Perceptions of Afghan EFL undergraduate students about exam cheating

Abstract The main purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate EFL undergraduate students’ perceptions about cheating in exams: reasons, techniques, and consequences. It also examined the differences between participants’ responses by their gender and class. A total of 185 EFL undergraduate students at two public universities took part in the study. A survey questionnaire was used to collect data for the study. SPSS version 28.0 was used to analyze the data. The results revealed that students cheated in exams for various reasons including getting a higher grade, passing an exam, and not having enough time. Students used different ways to cheat in exams such as cheat sheets, cellphones, clothes, and their body parts. Furthermore, students faced certain consequences as a result of cheating in exams. For instance, they failed a particular course due to being caught cheating in exams and they lost their class ranking and self-respect. The study also revealed that there were differences between the participants by their gender but not class. Lecturers should use student-centered learning and formative assessment techniques in their teaching practices to engage students in the learning process and maximize their learning.


PUBLIC INTEREST STATEMENT
Cheating is a phenomenon that exists in all dimensions of human life, including academic examinations.The study was conducted to find out reasons, techniques, and consequences of exam cheating.In addition, it explored the differences between participants' responses based on their gender and class.The result showed that students cheat on exams to achieve top grades, pass an exam and lack of time.Moreover, the findings revealed that students used different ways of exam cheating such as cheat sheets, cellphones, clothes, and their body parts.In terms of the consequences, students experienced some specific outcomes due to their commitment to cheating.They failed a particular course and they lost their class ranking and selfrespect.The study also yielded that there were differences in the participants' responses based on their gender but not their class.

Introduction
Cheating is a prevailing phenomenon which is included in all parts of our lives.It exists on a daily basis, among family members, in academia, in sports, in political affairs, in commerce, and even it involves in every aspect of our lives (Ahmad, 2017;Graves & Austin, 2008;Quintos, 2017).When it comes to exams, Cheating means to alter some responses in order to correct your exam questions and refrain from making mistakes (Holleque, 1982).However, some researchers define cheating as an improper and deviating academic action (Salehi & Gholampour, 2021).
Academic dishonesty can take a wide range of forms such as submitting another student's assignment as your own; assigning someone to take exams on your behalf and do homework for you via the internet; plagiarizing someone else's works; finding answers ahead of exam deadline; exchanging answers in exam; using cheat sheets; secretly looking at a classmate's paper while taking an in-class exam; asking other students about the type of questions who have just passed the test.In general cheating is doing an academic task through illegal means (Burrus et al., 2007;Raines et al., 2011;Rajendran, 2011;Salehi & Gholampour, 2021;Walker & Townley, 2012).
However, academic misconduct is not a new issue.In 1952, an investigation at eleven universities was launched that found out forty percent (40%) of students admitted cheating (Harp & Taietz, 1966).Surprisingly, it has drastically increased in academic environment in the last decades (McCabe et al., 2001).Hadjar (2017) studied the effect of religiosity and perception on academic cheating among Muslim students in Indonesia.He claimed that almost all students (98%) were engaged in cheating in some way.Similarly, Khodaie et al. (2011) stated that within one year, i.e., 2002 to 2003, 95.6% of students acknowledged that they committed cheating.The findings of another study revealed that 90% of the students had cheated in examinations (Saleh & Gholampour, 2021).Meanwhile, Cheating can be caused by several factors including curriculum.Study program creates challenges for students when it is not adaptive and when it does not meet their necessities, abilities, interests, and learning skills (Baharun et al., 2022).
Academic misconduct is becoming more prevalent in educational contexts around the world.The heinous phenomenon has also infiltrated academia in Afghanistan.Many studies have been published worldwide that investigated various aspects of cheating.However, there has been no research conducted in Afghanistan to explore this phenomenon.The current study examines EFL undergraduate students' perceptions about reasons of cheating, technique of cheating and consequences of cheating.It also explores the differences between participants' perceptions by two variables: gender and class.The findings of the study may be of significance to universities and lecturers.The findings of the study may help universities to develop a code of ethics to deal with academic dishonesty particularly cheating in exams.Furthermore, lecturers may modify their teaching and assessment practices in the light of the findings of the current study to respond to the needs of students, which in turn, may reduce exam cheatings.The study examines the following research questions.
(1) Why do EFL undergraduate students cheat in exams?
(2) What techniques do they use to cheat in exams?
(3) What are the perceived consequences of cheating in exams?(4) Are there statistically significant differences between participants' responses by their gender and class?

