ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT AMONG TEACHER-EDUCATION STUDENTS - A DESCRIPTIVE-CORRELATIONAL STUDY

Results of a study to determine the extent to which teacher education students perceive their student peers to engage in various forms of academic misconduct are reported. A thirty-seven-item instrument was used to collect data from ninety-seven teacher education students at a southern comprehensive university. Items addressed the frequency of various cheating behaviors, the perceived maturity level of the persons most likely to cheat, and the degree to which respondents felt cheaters "neutralized" their cheating behaviors. Although cheating was not perceived as a major problem among teacher education students, a definite relationship between perceived neutralization and academic misconduct was noted.