Attitudes of Arab high school students from various ethnic groups in Israel towards cheating in Matriculation Exams

Author(s):

Sliman Khaldy(presenting / submitting)

Conference:

ECER 2017

Network:

09. Assessment, Evaluation, Testing and Measurement

Format:

Paper

Session Information

09 SES 10 B, Investigating Student Attitudes on Assessment and Evaluation Practices

Paper Session

Time:

2017-08-24

15:30-17:00

Room:

W5.18

Chair:

Jelena Radišic

Contribution

Introduction:

Norms of cheating while heading towards high social status has become more sophisticated and it has become a habitual and norm amongst students (Craig&Dalton,2014). In Israel every year the subject of cheating on exams arises, especially regarding the matriculation exams amongst students in the Arabic sector (Khaldy, 2014).

The purpose and importance of this paper is to examine the differences among high school students' attitudes towards cheating on matriculation exams amongst Muslims, Bedouins, Christians and Druzes and to examine the factors by various background variables that explain the attitudes towards this phenomenon of cheating and eventually to recommend methods of treatment in these areas.

The central research questions are:

1. Are there differences between students from various Arab ethnic groups in Israel in their attitudes towards the phenomenon of cheating in matriculation exams?

2. Do the background variables, such as gender, religious level, nature of place of residence, mother's source of livelihood, explain the attitudes of students from various Arab ethnic groups in Israel towards the phenomenon of cheating in matriculation exams?

Theoretical background:

Researchers describe the phenomenon of cheating as "a new epidemic", a serious problem worldwide or consider it deceit, and as a form of cheating which is morally and ethically unacceptable (Thomas et al.,2015). Another studies found that students do not consider it as an ethical problem (Craig&Dalton,2014).

Previous Research studies were done in the world show that cheating in school surpasses borders in the world. McCabe, (2005) found that "cheating" of various kinds is widespread and habitual (Craig&Dalton,2014). The studies show that sometimes reaches a scope of 70-80% amongst high school students in the world (Nazir & Aslam, 2010; Lau &Haug, 2011; Jones, Blankenship, Hollier, 2013).

The studies show that there are differences amongst students from various ethnic groups in the outlooks and attitudes towards the cheating phenomenon on exams. For an example McCabe et.al. (2008) found that Lebanese students cheat more than the Americans students.

Regarding to the cheating phenomenon in examinations, researches show that boys cheat more than girls (Galloway,2012).

Many causes influence cheating on exams, for an example, those such as fear of failing in their exams, anxiety over failing in examination, and pressure for time (Galloway,2012; Peled&Khaldy,2013; El -Sabaoi, 2007).

One of the factors that can affect cheating among minorities in Israel is unequal distribution of resources by the state.
According to Israeli researches, schools in the Christian and Druze sectors receive more funding from the Ministry of Education than schools of Bedouins and Muslims (Meari, 2014).
We can assume that, the ethnic groups which suffer more from the lack of state funding (Bedouins and Muslims) perceive the problem of cheating in exams more severely than the groups that receive more resource investment (such as Druzes and Christians).

Cheating on examinations can lead to a serious implications and cause a long-term damage to the individual and to the society, especially to the educational system. Marks that do not reflect true knowledge accompany a lack of motivation to study and unethical behavior in general, etc. (Craig&Dalton, 2014).

Professional literature recommends methods of treatment in these areas: Changing the teaching methods and the evaluation in giving marks, and developing preventative programs including teaching social and religious values and honor codes, workshops to increase the damages awareness, and reducing emotional pressure over tests, increasing the mechanisms of enforcement and supervision on the integrity of tests such as prohibiting cellular phones by exams and increasing the punishments (Khaldy, 2014; McCabe, Trevino, & Butterfield,2002; Williams,et.al.2014).

Method

Methodology: Data collection was done through closed questionnaires by the quantitative method. The sample characteristics can be indicated as follows: The research population included 1446 students; belong to 31 high schools ; from the 11th grade (67%) and the remainder (23%) from the 12th grade who belonged to various groups: Muslims villagers and townsmen (46%), Bedouin (32%), Druze (13%), Christians (9%).of which 66% were female and the rest (34%) male; most of them live in villages, most of them are traditional, and by most of the students the mother is a housewife or unemployed, not working. The questionnaires were composed of two parts- Part A of the questionnaires related to the personal backgrounds of the participants and Part B related to various statements relating to the subject of cheating on examinations. Participants were asked to note the degree of their agreement with a statement on a Likeret scale in five categories. 1. Definitely disagree 2. Disagree 3. Indecisive 4. Agree 5. Definitely agree. In Part B in all the indexes that were built there is a high internal reliability regarding Cronbach's coefficient alpha test (above 0.6). For example, the general reliability index amongst the students was (0.95). The questionnaire included the following aspects according the attitudes of the students, regarding the various aspects of the phenomenon of cheating like: the problems of cheating on matriculation examinations, in its scope, placing the responsibility on the institutions, its causes, implications and methods of treatment. The data analysis was done through descriptions (average and standard deviation) and Anova examinations to check the differences in the attitudes and outlooks amongst those being researched towards the phenomenon of copying; through the T examination to check the two independent samples; examinations to check the connection between the variables such as Spearman, Pearson; examination of multiple linear regression in order to perform a multivariate analysis in which a prediction was made of the attitudes towards copying by all of the independent variables together.

