http://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/55256 Search the Channel search http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/simple-search http://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/55274 Title: Academic integrity among engineering undergraduates: Seven years of research by the E^3 Team <br/> <br/>Authors: Finelli, Cynthia J.; Harding, Trevor S.; Carpenter, Donald D.; Mayhew, Matthew J. <br/> <br/>Abstract: The E3 Team (Exploring Ethical decision-making in Engineering) is a group of engineering educators and educational researchers who have worked collaboratively since 2000 to understand the underlying causes of academic dishonesty in engineering undergraduates. The team was especially motivated by decades of others’ work showing that, when surveyed, engineering students were among those most likely to report frequently cheating. This paper summarizes some of the team’s more important findings from three major studies that surveyed a total of 1300 undergraduates at eleven institutions. The paper also describes the next phase of the team’s research and presents implications of that work for engineering educators. http://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/55273 Title: Cheating in College and its Influence on Ethical Behavior in Professional Engineering Practice <br/> <br/>Authors: Harding, Trevor S.; Finelli, Cynthia J.; Carpenter, Donald D. <br/> <br/>Abstract: Research has demonstrated that engineering undergraduates report rates of cheating higher than those in most other disciplines and that students who cheat in college are more likely to make unethical decisions as professionals. To explore the relationship between academic and professional ethical behavior, the authors launched the Work Experience Study (WES) that examines students' decision-making processes in situations where they are tempted to engage in unethical behavior in academic and professional settings. The population sampled for WES includes engineering undergraduates with substantial work experience in engineering. Such a sampling strategy enables us to make comparisons between academic and work-place scenarios based on responses that are both contemporary and relevant. Previously the authors presented findings from the study which suggest that individuals who reported cheating in high school were much more likely to do so in college and in the work-place, as compared to those who indicated they had not cheated in high school. In addition, these findings identified similarities between the pressures to cheat reported by students for an academic scenario and a work-place scenario. This paper focuses on the interaction of several variables involved in this decision, including prior engagement in academic dishonesty, the perception of unethical behavior among one’s peers, the context of the unethical behavior, and the frequency with which respondents are tempted to engage in unethical behavior. The results suggest that while there are many similarities in the decision-making processes involved at the academic and professional level, there are also substantial differences in both the nature and magnitude of the relationships between predictor variables. Such a finding points to the need for further research into developing a better understanding of the complex interplay of psychological, moral, and situational factors on the ethical decision-making of students and professionals alike. http://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/55272 Title: Examining the underlying motivations of engineering undergraduates to behave unethically. <br/> <br/>Authors: Harding, Trevor S.; Finelli, Cynthia J.; Carpenter, Donald D.; Mayhew, Matthew J. <br/> <br/>Abstract: Abstract The need for ethical behavior in engineering professional practice has been demonstrated repeatedly over the years, and most, if not all, academic institutions provide opportunities for engineering students to learn about ethics and professional responsibility. While there has been some investigation of the effectiveness of these academic efforts on student learning of ethics, little attention has been paid to students’ ethical decision-making and behavior. The present study seeks to verify the use of a model of ethical decision-making to predict the tendency of engineering and humanities students to engage in cheating, an unethical behavior with which nearly all undergraduates are familiar. The study surveyed 527 randomly selected engineering and humanities undergraduate students from three academic institutions. Comparison between engineering and humanities students showed that engineering students were statistically more likely to cheat on tests and homework than humanities students, even when controlling for the number of tests or assignments. Hierarchical regression analysis confirmed that the hypothesized model could explain a considerable portion of the variance in students’ intention to cheat and in their actual behavior. The strongest predictor of behavior was an individual’s intention to cheat, as predicted by the model. In turn, the strongest predictors of intention were an individual’s attitude toward cheating, their sense of moral obligation to avoid cheating, and his/her perception of subjective norms pertaining to cheating. Past cheating was shown to be an important predictor variable for both intention and behavior. http://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/55271 Title: The theory of planned behavior as a model of academic dishonesty in humanities and engineering undergraduates <br/> <br/>Authors: Harding, Trevor S.; Mayhew, Matthew J.; Finelli, Cynthia J.; Carpenter, Donald D. <br/> <br/>Abstract: This study examines the use of a modified form of the Theory of Planned Behavior in understanding the decisions of undergraduate students in engineering and humanities to engage in cheating. We surveyed 527 randomly selected students from three academic institutions. Results supported the use of the model in predicting ethical decision-making regarding cheating. In particular, the model demonstrated how certain variables (gender, discipline, high school cheating, education level, international student status, participation in Greek organizations or other clubs) and moral constructs related to intention to cheat, attitudes toward cheating, perceptions of norms with respect to cheating, and ultimately, cheating behaviors. Further the relative importance of the Theory of Planned Behavior constructs was consistent regardless of context, whereas the contributions of variables included in the study that were outside the theory varied by context. Of particular note were findings suggesting that the extent of cheating in high school was a strong predictor of cheating in college and that engineering students reported cheating more frequently than students in the humanities, even when controlling for the number of opportunities to do so.