Understanding Academic Dishonesty among Hong Kong University Students: Influences of Personal and Contextual Factors

Academic dishonesty is a rising concern in higher education. Advances in technology and a diversification of assessment tasks (i.e. not relying solely on traditional paper-and pencil tests taken in regular classroom settings) make this problem seemingly more severe nowadays, than any time before. Previous studies generally focus on these issues: (1) a lack of a well-accepted definition of what constitutes “academic dishonesty”; (2) a lack of a theoretical model  that can depict relationships of factors at personal and contextual levels, as well as interactions of factors between these levels; and (3) reliance on samples drawn from Western cultures. This proposal uses a mixed-method, two-phase study to address these issues by applying a systems approach as characterized in the ecological model of human development. In the first phase, an updated and comprehensive conceptualization and operationalization of academic dishonesty will be established through literature review and data collected from a focus group study of Hong Kong university students and individual interviews with university personnel (i.e.teachers, academic, and administrative staff handling cases related to academic dishonesty). Upon completion, a self-report instrument of frequency and attitudes toward various types of academic dishonesty will be developed. In addition, factors at personal and contextual levels that can influence students’ decisions to act unethically or not in academic tasks will be identified. In phase two, the academic dishonesty scale developed [in phase one] and other scales measuring risk and protective factors of academic dishonesty will be administered to a sample of N=600 Hong Kong university students. Prevalence of various types of academic dishonesty established in phase one will be examined with these data. In addition, conceptual models identifying influencing factors of academic dishonesty at both personal and contextual levels (as well as their interactions) will be analyzed. The validated model(s) will help policy-makers and educators to formulate effective strategies and tactics on how to control (or to intervene) the emerging problem of academic dishonesty in higher education of Hong Kong, thus to prevent further widespread of the problem