Approachment of University Students to Cheating: A Phenomenological Study

This study aims to determine university students’ views on cheating in exams, to reveal the reasons as to why they cheat in exams, and to find answers to how this behaviour can be prevented. Designed as a qualitative study, this is a phenomology study. Participants were 3 students enrolled at the department of mathematics education at a state university. The main data gathering tool in the study is the interview form. Observation was used in order to form a basis for the interviews so that it could be seen whether students to be taken into the study exhibit this behavior or not. Questions in the interview form were supported by probes for explanation. At the end of the study, students’ perception of cheating was gather under two themes “Cheating according to students” and “Reasons for cheating”. The theme Cheating according to students consists of “principle of equality, belief, acceptance of cheating” categories. The theme “Reasons for cheating” contains “caution, work load, change of situation” categories