Cheating behaviours, the Internet and Education undergraduate students.

This paper describes an illuminative small-scale study that piloted an initial survey instrument intended to investigate correspondences between 47 undergraduate Education final year students' use of information and communications technology (ICT), including the Internet, and - within the context of their adoption of tactics intended to impress lecturers or to exploit the hidden curriculum - students' engagement in cheating behaviours such as plagiarism. The study disclosed that 0.23 of the sample had reported single instances of cheating behaviours and that 0.21 of the sample had reported multiple instances of cheating behaviours. Analysis of data discerned correspondences between these cheating behaviours and personal factors. However, indicators of ICT capability and the Internet did not correlate significantly with cheating behaviours. Those students who had reported multiple instances of cheating behaviours were found to rate their ICT capabilities higher than their peers but had a tendency to report less frequent use of the Internet for coursework. Inferences are tentatively drawn for further research and for academic practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]