Factors Influencing Cheating Behavior In Examinations Among Secondary School Students In Kilifi District, Kenya

Abstract

Despite various efforts being put in place to try to curb the problem of cheating in the secondary education examinations, still the vice is rampant in Kenya. This study sort to investigate the factors influencing cheating behavior in examinations among secondary school students in Kilifi District. To achieve this, the research was focused on the influence of Social factors, Curricular factors, Peer pressure, and Teachers’ practices. Descriptive survey method was chosen for this study. The target population was students and teachers in public secondary school level. Purposive sampling techniques was used to select five schools. The sample size was 240 respondents, 200 students and 40 teachers who were randomly sampled. Teachers and students instrument had a reliability coefficient of 0.9 and 0.7 respectively. Data collected was organized, analyzed and interpreted using both descriptive and statistical analysis . SPSS statistical package and MS Excel for Windows was used for the analysis. From the research data it was established that social factors and teachers’ practices had the greatest influence on the cheating behavior in the examinations. Curricular factors were third and peer pressure fourth in that order. Neutralizing attitudes which were the moderating factors had insignificant influence on the cheating behavior. Cheating behavior was prevalent in both gender and across the ages. It was recommended that the school teachers can revitalize the classroom experience in such a way that students will see the relevance and importance of their learning and the self-defeating nature of cheating