Academic fraud, a way to undermine university integrity

Abstract

University integrity is a guiding principle in education, and academic fraud is a way to undermine it. With this in mind, this article aims to understand professors' perceptions of assessment fraud. To this end, an observational study was used, descriptive, cross-sectional and prospective study carried out at the Instituto Superior Politécnico Ombaka, in the year 2024. A validated and anonymous questionnaire was applied, measuring five questions by Likert scale, (never (0), infrequent (1), without criteria (2), frequent (3), always (4)), for the first and second frequency test and final test. Study population: all teachers (239). Sample: non-probabilistic comprising 60 teachers. Exclusion criteria: being absent when applying the instrument. Results: The five questions researched, for each assessment moment, showed a higher percentage for the frequent category. Analysis of the first attendance test showed that the common form of attempted fraud was: copying from other people's work (62%) followed by passing notes, talking and using cheat sheets (55%). The perception of a frequent practice was held by 53% of teachers. In the second frequency test, copying from others prevailed (77%) after speaking and passing notes (57%). 58% of teachers considered it a frequent practice. The final exam coincided with the question of copying from another (47%). Conclusion: Teachers perceived academic fraud as a frequent practice, with the most alarming categories being copying other people's work, passing grades and using cheat sheets.