Reasons of exam cheating
There are numerous studies that investigated reasons and factors of cheating and each of them came up with different results.For example, Hussein et al. (2018) studied 364 Malaysian business students to determine the factors that influence cheating.They concluded that negativity was the first reason for cheating, and the Internet facility was the second-greatest cause of cheating.
Another study was carried out by Rettinger and Jordan (2005), who found out two reasons of cheating.The first motive was that tertiary students, who were interested in grades cheated more frequently than those who were motivated to learn.They also found religiosity as the second incentive for cheating.That is, non-religious students cheated more frequently than religious students.Furthermore, Ip et al. (2016) reported that panic from failing in exams, postponing learning lessons, and nervousness were the most prevalent motivations for cheating among pharmacy students.Moreover, Yang et al. (2013) stated that each student committed academic dishonesty for various purposes.Some female students admitted that no punishment and inadequacy of honor code were the main incentives of cheating to them, whereas male students cited less attention to their coursework as primary factors of cheating.Ruto et al. (2011) studied the factors which paved the way for cheating in undergraduates' exams.They identified high demand of parents from their children to get top marks, delayed fee payments, late clearance to attend examinations, lack of preparation, absenteeism, and no self-reliance as the contributing factors for academic dishonesty.Similarly, Saidina and Isa (2013) probed the why and how of academic fraud among teacher trainees and outlined several reasons for cheating, the most common of which was ill preparation for exams, tests, or quizzes (77%).This was followed by a high number of university activities (67%) and being pushed for a higher position by family members or sponsors (60%).

Techniques of exam cheating
Students use a variety of crib instruments to cheat in exams such as cheat sheet, ruler, calculator case, tissue paper, different types of cell phones, messaging tools, MP3, iPads, bottle's label, buttons with camera that can be adhered to attires, and Bluetooth modules, which can be connected to any Bluetooth cellphone; however, the most popular method of cheating among these techniques was crib on papers which was used by 81% of test takers (Bain, 2015;Keresztury & Cser, 2013;Mokula & Lovemore, 2014;Nyamawe & Mtonyole, 2014;Srikanth & Asmatulu, 2014).Furthermore, students sit illegally next to one another to swap true-false or multiple-choice answers (Mokula & Lovemore, 2014).Regardless of these techniques, students use body language if there are many invigilators in the examination hall such as miming, gestures, nodding, and finger movements to indicate agreement or disagreement, and they also use their body parts (e.g., palm, foot, and thigh) to cheat in exams (Odongo et al., 2021).Another forms of academic misconduct are bringing prohibited exam material to the exam center by concealing them in clothes, boots, socks and wallets, and also writing notes on pen covers, waistbands, and handkerchiefs (Odongo et al., 2021).Another tactic is dividing course content among themselves prior to the test so that each of them can easily learn their portion, and on exam day, they sit closer to discuss answers with each other (Odongo et al., 2021).On the other hand, Odongo et al. (2021) also stated that some female students apply unusual methods to cheat.They perform sexy acts to make invigilators feel embarrassed and leave the class.

Consequences of exam cheating
In terms of consequences, few studies have been conducted worldwide to figure out the impact of exam cheating.Mokula and Lovemore (2014) researched the forms, factors, and consequences of cheating on university examinations.They revealed three types of punishment that the students faced as a result of cheating.First, the outcome of the course in which a student was caught cheating was dispensed.Next the culprits were fined the same amount as the subject fees.The final punishment was suspension.That is, the offender was barred from enrolling in a new course for a period of 1 up to 5 years.In addition to this, most researchers have studied unethical behavior in professional practice and the long-term consequences of cheating.They revealed that students, who cheated more in the exam, are more interested in violating workplace rules in the future (Graves & Austin, 2008;Harding et al., 2004;Iqbal et al., 2021;Ston et al., 2009).

