Academic dishonesty within postsecondary institutions is a significant issue. As such, academic dishonesty has been the subject of more than 100 studies over the last 30 years. Yet, the data provided by previous research have done little to curb the academic dishonesty problem. The purpose of the study was to describe the meaning of academic dishonesty as perceived by the nursing students at an Ontario university. Using the method of hermeneutic phenomenology, 11 students were interviewed to determine their perceptions regarding academic dishonesty within the nursing program. The interview data provided rich details of how and why students were cheating as well as descriptions of their lifeworlds. These data were reduced to determine the commonalities, themes and the overall essence of the phenomenon. This study suggested that situational factors found within their learning culture played a significant role in both why and how students in this nursing program were committing acts of academic dishonesty. The lifeworlds of the participating students had been described as being very stressful. Caring was interwoven into their learning. As such, for these students some acts of academic dishonesty were not considered cheating, but sharing. Most of the cheating was accomplished through the use of technology. They tried to manipulate, or control, their environment to ensure they could communicate and share with each other. As is found in many collectivist cultures, the students in this program demonstrated high levels of loyalty to each other, particularly within their academic groups. Cheating to benefit the individual was frowned upon, but cheating to assist others in the program was considered normal. As such, the meaning of academic dishonesty as part of the lifeworlds of these nursing students was: caring, sharing, coping and control.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:TORONTO/oai:tspace.library.utoronto.ca:1807/19139 |
| Date | 25 February 2010 |
| Creators | Wideman, Maureen Anne |
| Contributors | Brett, Clare |
| Source Sets | University of Toronto |
| Language | en_ca |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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