GUILTY IN WHOSE EYES - UNIVERSITY-STUDENTS PERCEPTIONS OF CHEATING AND PLAGIARISM IN ACADEMIC WORK AND ASSESSMENT

The little published work on cheating and plagiarism amongst students in higher education has, almost without exception, used questionnaire techniques which take for granted a shared understanding of the issues involved. The work reports the use of a qualitative methodology which attempts to discover the student perception of cheating and plagiaris m without presupposing that students start from the same premises as a cademics. Prominent among the findings are the following: (a) there is a strong moral basis to students' views, which focus on such values a s friendship, interpersonal trust and good learning. This means that s ome punishable behaviour can be regarded as justifiable and some offic ially approved behaviour can be felt to be dubious; (b) the notion of plagiarism is regarded as extremely unclear-some students have a fear that they might well plagiarise unwittingly in writing what they genui nely take to be their own ideas; and (c) factors such as alienation fr om the university due to lack of contact with staff, the impact of lar ge classes, and the greater emphasis on group learning are perceived b y students themselves as facilitating and sometimes excusing cheating. Understanding the student perspective on cheating and plagiarism can significantly assist academics in their efforts to communicate appropr iate norms.