Research design
This study was designed quantitatively.A survey questionnaire with 15 closed-ended items was used to collect data from the participants.Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS version 28.0) was used to analyze the data.

Participants
The respondents of the study were 185 EFL undergraduate students who were majoring in English language and literature at two public universities: Nangarhar University and Takhar University.As Table 1 indicates that approximately 49% of the participants were women and 51% of them were men.Most of the participants were sophomore (57) followed by first year students (50) and senior (49).Around 16% of the participants were junior (29) at the time of the study.The participants were between 17 and 26 years old when the survey was administered.

Data Collection instrument
A review of literature was carried out in order to develop the questionnaire.The questionnaire statements were adapted from the studies conducted by Raines et al. (2011), Saidina and Isa (2013), Ruto et al. (2011), Ives (2020), and Salehi and Gholampour (2021).The questionnaire is composed of four parts.The first part aimed to collect the participants' demographic information (e.g., gender, class, and gender).The second part, which had five items, aimed to find out students' perceptions about reasons of cheating.The third part, which had also five statements, asked the participants about techniques of cheating.The final part with five items sought responses about the consequences of cheating.The participants were required to respond to the questionnaire items on a five-point Likert scale (1=strongly disagree, 2=disagree, 3=undecided, 4=agree, 5=strongly agree).
Three lecturers at the Department of English Takhar University read the questionnaire and provided feedback and comments on the intelligibility of the statements.Using their comments, the authors identified and edited the vague and ambiguous items.A pilot test was administered to 26 randomly selected participants from Takhar University and SPSS version 28.0 was used to test the reliability of the questionnaire items.The results of the analysis showed that the Cronbach alpha (α = 0.67, 0.7 & 0.78 > 0.65) for each questionnaire category was greater than 0.65, which indicates good internal consistency (Table 2).Thus, the authors concluded that the questionnaire items were appropriate for conducting the study.

Data collection procedure
The survey was administered at two public universities, Nangarhar University based in the east of Afghanistan and Takhar University based in the northeast of Afghanistan.Nangarhar University was chosen because it was located in corresponding author's home province, and Takhar University was selected where the corresponding author was a student.The corresponding author secured the deans' and departmental heads' permission at Takhar and Nangarhar University prior to survey administration.The survey was administered during classes breaks.Participants were asked to express their agreement by reading and signing a consent form, which informed the participants about their voluntary participation in the study, the anonymity of the questionnaire, the confidentiality of their data, and that they could withdraw from the study at any moment.They were encouraged to inquire about any items that were vague or ambiguous to them.The data were collected from the universities in two phases.The data were first gathered from Takhar University from April 25 to 10 May 2022 and then from Nangarhar University from June 15 to 18 July 2022.

Data analysis
Data analysis is a process of transforming data to knowledge and the systematic application of statistical or logical techniques to summarize, compress, recapitulate, and evaluate data (Sharma, 2018).All the questionnaires were closely examined to ensure that they were completed appropriately.The data were numerically coded in an excel sheet and were imported to SPSS version 28.0 for analysis.Descriptive statistics were used to determine frequency, percentage and mean of the data.Furthermore, inferential statistics (t-test and One-Way ANOVA) were used to explore the differences between two and more than two groups of the participants.

Reasons of cheating
The researchers used descriptive statistics to answer the first research question.As Table 3 shows, 38% of the participants agreed and strongly agreed that they cheated to get a higher grade and to pass an exam while over 48% of them disagreed and strongly disagreed with these statements.Around 21% of them cheated because they did not have enough time to prepare for exams while 62% of them stated otherwise.Approximately 76% of the participants disagreed and strongly disagreed that they cheated in general courses whereas almost 15% of them stated that they cheated in general courses.Moreover, 50% of the participants stated they cheated in courses they perceived to be difficult.

