An investigation into factors that contribute to cheating in examinations in technical institutions in Central Province, Kenya

Abstract

Cheating in an examination is an act of deception by students to gain unfair advantage over others by using unauthorized materials and information. There is a significant increase in test cheating, unpermitted student collaboration and an increased prevalence of chronic cheating (The Standard, 9th March 2012). Among those who cheat are students in technical institutions, where there is recurrence of cheating in the internal examinations. Some studies identify factors such as the following, that contribute to cheating: students learning from a dishonest society (Marks, 2003:135), poor teaching, poor learning environment and lack of facilities (Korbs,2009:2), an education system that is concerned about performance, poor time management (Carrol, 2006), lack of effective study habits (Chinamase et al. 2011) and technology (Marks, 2003). However, there is no readily available information on factors that contribute to cheating in technical institutions. The purpose of this study was to investigate factors that contribute to cheating in internal examinations, methods used in cheating and reasons for students to cheat; and the main aim was to devise and recommend strategies that can be applied to curb cheating in examinations in technical institutions in Central Province, Kenya. The 22 study participants (n=22) were selected from two technical institutions in Central, Kenya. The participating institutions were purposively selected and from them the participants were randomly selected. The participants comprised of 16 students who had either cheated or knew some students who had cheated in examinations, 4 lecturers who were directly involved in examination administration and 2 examination officers who provided documents collected previously on cheating. A qualitative case study was used to collect data. The data was collected using observation method, structured interviews and document analysis. The data collected through interviews were then transcribed and grouped into categories guided by research questions and reviewed literature. The results of the study show several factors that contribute to cheating. These are: contextual factors such as class attendance, lecturer-student interactions, poor invigilation, and lack of adequate facilities. The participants raised the following suggestions on how cheating may be curbed: strict supervision of examination, provision of adequate facilities, and frequent administration of tests and assignment. Recommendations on measures to be applied were presented along with suggestions for further research in this area.