Https://www.ariel.ac.il/wp/social-issues/2024/09/09/attitudes-and-perceptions-of-israeli-palestinian-minority-high-school-students-concerning-cheating-on-matriculation-exams/

Abstract

This study explores attitudes and perceptions of Israeli high school students belonging to the Palestinian Arab minority concerning cheating, in terms of the problematic aspects of the phenomenon, its underlying causes, ways of detecting it, consequences, and ways to combat it. Quantitative data were collected from 1,462 respondents in 31 Arab high schools using a closed-ended questionnaire focusing on the prevalence of cheating, its consequences, and ways to lessen the problem. While students saw cheating as a social, cultural, and moral problem and as a personal moral failing, they also tended to justify it. It was found that the students perceive the education system countrywide, including Jewish schools, as suffering from cheating on matriculation exams. An examination of the variables of gender and degree of religiosity (religious, traditional, secular) found differences in attitudes toward cheating. The conclusion reached by the study is that the students’ voices, i.e., their serious involvement in solving the problem, illustrate the goal accomplished by ensuring a balance between education for values and supervision and enforcement, while including the students as an integral part of the process.