Why Do Students Cheat? Grades!
Why college students cheat? The pressure to do well in college. A lack of preparation for exams. A heavy or unrealistic course load. The top three reasons reported by students as to why they cheat in college. “If the students have an option to choose between cheating and not cheating—cheat to get an A, don’t cheat to get a C—the temptation is just too strong," says Eren Bilen, a professor in the department of data analytics at Dickinson College.
If we did away with grading, the temptation to cheat would dramatically decrease. So goes the theory of "ungrading" ... an emerging approach to college teaching that focuses on authentic assessment and feedback and de-emphasizes or removes grading assignments altogether. The basic premise underlying ungrading is that the system of grading itself encourages cheating. If the main point of being in the course is to get a good grade ... which is given by the instructor ... the temptation is there to do whatever is necessary to get the good grade from the instructor. Even if that means cheating. But if the main point of being in the course is to gain knowledge, skill, ability ... rather than get a good grade ... and that knowledge, skill, ability is gained through the student's own effort in the course ... the temptation to do whatever is necessary to learn.
When asked why they attend college, previously students tended to respond that they were attending college in order to develop a meaningful sense of life and purpose. More recently when asked why they attend college, students tend to respond that they are attending college in order to get a job. And how do you get a job? Get into a good college or university. Get good grades. Graduate. Get a good job. It is all extrinsic motivation. Get admitted by a college of university. Get good grades from the instructors. Get a diploma from the institution. Get a good job. And the pressure to do whatever it takes to get these things from the college/university, instructors, institution ... the pressure to receive these extrinsic rewards may be just enough to lead even good students to become desperate students and to cheat.
If we shift the dynamics ... find a college or university where you can learn what you want in order to become who you want to be. Attend class to learn what you need regardless of the grade you receive. Leave the institution, whether you graduate or not, with the knowledge, skill, and ability to do the work you want to do. And then do the work you want to do. The temptation to cheat would be greatly diminished and perhaps even removed completely.