that says it should be strictly

stopped as it is wrong to do so. The remaining two option got 1.7% response. These options were

personal opinion of my respondents. One option that I felt is a very honest statement is that if

most of the people are cheating, why you should not? People in class are getting good grades by

cheating and you are the only one who's getting bad grades while showing honesty? It also

indicates why student opt for cheating in online exams even more. Another option stated that It

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should be avoided but still every student doesn't have that ability to learn at online so they decide

to cheat.

Figure-6

And in this final chart the question to the participants was do the students realize that

cheating in an online exam is wrong? Nearly half of my respondents that is 48.3% said that

students realize that it is wrong but they still do it anyway. Then comes the 21.7% people who

thinks that even if the students realize that it is wrong, they often cannot get themselves out of

that process. Because it becomes a habit for them to cheat in exams. So when they try to give an

exam fairly they can’t remember the previous lessons and ends up being dependent on someone.

My next 18.3% respondent said that most of the students do not consider it as a misdeed. As it

has increased so much, they think that it is their right to gain unfair means in an online exam.

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And lastly, there are 11.7% people who think that handful the students realize that it is wrong

and they change themselves. Although it is very rare. I think the reason why most participants

thought that even if students realize it but then again dose it anyway is because the loose their

interest in their studies and cheating becomes their habit. So they just do it anyway.

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Summary of Research Findings

After I finished my primary research I found that my hypothesis was proven to be correct.

I found that most of the participants thought that cheating in online exams have increased. Most

of the participants agreed with my hypothesis. Also 81.7% of the participants that it is easier to

cheat in an online exam than to cheat in an offline exam. I also got to know that my assumptions

were correct as my participants said that using search engines and copying from note, slides or

solutions are the common methods of cheating. Also I expected that by strictly using plagiarism

checking software and giving the students different set of questions can reduce cheating.

Majority of my participants also thought that these are the most effective methods to reduce

cheating.

After finishing my secondary research, I got to know that it is partially in sync with my

primary research. I found through my secondary research that there are other unique methods of

cheating besides searching the answers in google or looking for answers in

slides/books/notes/solutions. That is students use calculators that can store formulas and other

data so that they can get higher marks in their exam (Gill, 2021, para 6). Through my secondary

research I got an overall knowledge about the process.

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Recommendations

Universities can provide faculty members IRIS. “IRIS is the complete remote

proctoring solution that is secure, scalable, cost-effective and customizable to suit clients’

needs.” (Gill, 2021, para 16).

Also faculties can build a friendly relation with the students. By having social

conversations, students might be less inclined to cheat for fear of disappointing their

instructor, with whom they have established a friendly relationship (Kelly, 2014, para 6).

Also a faculty can prevent the students from backtracking. It limits the student to

answer one question at a time and the answer provided will be counted as the final answer

(Budhai, 2020, para 8). It will limit the students to search the answers for different questions

at a time.

Hopefully, if applied, these methods will contribute big time to reduce this foul

practice. But both the student and teacher need to work together to overcome this problem.

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Conclusion

In conclusion, it can be said that, in this pandemic, the cheating tendencies of the

university students have increased. Through this research I was able to know what people

think about this topic. Also I came to know that there are various techniques that students use

to cheat in exam. In contrast to that, I found some effective method to reduce this rate of

cheating in online exams. There will always be barriers but it should never be the reason to

stop promoting fairness in exams. Also, through this research I learned about the academic

integrity. This is a matter that is not usually discussed on classes or anywhere. But what it

does is it builds a good relationship between the students and the teachers. In the end, I

would like to say that it has helped me gain a new perspective towards being fair in the

exams.

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References

Budhai, S. S. (2020, May 11). Fourteen simple strategies to reduce cheating on online

examinations. Faculty Focus. https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/educational-

assessment/fourteen-simple-strategies-to-reduce-cheating-on-online-examinations/

Gill, C. (2021, May 05). 10 unique ways students cheat in online exams. IRIS Invigilation.

https://www.irisinvigilation.com/10-unique-ways-students-cheat-in-online-exams/

Hudgens, L. H. (2016, January 23). Why cheating hurts students now and in their future. Grown

and Flown. https://grownandflown.com/cheating-hurts-students-now-and-future/

Kelly, R. (2014, August 8). Promoting academic integrity in the online classroom. Faculty

Focus. https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/online-education/online-assessment-

grading-and-feedback/promoting-academic-integrity-online-classroom/

Priyo, A. K. K., & Hazra, U. (2020, May 7). What students think about online class and

assessment in private universities. The Daily Star. Retrieved April 25, 2021, from

https://www.thedailystar.net/opinion/news/what-students-think-about-online-class-and-

assessment-private-universities-1900060

Word count: 3376

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APPENDIX
A. Original questionnaire

Questionnaire on University Students’ Cheating Tendencies

Instruction: Tick the suitable option. You can pick only one option per question.

