Abstract:

Background: Academic cheating is defined as behaviours or acts that are usually not accepted by academic institutions because they threaten academic integrity. It includes changing grades without permission, using help materials during a test without permission or passing off someone else's work as one's own. This study aims to fill the gap in the literature by identifying the prevalence, perception and attitude of cheating among undergraduate nursing students at CUHAS.

Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 178 undergraduate Nursing students at CUHAS from January 2023 to August 2023. A simple random sampling procedure was used, data was collected using a self-administered structured questionnaire. For data analysis, the statistical package for social science (SPSS) version 20 was used, descriptive statistics and cross tabulation such as frequency, mean, percentage, and prevalence were used for data analysis to determine and assess the prevalence, perception and attitude of cheating during exams among undergraduate nursing students at CUHAS.

Results: The results of the research study indicated that majority of undergraduate Nursing students (80.6%) at CUHAS has ever cheated during examination. The results of the research study has also indicated that majority of respondents perceive cheating as evil and as an unacceptable behaviour since 121 (61.7%) of the participants said cheating is not good. At the same time, 99(50.5%) of the participants said that cheating has negative effects meaning that despite majority of students who cheat, they are very aware of the effects of cheating hence they have good perception and good attitude towards cheating.

Conclusion: This findings have important implications for development of an institution’s policies on academic integrity. This may affect the policies of high schools. Increased levels of supervision during entrance examination, search for unauthorized material before beginning of exams and giving each student a different but equivalent exam are ways that may be used to reduce cheating. The institution must convince students that cheating will be met with strong disapproval and that cheating is strictly prohibited. To do this, the institution must be prepared to hold students accountable for any cheating in which they engage.