Students have fuzzy convictions when it comes to cheating

Military academies hoping to enforce an honor code have their work cut out for them if a new study by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln is to be believed.

"Students generally understand what constitutes cheating, but they do it anyway," said Kenneth Kiewra, professional of educational psychology at UNL and one of the study's authors.

"They cheat on tests, homework assignments and when writing reports. In some cases, though, students simply don't grasp that some dishonest acts are cheating."

Researchers used data from an anonymous survey of 100 members of the junior class of a large Midwestern high school. They were asked to share their beliefs and experiences with cheating as it pertained to tests, homework and report writing.

In some ways, students knew what cheating was, but did it anyway.

For example, 89 percent said glancing at someone else's answers during a test was cheating, but 87 percent said they'd done that at least once. Also, 94 percent said providing answers to someone during a test was cheating -- but 74 percent admitted to doing it.

Other issues were less cut-and-dried: only 47 percent said providing test questions to a fellow student who had yet to take a test was academically dishonest, and nearly seven out of 10 admitted doing so.

Students seemed to feel that cheating that still required some effort was less dishonest than cheating that didn't, such as providing answers to questions (84 percent felt this was dishonest) to just questions (47 percent).

Homework was another gray area:

* 62 percent said doing individual take-home tests with a partner was cheating (51 percent said they'd done so).

* Just 23 percent said doing individual homework with a partner was dishonest (91 percent had done so).

* Only 39 percent said writing a report based on the movie instead of reading the book wasn't cheating (53 percent had done so.).

What difference does honesty in the classroom make?

Perhaps a test on the Ten Commandments, the basis of western civilization, should be part of every high school curriculum.

There would be no chance to cheat, since courts have banned them from the walls of our schools and public buildings.

We could make other abstract points about the deterioration of society in general, but prefer something a little more concrete.

The next time you're descending into LAX or undergoing brain surgery, would you want a pilot or brain surgeon who cheated on his finals?