93 University of Windsor students caught cheating study says
A CBC survey has found that 93 students at the University of Windsor were caught cheating during the 2011-2012 academic year.
That's 0.8 per cent of its 12,000 and slightly less than national average of one per cent.
The University of Windsor's dean of students said part of the reason students cheat may be due to the transition from high school to university.
"Sometimes, the consequences of being in a sort of faster-paced environment, where there's a lot more work, overwhelms the first-year and sometimes the second-year students and leads sometimes to cheating," said Clayton
Smith, the students and international vice provost.
The pressure on international students can be even greater, Smith said. Smith said international students are three times as likely to be accused of cheating as domestic students.
He pointed to a number of factors, including cultural and language barriers, different teaching methods and even the way sources are cited in Canada.
"One of the things that we spend a lot of time doing is helping them understand that our expectations may be different - and probably are different - than the expectations from back home," Smith said..
This school year, 2,800 of the school's 16,000 students come from abroad.
Jacob De Jong, of the University of Windsor Students' Alliance said the rising cost of education, the number of hours spent studying add up.
"This can really put a toll on someone, which sometimes can be an honest mistake," De Jong said.
When students get in trouble, they often come to see De Jong.
He's the first line of defence for students and he sees a range of emotions.
"Some people come in very hot and very angry. They hate that they've been accused of cheating. Some students will come in they'll be very emotional," De Jong said.
The academic policy committee is reviewing how students are punished for cheating. De Jong said the old system was flawed and often takes months to come to a conclusion.
