Book Review: Cheating Lessons - James M. Lang

Cheating is a prevalent concern throughout society. Headlines regularly appear with news of the next great scandal. In fact, you and I have probably cheated at least once in our lives (even if it was as small as changing the card drawn so as not to lose a game of Candy Land to a toddler). Less publicized but still highly prevalent is the epidemic of cheating in higher education. Depending on the study, up to 82 percent of all college students have cheated at least once in their educational experience (p. 12). At some point, an occasional cheater might give up and become a serial cheater, which is not an intended outcome of higher education (p. 223). To address the problem of cheating in college, James M. Lang wrote Cheating Lessons: Learning from Academic Dishonesty as an extension of his work for the online newspaper The Chronicle of Higher Education. Published by Harvard University Press in 2013, Cheating Lessons walks readers through some of the reasons why students might engage in academically dishonest behaviors, how increasing opportunities for learning decreases cheating, and practical ways in which instructors can begin to adapt their own courses to reduce cheating. Lang’s goal is to convince readers that if teachers teach better, students will learn more, and cheating will decrease.

In Part One, Lang introduces readers to the five different contexts in which students might feel compelled to cheat: “(1) an emphasis on performance; (2) high stakes riding on the outcome; (3) an extrinsic motivation for success; (4) a low expectation for success” (p. 35); and (5) the influence of peers, including their approval/disproval or whether or not they are expected to report honor code violations. For each of these contextual factors, Lang highlights a historical example of cheating (e.g., bribery in the ancient Olympics in order to be recognized for one’s performance). Lang also clarifies that there are few, if any dispositional factors (e.g., gender, age, relationship status) that make a certain type of person more or less likely to cheat.

In Part Two, Lang thoroughly explores each of the first four contextual factors; he covers the influence of peers in the first half of Part Three. Lang offers psychological theories and research that highlight how and why each context contributes to cheating. He follows with an analysis of a model who mitigates the contextual factor to make it challenging for students to cheat due to the nature of the assignments or course design. Lang offers a few suggestions for ways in which the reader might take the material he shared and apply it to their own teaching.

In Part Three, Lang discusses the influence of peers, the pros and cons of honor codes, and how to handle conversations about academic integrity violations. Because students are young and peer perception is valuable, they are poor enforcers of honor codes. Using this concept, Lang advocates for the inclusion of students in forming and reviewing academic integrity policies but suggests that they should not be expected to enforce such policies; that responsibility belongs to instructors and administrators. Lang also encourages university leaders to adopt a moderately flexible policy for adjusting punishments for offenders, with less severe consequences for first-time offenders and a formal reporting procedure that all members of the campus community should follow. Lang concludes with a few pages on how technology so far has not changed cheating behavior significantly and suggests follow-up research as online learning increases in prevalence.

Lang thoroughly summarizes past and present research throughout the book. He highlights findings that make sense based on common knowledge and experience, findings that are counterintuitive, and studies that drew opposing conclusions, such as whether or not severe punishments deter cheating behavior. Lang anticipates potential protests to his suggestions and addresses them throughout Cheating Lessons. Every chapter is well-organized, with each containing a thorough introduction, rationale for inclusion, and conclusion. However, the book is quite repetitive. In Part One, for example, Lang reintroduces and briefly summarizes each of his examples of cheating in history in each chapter as he makes a different point about them. This part might read better if Lang makes all his points about a specific example after he tells the story. In other sections, Lang references readers to chapters in which he previously discussed a point or in which he will elaborate further later in the text; this approach helps readers track the interconnectedness of what Lang shares without feeling overwhelmed or annoyed by repetition.

Lang’s journalistic style is present throughout the text, and the book reads much like a newspaper article. His stance is clear, and his writing is persuasive. Lang introduces readers to the people he cites by providing background information about how he came across their work and why it is relevant to the discussion at hand. Lang’s style is easily accessible and can be read by anyone interested in the topic; it is not too heady, scholarly, or out-of-touch for the general public. However, this style also means that Lang sometimes takes a while to make his points. Although it feels conversational to know how Lang met a person or became familiar with their work, the book could be shortened considerably if these components were removed.

Furthermore, Lang tells much of Parts One and Two through anecdotes. While story is a useful instructional aid, some of the science and application are lost within the tales. Anecdotes, such as John Boyer’s build-your-own approach towards syllabus design and Andy Kaufman’s learning outside the classroom, are fascinating to read but not always relevant to one’s own teaching. Limited by institutional policies, student demographics, or other variables, instructors likely cannot replicate the specific course designs Lang shares. Lang attempts to offer takeaways from each model that a reader could try to integrate into their own courses, but the transferability is occasionally far-reaching. For example, Lang shares how Sarah Cavanaugh asks students to integrate concepts learned in her psychology courses with those covered in a simultaneous chemistry course. Although a phenomenal application of interdisciplinary learning at her institution, readers can only apply this technique if their university has a similar setup. Readers are left to think creatively on their own about how to increase the transferability of material covered in the classroom.

Likewise, as Lang himself notes, much of his book is easily applied in the social sciences, and he neglects to describe how one might use some of these concepts and practices in other fields, such as chemistry or accounting. Lang offers a case study for a physics course redesigned by MIT researchers and an intermediate accounting course taught by Joe Ben Hoyle at the University of Richmond. However, what he extrapolates from the accounting course is that an instructor can empower students to believe in their ability to succeed, rather than specific pedagogy for STEM instructors. The physics case study holds a little more application as Lang argues for the benefits of a flipped classroom, or one that involves interactive learning rather than the traditional lecture-recitation pedagogy; Cheating Lessons would be accessible to even more readers if Lang included additional models from STEM, especially those currently making waves in pedagogical practices.

Beyond these critiques, Lang offers several helpful and applicable tips about managing and mitigating cheating, especially in Part Three of Cheating Lessons. Lang suggests that universities not spend time creating an honor code if not already in existence, but rather increase campus conversation around academic integrity, since consistent dialogue has been shown to be the most effective deterrent of cheating. Lang advocates for the inclusion of all members of the campus community in the fight against cheating, since the university needs to provide a unified front that minimizes the risk of serial cheaters slipping through college undetected. Furthermore, if deep learning occurs, students will retain content from their courses well beyond graduation, which is a goal of any instructor who devotes a semester to a topic.

Cheating Lessons is useful for any instructor looking to improve their course design to encourage students to exercise original, innovative thinking. Current professors can learn from the plethora of examples and models Lang provides and experiment with implementing similar assignments in their own courses. Lang suggests the importance of ensuring staff are on board with academic integrity policies since they are more likely to interact with students in informal contexts. Staff should be trained in a university’s policies and brought into the reviewing process; as a result, Part Three of Cheating Lessons could serve as an orientation resource for staff. Similarly, members of a center for teaching and learning or an academic integrity office could use Cheating Lessons to frame or inform professional development trainings or new employee onboarding. Finally, for new professors and doctoral students, Cheating Lessons could serve as a primer to encourage readers to consider how they might handle academic integrity violations before they encounter one. Doctoral students and recent graduates might also consider Lang’s critiques of honor codes while searching for a job and interviewing at schools to determine how their personal beliefs fit with institutional culture. Hopefully readers of Cheating Lessons feel encouraged, inspired, and empowered to teach so that students experience deep learning, do not want to cheat, and fondly remember their course long after the final exam.