ASU offers more online courses each year, and as they increase in popularity, issues with academic integrity have come to light, ASU’s dean of Online and Extended Campus said Wednesday.

“Everyone is concerned that it is so much easier to cheat in online classes [than traditional classes], but there are so many assignments students can cheat on in person that it’s simply not true,” said Philip Regier, executive vice provost and dean of ASU’s Online and Extended Campus.

A recent study conducted at Friends University in Kansas supports his statement, showing that students are less likely to cheat in online classes than traditional in-person classes.

The study, titled “Point, Click and Cheat: Frequency and Type of Academic Dishonesty in the Virtual Classroom,” surveyed students of various demographics to see what type of cheating occurs in both online and campus-based classes.

The survey was administered to multiple online and in-person classes at Friends University as a voluntary questionnaire.

Donna McEwen, co-author of the study, said its main focus was on the difference between online and in-person classes, but the study also analyzed data based on students’ age, gender and degree program.

“We did compare [older], nontraditional students with traditional students, but the results were similar,” McEwen said. “However, we did find a significant difference between [the number of students who reported cheating in] online and on-ground classes, with fewer online students engaging in cheating.”

The study looked at seven different types of cheating, including cheating on tests, plagiarizing and aiding and abetting.

Online students reported less cheating in all seven areas than those enrolled in on-campus courses.

The study does note the results may not be consistent from one institution to the next, however, and some students were skeptical of whether they hold true at ASU.

One ASU student, an education junior who has taken multiple online classes but declined to give his name, said cheating in online classes is easier and therefore occurs at least as often if not more often than in on-campus classes.

“I cheated as much in my online class as other classes that weren’t online, possibly a bit more,” he said. “I would look up test answers online sometimes if I couldn’t find them in the book fast enough. I also had my roommates help me with some answers if they were around too, to get it done even faster.”

Other students said they’ve found the exact opposite to be true.

“Online classes are structured knowing students cheat,” said public relations junior Robyn Moore. “They honestly make it cheat-proof.”

Moore has taken seven online courses at ASU and plans to take three more before graduating next fall. She said although each online class was structured differently, each professor made sure students could not cheat their way through the course.

“I am not saying I have cheated, but if I were to try, I don’t think I would succeed,” she said. “Online classes make it so you have to know the material. They are no different than in-person classes when it comes to attempting to cheat.”

ASU holds its students to high standards when it comes to academic dishonesty online, Regier said.

“[Online students] are expected to adhere to the highest level of academic integrity and we do not tolerate breaches of any kind,” Regier said.

Online classes have improved cheating prevention techniques over the past five years, he said, a trend he expects to see continue.

“I’ve seen things involving cameras, typing pattern recognition software and voice recognition among others, all of which will make it very difficult,” he said. “I don’t think that cheating is going to be getting any easier because I think soon these technologies will be widespread.”

The study did not cover the reasons behind the cheating, but McEwen did list some possible explanations other than technology in online classes.

“One of the reasons [for the differences] is because on-ground students are more likely to engage in what we call panic cheating,” she said.

“Online students are able to work at their own pace so it’s not as likely for them to engage in panic cheating.”

Many students agreed that being unprepared often leads to cheating.

“If they don’t know an answer, students feel the pressure to succeed and take the risk that they wont get caught,” said psychology senior Brian Theer. “It depends on the student. Some students wouldn’t take that risk or are prepared enough, whereas others maybe aren’t and feel the need to cheat.”

McEwen also cited personality differences between students who typically enroll in online classes and the type of assignments often required by online classes as possible causes.

Despite nationwide talk about academic integrity — online or in-person — many students, like Theer, still don’t believe cheating is rampant at universities.

“I don’t think everyone cheats,” he said. “A lot of students have a moral code that they just won’t do it.”

Reach the reporter at keshoult@asu.edu.