Abstract:

The results of the regular two-year survey on the topic of "Student's, teacher's and non-teaching staff satisfaction" at the University of Applied Sciences in Zagreb (TVZ) have, in their latest wave, further highlighted the importance of monitoring the perception of academic honesty among all participants in TVZ study programs. Although any form of cheating on an exam or submitting someone else's work as one's own should not be ignored, it seems that the tendency to cheat and plagiarize is becoming almost common. This fact is indicated not only by research results on this topic in Croatia, but also in other countries within the European Union.

The application of these dishonest skills begins even in elementary school and continues through high school, all the way to college. Something that has become as usual for them during education can easily be transferred also to their future work environment. The danger of these habits can create a society with poor interpersonal relationships that certainly do not encourage teamwork, creativity, or self-efficacy, which are a fundamental prerequisite for economic growth. Such economies have difficulty in progressing and implementation of new technologies, because among the mass of plagiarists and copyists, are rare to find motivated, engaged and innovative young people who are the drivers of economic growth.

In order to examine the perception of academic honesty at TVZ, a study was conducted using a WEB survey in which representative sample consist of undergraduate and graduate students, and their teachers. Getting results show that TVZ student satisfaction has stagnated in recent years. It is also observed tendency of students expressing increasingly lower concrete expectations from their studies what is somewhat worrying. Older students (graduate students) have lower expectations than their younger colleagues, but also show greater disappointment. Such a level of fulfilled expectations is also reflected in their satisfaction with teachers, their attitude about whether they would re-enrol in the same study again and on their perception how it is difficult to complete studies.

During conducting of tests, exams or the submission of written papers, teachers are often faced with unethical behaviour from their students. Based on their experience, majority of teachers and students agree that the frequency of unethical behaviour at those situations continues to be the same, as it was in 2023. Although most students are "disciplined" during tests or exams, it seems that graduate students are "more skilled" in unethical behaviour, because they are much rare often "caught" in those prohibited activities than undergraduate students. In such awkward situations for everyone, most teachers just warned a student after noticing their unethical behaviour. It is interesting that students believe that teachers are more likely report observed unethical behaviour to the disciplinary committee than teachers really do.

These research results further raised awareness of the need to introduce some changes with the aim of reducing unethical behaviour among students. These changes include conducting continuous workshops and communication to students about the fundamental values of academic honesty, as well as the existing sanctions for their violation.

Keywords:

Student's satisfaction, student's expectations, student's honesty, methods of student's dishonesty treatment.