Arooj Sattar, Asim Mumtaz, Amina Qayyum, Sarah Qadeer, Syed Imran Ali Shah.
Factors Influencing Academic Cheating in an Undergraduate Setting of Central Park Medical College, Lahore.
J Sharif Med Dent Coll Jan ;5(1):24-7.

Objective: To study the different factors influencing academic cheating among the students during exams or during their academic life. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted using a 10 items structured questionnaire on different aspects of cheating in MBBS 5 year students of the Central Park Medical College, Lahore. There were 334 students in total who volunteered to participate in this study. A 10 items questionnaire was given to the participants after taking informed consent. Data analysis was done using SPSS version 23. Results: The mean age of the students was 23.48+1.71 years. More female students 196(58.7%) participated as compared to the male students 138(41.3%). Two hundred and eighty five (85%) participants had witnessed anyone else involved in cheating and 15% of participants denied witnessing others doing cheating. Out of 334 students, 72.7% of students ignored the situation when they saw anyone involved in this act and 8% of students wanted to do the same. Most of the students (38.6%) were busy doing their own work when they witnessed someone involved in cheating. Lack of preparation was the major reason given by 30.5% of students followed by fear of not sending admission in 23% of students. The most common method of cheating was to ask from a friend and taking helping material with them by 60.18% and 12.28% students respectively. According to 35.3% of students, strict invigilation can stop students from cheating. However, 23.6% of students said that nothing could be done to stop this. Conclusion: Present study concludes that three fourth of the students mostly females are involved in cheating. Factors for cheating include lack of exam preparation, admission issues and lenient invigilation. Strict invigilation and counseling can be adopted in order to minimize cheating. Keywords: Academic cheating. Undergraduate. Cheating factors

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