Expected Outcomes

The main findings: The study shows that the Bedouin students perceived the phenomenon of cheating as more seriousness than other groups. In addition the findings shows that: 1. From the findings we find that the gender predict the students' attitudes towards the phenomenon of copying amongst Muslims (p<0.01) and Bedouins (p<0.01) but not amongst Christians and Druzes. Thus amongst Muslims and Bedouins, boys relate to the phenomenon of cheating less seriously than girls. 2. From the findings we see that the connection between the nature of the area of residence and the students' attitudes towards cheating exists amongst Muslims (p<0.01) and Druzes (p<0.01) but not amongst Bedouins and Christians. Thus amongst Muslims students who live in a village perceive the phenomenon of cheating as more problematic than those who live in a city. 3. We learn also that the connection between religious level and the students' attitudes towards the phenomenon of cheating exists amongst Muslims (p<0.01) and Druzes (p<0.01) but not amongst Bedouins and Christians. Thus, amongst Muslims and Druzes religious students perceive the phenomenon as more problematic than secular students. 4. From the findings we learn that the connection between the mother's earning and the students' attitudes towards the phenomenon of cheating exists amongst Muslims (p<0.01 ), Bedouins (p<0.01) and Christians but not amongst the Druzes. The findings show that students whose mothers work tend to perceive cheating as less problematic (amongst Muslims), as being on a smaller scale (amongst Bedouins and Christians). The results of the study indicate that the groups differ a lot in their attitudes. The differences can be the result of relative negligence and inequality of the budgets allocated by the Ministry of Education, especially with regard to the Bedouin schools (khaldy, 2014;Meari,2014). To conduct more researches about this phenomenon among the Arab and Jewish sectors in Israel.

References

References : Jones, I.S., Blankenship, D., Hollier, G. (2013). Am i cheating? An analysis of online student perception of their behaviors and attitudes. Psychology Research, 5, 261-269. Craig, R., & Dalton, D. (2014). Developing a platform for a culture of honest inquiry and the academic construction of knowledge in first-year students. International Journal for Educational Integrity, 10 (1) ,56-69. Khaldy, S. (2011). The phenomenon of cheating on matriculation examinations amidst Arabic and Jewish students during high school in Israel. Jameh ,15, 125-160. Khaldy,S.(2014). Cheating on matriculation examinations in the Arabic sector: Distribution methods and attitudes of students, teachers and parents. Research report submitted to the Office of the Main Scientist in the Department of Education, Jerusalem. Galloway, M. K. (2012). Cheating in Advantaged High Schools: Prevalence, Justifications, and Possibilities for Change. Ethics & Behavior, 22(5), 378–399. Lau,L.,& Haug. (2011). The impact of sex, college, major, and student classification on student's perception of ethics. Mustang Journal of Business & Ethics, 2,92-105. Nazir,M.S. &Aslam ,M.S. (2010). Academic dishonesty perceptions of Pakistani students. International Journal of Educational Management, 24 (7), 655-668. Meari,M.(2014).Curricula of Arab Education in Israel. Nazareth, Arab Pedagogical Council. McCabe, D. L., Trevino, L. K., & Butterfield, K. D. (2002). Honor codes and other contextual influences on academic integrity. Research in Higher Education, 43, 357–378. McCabe, D. L. (2005). Cheating among college and university students: A North American perspective. International Journal for Educational Integrity, 1(1). Retrieved March 7, 2012, from http://www.ojs.unisa.edu.au/index.php/IJEI/ article/view/14/9. McCabe, D. L., Feghali, T., & Abdallah, H. (2008). Academic dishonesty in the Middle East: Individual and contextual factors. Research in Higher Education, 49, 451–467. Okorodudu,G..N.(2012).Relationship between parental motivation, self–efficacy and examination dishonesty among secondary school students in delta state. International Journal of Psychological Studies; 4, (4), 80-89. El -Sabaoi, D. (2007). The phenomenon of cheating on school tests amongst high school students. Education and teaching, Iraq, 14 ,271-301, (Arabic). Peled,Y.& Khaldy,S .(2013). Discrimination, Survival and Tradition as Argumentation for Academic Dishonesty. Educational Practice and Theory, 5 (1), 41-61. Thomas, J. Raynor.M., & McKinnon.M.(2014). Academic integrity and oral examination: An Arabian Gulf perspective. Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 51(5), 533-543. Williams,S & Tanner,T & Beard,J & Chacko,J . (2014). Academic Misconduct among Business Students: A Comparison of the US and UAE. J Acad Ethics ,12, 65–73.

Author Information

Sliman Khaldy (presenting / submitting)

Al-Qasemi - Academic College Of Education

Schafa-amr

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