Qualitative assessment of the view of academic honesty among freshmen in a physiology-based program.

Abstract

Academic dishonesty is becoming more common in university students in STEM-based programs. This is concerning because these students hold positions of responsibility in their professional careers. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine if a student's academic standing and/or first-generation status would affect their views of academic integrity and dishonesty within their academic coursework. Freshmen completed reflections at the start and end of their first semester of college. Qualitative responses from their reflections were reviewed and organized into common themes. Students were grouped based upon university matriculation criteria (high school GPA, SAT and/or ACT scores and parental higher education status).The primary findings of the study demonstrated that the students responded similarly with their views of academic honesty, but some themes were more prevalent across the groups(First-Gen, Honors and Pre-Math). This study identified several areas to help STEM students in a physiology-based program gain a better understanding of academic integrity and dishonesty.