Demographic Information
Age:
 16-19
 20-23
 24-27
 28 and above.
Gender:
 Male.
 Female.
 Other.

Questions
1. What do you think about cheating in online exam?

 It should be done even more because it is an easier way to get good grades.
 It is okay to do it once in a while as long as you maintain your study.
 It should be avoided as it ultimately ruins the purpose of learning.
 It should be strictly stopped as it is wrong to do so.

2. Is it easier to cheat in an online exam than in an offline exam?

 Yes, I can cheat anytime I want.

 Yes, but I need to stay aware.
 No, it is hard to cheat in an online exam.
 No, I cannot cheat at all in an online exam.

3. what is the most common method of cheating in an online exam?

 Through using search engines (like Google).

 Through social media.
 To make a phone call to someone.
 Someone giving the exam for them.
 Asking someone nearby.
  Looking for answers in slides/books/notes/solutions.

4. Why don’t the students’ study instead?

 Cheating becomes a habit.

 It is easier to get good grades by cheating than to get by studying.
 They do not understand their lesson properly.
 They waste their time of study by procrastinating.

5. How does cheating affect a student's learning?

 It does not affect a student's learning.

 It distracts a student from putting more effort into studying.
 It helps a student to concentrate more on his/her study.
 It kills his/her will to study at all.
 It damages the creativity of his/her thinking.

6. Out of 5 exams, how many times do you tend to cheat in an online exam?

 5 out of 5 exam (all the time)

 4 out of 5 exam (frequently)
 3 out of 5 exam (often)
 2 out of 5 exam (sometimes)
 1 out of 5 exam (rarely)
 0 out of 5 exam (never)

7. Have you ever been caught cheating?

 Yes, I have and I learned from my mistakes.

 Yes, but I am still doing it.
 No, I have not yet been caught and still doing it.
 No, I have never cheated.

8. Do you think university students’ have increased the rate of cheating in online exams
compared to offline exams?

 Yes, it has increased compared to offline exams.

 No, it has deceased compared to offline exams.
 There is no change.
 No idea.

9. What is the best method to reduce this cheating in online exams, according to you?

 Making sure all the students keep their cameras on while taking the test.
 Strictly using anti-plagiarism software.
  Giving each of the students a different set of questions.
 Reduce the test time.

10. Do the students realize it is wrong?

 Yes, but they do it anyway.

 They realize this and change themselves.
 They do not consider it as a misdeed.
 Even if they realize, they get stuck in the process.
B. Original annotated bibliography

1.

Budhai, S. S. (2020, May 11). Fourteen simple strategies to reduce cheating on online

examinations. Faculty Focus. https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/educational-

assessment/fourteen-simple-strategies-to-reduce-cheating-on-online-examinations/

This article suggests different ways to limit the cheating in an online exam. It briefly explains

each of the fourteen methods of reducing these misdoings.

2.

Hudgens, L. H. (2016, January 23). Why cheating hurts students now and in their future. Grown

and Flown. https://grownandflown.com/cheating-hurts-students-now-and-future/

This article describes about how cheating in exams can harm students. It mentions how cheating

in the exam can affect a student socially and mentally, now and in the future.

3.

Kelly, R. (2014, August 8). Promoting academic integrity in the online classroom. Faculty

Focus. https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/online-education/online-assessment-

grading-and-feedback/promoting-academic-integrity-online-classroom/

This article provides recommendation on how to promote the academic integrity among the

students in the online class. It also gives a detailed information about the methods that can

improve the academic integrity among the students.

4.
Montgomery, S. (2020, December 9). 10 unique ways students cheat in online exams. IRIS

Invigilation. https://www.irisinvigilation.com/iris-news/103-10-unique-ways-students-

cheat-in-online-exams

This article talks about 10 unique ways students cheat in online exam. It also briefly describes

how each of these methods of cheating works.

5.

Priyo, A. K. K., & Hazra, U. (2020, May 7). What students think about online class and

assessment in private universities. The Daily Star. Retrieved April 25, 2021, from

https://www.thedailystar.net/opinion/news/what-students-think-about-online-class-and-

assessment-private-universities-1900060

This newspaper article talks about private university students view towards online class and

assessment. It also discusses how students get frustrated by giving online exams and later

decides to cheat.
C. Screenshot of my survey