An honor code system comprises rules that govern the conduct of members in an academic community to promote academic integrity, fair play, and discourage cheating. Unproctored exams, a key component of the honor code system, have gained popularity globally, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Zhao and colleagues conducted two double-blind randomized studies to investigate the prevalence of cheating under different scenarios during unproctored exams.
Second-year undergraduate students enrolled in the same introductory psychology course at a university in eastern China were recruited for a midterm quiz. Quiz booklets with different forms of honor code reminders were randomly distributed to participants during the quiz. In study 1, students were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: (1) No Reminder condition (n=82); (2) Policy reminder condition (n=85): description about academic honesty policies (no course-related material or electric device is allowed) without mentioning consequences of cheating; (3) Exemplar Reminder condition (n=93): two real-life examples illustrated the consequences of academic cheating, including recording the misdemeanor on student’s file and denial of a degree.
In study 2, participants were randomly assigned to the following conditions: (a) Consequence Reminder only (n=128); (b) Trust Exam and Consequence reminder (n=125); (c) Policy and Consequence reminder (n=129); (d) Exemplar Reminder (n=128). In study 2, all conditions included a description of the negative consequence of academic cheating. Moreover, conditions (b) to (d) informed students that the quiz was a trust exam. Researchers measured the extent of cheating by counting the number of target questions answered correctly. The cheating rate indicated whether a student had cheated or not. The findings of both studies are shown below.
- In study 1, the cheating rates were: No Reminder condition (54.2%), Policy Reminder condition (31.8%) and Exemplar Reminder condition (22.6%). In study 2, the cheating rates for conditions (a) to (d) were: 26.6%, 24.0%, 17.1%, and 15.6%, respectively.
- Unproctored exams without honor code reminder or consequence of cheating had the highest cheating rate (54.2%) and cheating extent.
- Reminding students of the trust exam policy significantly reduced cheating extent compared to No Reminder condition.
- However, providing negative consequences for academic dishonesty, through adding a statement or telling actual examples, had an even greater effect in reducing cheating.
The authors noted that mentioning negative consequences of academic cheating may imply a threat, contradicting the principles of the honor code system. However, the research results provided evidence that this strategy effectively reduces cheating during unproctored exams. Despite various reminders, approximately 20% of students still cheated on average. The authors speculate that the honor code system has not yet become fully integrated into university academic culture.
Source: Zhao, L., Peng, J., Yang, X., Yan, W., Ke, S., Dong, L. D., Li, Y., Ma, J., & Lee, K. (2023). Effects of honor code reminders on university students’ cheating in unproctored exams: A double-blind randomized controlled field study. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 75, 102213. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2023.102213