Abstract:

Universities must tackle the problem of academic dishonesty in undergraduate students, since this type of inappropriate behaviour generates unfair competition and damages the institution’s reputation. Moreover, the effects of these behaviours go beyond the academic sphere and can have an impact on the future professional ethics and civic life of students.

Our study aim was twofold:
1) to identify students’ perceptions of the level of appropriateness and inappropriateness of given behaviours;
2) to determine the frequency of these behaviours.

An online questionnaire on potentially inappropriate student behaviours when carrying out university tasks was sent in January 2021 to undergraduate students at the School of Economics and Business of the University of Zaragoza (Spain). We received 333 valid responses.

Our main results show that respondents adequately identified inappropriate behaviours and clearly differentiated them from appropriate ones. Specifically, they assigned very low values (high inappropriateness) to “illicit” behaviours and very high values to those considered appropriate. As for the observed frequency of these behaviours, we found that not all of them were common among students. Consequently, it has been possible to establish traffic lights for behavioural priorities, linking these to their colours (red, yellow and green).

A red traffic light indicates behaviours that are inappropriate and are observed at university with a much higher frequency than would be desirable. Some are related to classroom behaviour, such as entering or leaving the classroom without sufficient justification, or talking and distracting others in class. Others are related to the work done throughout the course, and include not doing one’s fair share when working in groups or crediting students who have not contributed, producing poor work, copying from other students or copying without citing the source. Still others related to cheating in examinations would also be indicated by a red traffic light, and these include looking at other students’ answers, asking other students for the answer, copying from notes or using cheat sheets or mobile phones. In these cases, universities should establish measures to discourage and correct these inappropriate behaviours.

A yellow traffic light indicates behaviours that are inappropriate and are observed with a relatively low frequency. Several of these are related to doing homework, including the purchase and/or sale of degree essays, late delivery or falsifying information. In relation to behaviours during examinations, it is necessary to ensure that students do not try to persuade teachers to change their marks or make exceptions, and to prevent prior access to examination papers or impersonation. In addition, there are several behaviours related to care of the environment that also deserve to be monitored, for example not respecting classroom furniture, not recycling waste or not respecting private property (theft). These behaviours require vigilant measures to stop them becoming more widespread.

Lastly, a green traffic light indicates behaviours that are appropriate and are observed in the classroom with satisfactory frequency (leaving the furniture in order and turning off the lights after class). Given that these are expected behaviours, measures aimed at facilitating, encouraging and maintaining them among students should be strengthened.

Keywords:

Inappropriate behaviour, ethics, student.