Psychological Impact ofAcademic Dishonesty in the Online Assessment Tasks of Engineering Students in one of the State Universities in the Philippines

Abstract

The covid-19 pandemic affects people all over the world, and one of the most affected areas is the educational system at various colleges and universities. The pandemic has pushed the educational system to a purely online management system that includes assessment activities such as assignments, quizzes, and examinations, as opposed to the traditional face-to-face classroom setup. The abrupt shift to an online setup of these activities has put one of the core values of almost all colleges and universities, Integrity, to the test. This study seeks to identify the factors that contribute to academic dishonesty in the current online educational environment, particularly in the field of engineering education in one of the state universities in the Philippines. It also aims to make recommendations on how to prevent or at least reduce academic dishonesty in online assessment settings. The research study employed exploratory research methodology to investigate the occurrence of academic dishonesty in the current online educational set-up particularly in the field of engineering education in one of the state universities in the Philippines. Out of the 186 student respondents, 160 or 86.02% of the students confessed that they have committed academic dishonesty in one of their online assessment tasks (quiz, exam, assignment, etc.) and 26 or 39.98% of them never committed academic dishonesty. Results shows that checking of notes and lecture handouts is the most common ways they committed academic dishonesty which is 78.13% of the 160 students, while checking of other internet sites during exam, consulting their classmates/someone during exam, and posting of Formulas/Notes in the walls recorded 39.38%, 37.50%, and 36.25% respectively. Fear of failure is the most common personal-intrinsic factor why student engaged in behavioral misconduct which is 73.75% of the 160 students while 61.88% of them choses dissatisfaction with the teaching as the most common extrinsic factor.