More Students Found Cheating During the Pandemic

By Zach Richter

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – In a virtual environment, cheating on tests has been increasingly common on college campuses across the country. Since school went online last March, there has been a significant increase in cheating scandals and violations of Syracuse University’s Academic Integrity Policy.

A study from Imperial College London found there was an almost 200% increase in questions and answers posted to an online site called Chegg.

Taking classes online, make it easier to cheat than ever. There is no instructor who can watch you while taking an exam and is it is more difficult for students to receive help if they do not understand a topic.

At the start of the pandemic last May, one of Professor Walter Freeman’s classes had a major cheating problem.

“I taught Physics 211, which is the large enrollment intro to physics class that engineering majors take, mostly. I taught this class last spring and we had over 200 cases of an academic integrity violation on the final exam,” Freeman said.

Professor Daniel Curewitz is on the University’s Academic Integrity Council. He said he has seen a rise in cheating cases since the start of the pandemic.

“Because of the pandemic and the switch to the online format, one, there’s more and more of the electronic stuff, so there’s more and more of those cases,” said Curewitz.

He said he believes the online format makes it easier to cheat than in a pre-pandemic world.