The Future of Education

This paper presents the findings of a study that focused on different students’ perspective derived from a combination of survey, focus groups, and interviews, to investigate if the reasons why students may be tempted to conduct academic misconduct (as identified in the literature) can be countered not only by using authentic assessment but using UDL principles in designing it.This paper will: 1) present the basic findings; 2) present key insights drawn from these, and 3) suggest next steps. Findings indicated students perceived UDL-designed authentic assessments as effective deterrents to academic misconduct, particularly in addressing stress, the primary motivator for misconduct. Increased flexibility and accommodation of diverse learning styles were seen to contribute to the meaningfulness of assignments, which in turn influences students’ decisions to abstain from misconduct. Most importantly three primary factors were identified to influence students’ decisions against engaging in academic misconduct: self-efficacy, moral standards, and confidence, points that so far have received insufficient attention in literature. Additionally, the themes of flexibility, meaningfulness, and coping with pressure emerged as crucial considerations in promoting ethical behavior among students. The study underscored the need for a nuanced approach to addressing academic misconduct, highlighting the limitations of current discourse and motivations surrounding misconduct beyond assignments as the majority of students did not deem the term “integrity” meaningful beyond their university assignments. It also provided insights as to why writing assignments for other students out of a desire to help them was seen as the problematic form of academic misconduct. Drawing on literature emphasizing the importance of self-efficacy in preventing cheating, the paper proposes actionable steps for assessment design aimed at reducing incentives for academic misconduct.