1. I think students cheat because they want better grades, but do not want to spend the time or effort in attaining them. In other cases, the classes are simply too hard and some students will rely on cheating to pass the class so they can move up into even harder classes in the area of study they want to pursue. This type of thinking inadvertently leads to a cycle of cheating that doesn't end because it becomes second nature to cheat.
In some sense, all students cheat at least once. This includes homework, tests, quizzes, etc. Most cheating that doesn't get caught is probably homework, especially in classes that aren't math related and don't need you to show your thinking or work. I remember many students in high school would find the smartest people in class and copy chemistry and physics homework, sometimes math. These were mainly because it was last minute and the work loads were heavy because our curriculum was based on the US models for high schools. And because lots of parents wanted their children to attend good universities. The pressures that parents have on their children to attend prestigious universities is probably a big reason students cheat in high school. Of course, this completely negates the purpose of attending school.
As for university, I haven't met many students who would willingly cheat. It is a more serious offense, I think, because it will affect your acceptance to graduate schools and job opportunities. Colleges expect their students to behave like young adults and understand that cheating is not an alternative to individual work and learning.
3. To deter cheating, I think teachers should make students do something that is dull and not beneficial, like peeling potatoes for five hours or cleaning all the bathrooms in the school. This way, students will learn that cheating is a waste of time and the only jobs people will be willing to give you if you get caught cheating are related to manual labor. The old methods of punishing students don't work sometimes because after suspension or a zero on an assignment, things go on the way they used to be. Schools don't imprint onto the student's mind that they did something wrong. Plus, many schools are too scared to hurt students' feelings for fear of law suits from unhappy parents saying their kid was psychologically damaged. Maybe students should be required to attend counseling after they are caught cheating. This way, students will definitely know there is something wrong with what they did. Also, maybe schools can use some psychological tricks on students, such as cameras monitoring what every student does in the test room, etc. Although, this would be expensive. Another thing to try is to make all tests on computers that only have the test paper stored on it, with each student in a soundproof cubicle that lets no light in. This, of course is really expensive to try. Real solutions to prevent cheating could involve making students separate their chairs further apart (3-4 feet) from the other person, with body searches to make sure students don't have any means of cheating before they walk into the test room. If it becomes standard, then no one will complain it violates their privacy. It would just be like airport body searches. Or, just make cheating illegal and consider a criminal offense. This means, they'll have to do community service, or go to jail, etc.
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