Engineering Commons^™

Academic Honesty, Professional Integrity, And Undergraduate Engineering Students: Exploring The Connections, S. Amy Skyles, Jeffrey W. Jennings

Dissertations

One benefit of inculcating professionalism into engineering degree program curricula is a measure of the extent to which future practitioners adopt an engineering code of ethics (Abaté, 2011; Davis, 2006). Studies have indicated more dishonesty among engineering students than other groups of undergraduate learners, but the effects of technology on dishonesty in the classroom was not addressed (Bowers, 1964; McCabe et al., 2012). An explanatory, sequential mixed methods study was designed to explain to what degree course pedagogical practices and attitudes of civil, architectural and environmental engineering students of various academic levels (freshman/sophomore and senior) relate to academic dishonesty. The …

Multi-Class Classification Of Textual Data: Detection And Mitigation Of Cheating In Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games, Naga Sai Nikhil Maguluri

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

The success of any multiplayer game depends on the player’s experience. Cheating/Hacking undermines the player’s experience and thus the success of that game. Cheaters, who use hacks, bots or trainers are ruining the gaming experience of a player and are making him leave the game. As the video game industry is a constantly increasing multibillion dollar economy, it is crucial to assure and maintain a state of security. Players reflect their gaming experience in one of the following places: multiplayer chat, game reviews, and social media. This thesis is an exploratory study where our goal is to experiment and propose …

An Analysis Of (Bad) Behavior In Online Video Games, Jeremy Blackburn

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation studies bad behavior at large-scale using data traces from online video games. Video games provide a natural laboratory for exploring bad behavior due to their popularity, explicitly defined (programmed) rules, and a competitive nature that provides motivation for bad behavior. More specifically, we look at two forms of bad behavior: cheating and toxic behavior.

Cheating is most simply defined as breaking the rules of the game to give one player an edge over another. In video games, cheating is most often accomplished using programs, or "hacks," that circumvent the rules implemented by game code. Cheating is a threat …

Towards Formalizing A Reputation System For Cheating Detection In Peer-To-Peer-Based Massively Multiplayer Online Games, Willy Susilo, Yang-Wai Chow, Rungrat Wiangsripanawan

Professor Willy Susilo

The rapidly growing popularity of Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs) has given rise to an increase in the number of players world wide. MMOGs enable many players interact together through a shared sense of presence created by the game. The Peer-to-Peer (P2P) network topology overcomes communication bottleneck problems associated with centralized client/server sys- tems. Thus, P2P-based MMOGs are seen as the way of the future, and many dierent P2P-based MMOG architectures have been proposed to date. However, many architectures are proposed in an ad hoc manner and enhancing the security of such systems is an elusive research problem. In this …

Towards Formalizing A Reputation System For Cheating Detection In Peer-To-Peer-Based Massively Multiplayer Online Games, Willy Susilo, Yang-Wai Chow, Rungrat Wiangsripanawan

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

The rapidly growing popularity of Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs) has given rise to an increase in the number of players world wide. MMOGs enable many players interact together through a shared sense of presence created by the game. The Peer-to-Peer (P2P) network topology overcomes communication bottleneck problems associated with centralized client/server sys- tems. Thus, P2P-based MMOGs are seen as the way of the future, and many dierent P2P-based MMOG architectures have been proposed to date. However, many architectures are proposed in an ad hoc manner and enhancing the security of such systems is an elusive research problem. In this …

The Theory Of Planned Behavior As A Model Of Academic Dishonesty In Engineering And Humanities Undergraduates, Trevor S. Harding, Mathew J. Mayhew, Cynthia J. Finelli, Donald D. Carpenter

Materials Engineering

This study examines the use of a modified form of the Theory of Planned Behavior in understanding the decisions of undergraduate students in engineering and humanities to engage in cheating. We surveyed 527 randomly selected students from three academic institutions. Results supported the use of the model in predicting ethical decision-making regarding cheating. In particular, the model demonstrated how certain variables (gender, discipline, high school cheating, education level, international student status, participation in Greek organizations or other clubs) and moral constructs related to intention to cheat, attitudes toward cheating, perceptions of norms with respect to cheating, and ultimately, cheating behaviors. …

Engineering Students' Perceptions Of And Attitudes Towards Cheating, Donald D. Carpenter, Trevor S. Harding, Cynthia J. Finelli, Susan M. Montgomery, Honor J. Passow

Materials Engineering

Academic dishonesty has become a serious problem at institutions of higher learning. This is particularly true in engineering where, according to previous research, engineering undergraduates are among the most likely to cheat in college. To investigate this concern, the authors embarked on a research project whose goal was to develop a better understanding of what students and faculty perceive as cheating and to use this knowledge to help instructors and institutions increase the level of academic integrity among students. The primary instrument for this project was a seven-page survey that was administered to 643 engineering and pre-engineering undergraduates at eleven …