Techniques of cheating
Descriptive statistics were used to answer the second research question.As Table 4 shows, some students used these techniques to cheat in exams.31% of the participants stated they used cheat sheet to cheat in exams while 60% of them disagreed and strongly disagreed with this statement.21% of them reported that they used their cellphones to cheat in exams while 70% of them disagreed and strongly disagreed with the use of their cellphones in exams.Less than 20% of the participants agreed and strongly agreed that they used the back of their shirt/skirt to cheat in exams whereas over 65% of them strongly disagreed and disagreed with these statements.SD-strongly disagree, D-disagree, U-undecided, A-Agree, SA-strongly agree.SD-strongly disagree, D-disagree, U-undecided, A-Agree, SA-strongly agree.
Furthermore, approximately 38% of them stated that they cheated in the palms of their hands.Almost 16% of them photocopied course materials in tiny size and used it to cheat in exams.

Consequences of cheating
Descriptive statistics were used to answer the third research question.As Table 5 shows, some students faced the consequences of cheating in exams.Almost 29% the participants stated they failed a particular course as a result of cheating in exams while around 59% of them disagreed and strongly disagreed with this statement.45% of the reported that they lost their self-respect in their class as a result of getting caught cheating in exams whereas around 42% disagreed and strongly disagreed with this statement.Moreover, 40% of the participants reported that they did not learn anything due to their reliance on cheating in exams while almost 44% stated otherwise.Approximately 13% of them agreed and strongly agreed that they were suspended from university as a result of cheating in exams while 69% of them disagreed and strongly disagreed with this statement.34% of them stated they lost their class ranking as a result of cheating in exams whereas almost 55% disagreed and strongly disagreed with this statement.

Differences by students' gender and class
Inferential statistics were used to answer the final research question.Independent Samples T-test was used to explore the differences between female and male students' responses.As Table 6 demonstrates, there are some differences between female and male students.The p-values for two reasons (0.023, 0.011) are less than the alpha level (0.05), which indicates significance.Female SD-strongly disagree, D-disagree, U-undecided, A-Agree, SA-strongly agree.
students cheated more frequently than male students to get a higher grade and they also cheated more frequently than male students because they did not have enough time to prepare for exams.The p-value for two techniques (0.026, 0.03) are less than the alpha level (0.05).Male students used cheat sheets and their cellphones to cheat more frequently than female students did.Furthermore, the p-value for a consequence (0.03) was less than the alpha level (0.05), which shows significance.Compared to their counterparts, female students believed that they learned nothing due to reliance on cheating.
The authors also utilized One-Way ANOVA test to explore the differences between the participants' responses by their class (first year, sophomore, junior and senior).The results of the test showed that the p-value for all the items were greater than the alpha level.There were no differences between the participants' responses by their class.

