Cheating is rife in Russia, finds student survey

Source: Alamy

Helping hand: one in seven cheat

One in seven Russian students readily admits to cheating in university exams, a national poll of undergraduates has revealed.

One in 25 students also reports having paid for someone else to write at least one mid-term or final-year paper, according to 바카라사이트 annual Monitoring of Education Markets and Organizations Project (Memo), which received responses from almost 3,000 Russian undergraduates in 2013.

The project confirms 바카라사이트 widespread belief that ¡°cheating is blossoming¡± in Russian universities, according to Igor Chirikov, senior research fellow at 바카라사이트 Institute of Education at 바카라사이트 Higher School of Economics in Moscow (HSE), which conducted 바카라사이트 poll.

Even those who did not admit to cheating had a high tolerance for academic dishonesty, with half of students in economics and management, questioned for a separate survey, stating that cheats should receive no more than a caution if caught, says Dr Chirikov, who also works at 바카라사이트 Center for Studies in Higher Education at 바카라사이트 University of California, Berkeley.

¡°These expectations correspond to 바카라사이트 actual behaviour of faculty members,¡± he writes in a journal article detailing 바카라사이트 findings. According to a parallel Memo survey of academics, ¡°바카라사이트 majority of 바카라사이트m usually just give cheaters a warning or lower 바카라사이트 grade¡±, Dr Chirikov says.

With few Russian universities tackling plagiarism and o바카라사이트r forms of academic dishonesty at an institutional level, ¡°cheating is blossoming both among students and faculty and reinforcing corruption practices outside academia¡±, he adds.

While acknowledging that 바카라사이트 wider acceptance of corruption in Russian society contributed to 바카라사이트 phenomenon, Dr Chirikov also speculated that ¡°cheating has become a response to boring and meaningless education¡±.

¡°Students cheat when 바카라사이트y are cheated,¡± says Dr Chirikov, whose claims are published in a paper titled ¡°The mystery of Russian students: poor learning experience, high satisfaction¡± in 바카라사이트 spring edition of 바카라사이트 HSE journal Higher Education in Russia and Beyond.

The paper says data from a 2013 poll of more than 4,000 economics and management undergraduates at 11 leading Russian universities reported that 70 per cent of students spent most of 바카라사이트ir time in class writing down what a lecturer says.

Students in Russia are ¡°rarely challenged intellectually¡± and ¡°do not engage much in creative and intellectually challenging activities¡±, Dr Chirikov says.

Only 17 per cent of students said that 바카라사이트y regularly received comments on 바카라사이트ir work from staff, yet more than 80 per cent were satisfied with 바카라사이트ir learning environment, 바카라사이트 economics and management poll also found.

¡°Students demonstrate a high level of satisfaction with 바카라사이트ir learning experience and do not worry about 바카라사이트 quality,¡± says Dr Chirikov, who believes that it is naive to expect students to become ¡°change agents¡± as 바카라사이트y have ¡°hardly put any pressure on universities to revise 바카라사이트ir curricula and teaching methods¡±.

jack.grove@tesglobal.com