Work In Progress - An Investigation Into The Effect Of An Institutional Honor Code Policy On Academic Behavior, Donald D. Carpenter, Trevor S. Harding, Cynthia J. Finelli, Matthew Mayhew

Materials Engineering

Research indicates significant cheating at institutions of higher learning; however, evidence indicates that a well-designed and clearly-communicated campus honor code might have a mitigating effect. This is the impetus behind the implementation of an Academic Honor Code Policy at a private university beginning in the fall of 2004. This situation presented a unique opportunity to investigate the potential of an academic honor code to change the culture and behavior at a university. This investigation will involve conducting a longitudinal study on the academic habits of students as they progress through the curriculum and include students whose academic careers began under …

A Case Study On Research In Engineering Education: Designing, Testing, And Administering The Paces-2 Survey On Academic Integrity, Cynthia J. Finelli, Jamie L. Szwalek, Donald D. Carpenter, Trevor S. Harding

Materials Engineering

Most engineering educators excel at planning and conducting technical research in their field, but few are proficient doing this for a project in engineering education. Recently, however, there has been increased emphasis on conducting rigorous research in engineering education. This paper provides practical advice for planning and conducting such research. The authors use their long term project to predict academic dishonesty in engineering college students as a case study representing one approach to research in engineering education. In particular, the authors present the design, testing, and administration of a two-part survey instrument to collect information from college students about their …

Does Academic Dishonesty Relate To Unethical Behavior In Professional Practice? An Exploratory Study, Trevor S. Harding, Donald D. Carpenter, Cynthia J. Finelli, Honor J. Passow

Materials Engineering

Previous research indicates that students in engineering self-report cheating in college at higher rates than those in most other disciplines. Prior work also suggests that participation in one deviant behavior is a reasonable predictor of future deviant behavior. This combination of factors leads to a situation where engineering students who frequently participate in academic dishonesty are more likely to make unethical decisions in professional practice. To investigate this scenario, we propose the hypotheses that (1) there are similarities in the decision-making processes used by engineering students when considering whether or not to participate in academic and professional dishonesty, and (2) …

Student Perceptions Of Institutional And Instructor Based Techniques For Dealing With Academic Dishonesty, Donald D. Carpenter, Trevor S. Harding, Susan M. Montgomery, Nicholas H. Steneck, Eric Dey

Materials Engineering

Research suggests that a large percentage of engineering students engage in some form of academic dishonesty. To investigate this very serious concern, the authors have undertaken a research project on the Perceptions and Attitudes toward Cheating among Engineering Students (PACES). The premise of this research is that a combination of pressures, rather than malicious motivations, account for most student cheating. This paper focuses on a portion of the PACES survey; student opinions on what actions might prevent cheating. The authors examined data collected from approximately 350 engineering and pre-engineering undergraduate students at 5 institutions. In the survey, the students were …

A Comparison Of The Role Of Academic Dishonesty Policies Of Several Colleges On The Cheating Behavior Of Engineering And Pre-Engineering Students, Trevor S. Harding, Donald D. Carpenter, Susan M. Montgomery, Nicholas H. Steneck

Materials Engineering

While universities take a variety of approaches in dealing with academic dishonesty, current evidence suggests that institutions with honor codes have a significantly lower level of self-reported cheating as compared to nonhonor code institutions. This paper focuses on five institutions and their effectiveness in dealing with cheating, specifically among engineering or pre-engineering students. The authors' goal is to provide greater understanding of what institutional approaches appear to be most effective in minimizing cheating among this specific sub-group. The paper presents a predictive model of the extent of cheating among engineering students at these institutions using a variety of variables, including …

The Current State Of Research On Academic Dishonesty Among Engineering Students, Trevor S. Harding, Donald D. Carpenter, Susan M. Montgomery, Nicholas H. Steneck

Materials Engineering

Academic dishonesty, or cheating, has become a serious problem at colleges and universities. This is particularly true of engineering students who, are among the most likely to cheat in college. The present paper reviews the literature as a basis of broadly understanding academic dishonesty. This discussion focuses on three primary issues: (1) perceptions of and attitudes towards cheating, (2) reasons for student cheating, and (3) methods of promoting academic integrity. A current research project being developed by the authors is also discussed. The premise of this research is that students are constantly making ethical judgements between the pressure to cheat …

Cheating: Student Attitudes And Practical Approachs To Dealing With It, Trevor S. Harding

Materials Engineering

The preliminary results of educational research conducted at Kettering University is described in which students in an introductory engineering materials course (MFGE-370) were asked to complete a survey on their perceptions of cheating. The overall objective of the research was to determine those things students believed constituted cheating, the frequency to which they cheat and their attitudes about what steps could be taken to curtail cheating within a course. Practical approaches to effectively dealing with cheating are also discussed including using learning objectives for writing fair tests, promoting group work through cooperative learning teams, holding review sessions before tests and …