Discussion
Cheating is a phenomenon which systemically undermines the quality of education in educational institutions.The study explored undergraduate students' perceptions about reasons, techniques, and consequences of cheating in exams.The findings showed that some students cheated in exams for various reasons.Less than half of the participants stated that they cheated to get a higher grade and pass an exam.The authors believe that the curriculum used by institutions of higher education in Afghanistan and the lecturers' assessment practices encourage students to rote learn courses contents, and students have to memorize large chunks of information for exams.Furthermore, some lecturers make too hard or tricky exam questions (Orfan, 2022).Therefore, students cheat to get higher grades and pass exams.It corroborates the findings of the study by Rettinger and Jordan (2005) who reported that students interested in grades cheated more frequently than those who were motivated to learn.It is also in line with the finding of the study conducted by Saidina and Isa (2013) and Ruto et al. (2011) who reported that many students cheated in exams because they were forced by their family members and their sponsors to get higher grades in their courses.
The results also showed that half of the participants cheated in difficult courses.It can be justified by the fact that English is a foreign language in Afghanistan and most students admitted to English Departments, where the language of instruction is English, lack good English fluency (Orfan, 2020).Thus, they find courses difficult and complicated.The authors believe that difficulty and complexity of courses coupled with ineffective assessment techniques lead students to cheat either to pass exams or obtain a higher grade (Cizek, 1999).Furthermore, less than a quarter of the participants reported that they cheated in general courses, and they cheated because they did not have enough time to prepare for exams.This can be justified by the fact that some college students are breadwinners of their families, and they have to work to provide for them.Similarly, many female students live with their families, who have to do chores at home and some female students are married and they have a difficult time balancing between family life and college work (Noori & Orfan, 2021).These students have little time to study and get prepared for exams.Therefore, they may cheat to pass exams or get a better grade.
The study also showed that some students used various ways to cheat in exams.Less than a quarter of the participants used their cellphones, shirts/skirts, and tiny-sized photocopy of course materials to cheat in exams.Moreover, some students used cheat sheets and palms of their hands to cheat in exams.These findings are similar to those of the studies by Odongo et al. (2021) and Srikanth and Asmatulu (2014) who found that students used a variety of techniques including cellphones, tissue papers, handkerchief, clothes, wallets, and their body parts to cheat in exams.The results showed that students faced various consequences as a result of cheating in exams.Some students stated that they failed a particular course due to being caught cheating in the course exams.Almost half of the participants believed that they lost their self-respect as a result of getting caught cheating.Less than half of them believed that they did not learn the course materials well due to their reliance on cheating, and they lost their class ranking because of cheating.A very small number of the participants were suspended from university as a result of cheating.These findings support those of the study by Mokula and Lovemore (2014) who reported that students, who cheated, faced certain consequences including failing a course, fine and suspension from a course or university.
The results of the study also showed that there were differences between female and male students' perception of cheating in exams.Compared to male students, female students used cheating more frequently to get a higher grade.Based on one of the author's experiences, who taught in a public university in Afghanistan for over five years, female students are more competitive in colleges than male students.They work hard to get a higher grade in their courses, but sometimes they cannot get fully prepared for exams due to various reasons including family problems, they cheat to get a good grade.Female students cheated more than male students did because they did not have enough time to get prepared for exams.It can be accounted for by the fact that Afghanistan is a patriarchal and traditional society where women are expected to do all the chores (e.g., laundry, cooking, cleaning, and taking care of children) (Orfan, 2021).Women, who attend college, have to do the chores with getting little or no help from their male family members.They end up having little time to study and get prepared for the exams.Furthermore, male students used cheat sheet and their cellphones to cheat in exams more than male students did.Compared to their counterparts, female students believed that they learned nothing due to their reliance on cheating.

Conclusion
The study showed that some students cheated in exams for various reasons.They cheated to get a higher grade and pass an exam, and they cheated because they did not have enough time to get prepared for exams.They cheated in courses they perceived to be difficult and in courses not closely related to their major (e.g., psychology, Islamic studies).Students used cheat sheet, their cellphones, clothes, body parts and tiny-sized photocopy of course materials to cheat in exams.Students, who cheated in exams, faced certain consequences such as failing a particular course, losing self-respect and class ranking and insufficient learning of the course material.
The research has some practical implications for Afghanistan universities and lecturers.Universities should develop clear student codes of ethics and explicitly describe the consequences for academic dishonesty particularly cheating in exams.They should raise students' awareness about these codes through various ways including holding conferences, seminars, and campaigns on their campus and on online platforms.Lecturers should use student-centered learning methods to engage students in the learning process, and they should use formative assessment techniques in their courses to facilitate students' learning rather than using summative and traditional assessment techniques that require students to memorize large chunks of information for exams.The study has some limitations.Single research approach was used in the study through which a holistic data could not be collected.The research setting was limited; the data were collected from two English Departments based in two public universities.Therefore, the findings may not be generalizable to other departments, faculties, and universities, particularly the private ones.Further research with a larger sample from various universities using mixed methods are recommended to obtain deeper insights about students' academic dishonesty in Afghanistan universities.Future studies can focus on the relationship between lecturers' teaching methods and assessment practices and students' academic dishonesty.