Factor Analysis of Issues Contributing to Examination Malpractice in a Tertiary Institution in Ghana

Abstract

The success of every educational institution depends on its ability to observe its code of ethics in respect of all its operations to achieve its mission. This achievement, if persistently monitored and consolidated, will help raise the image of that institution and hence gain high public recognition, which will in the nutshell contribute to sustainable quality education. This research was necessitated by the recurrence of examination malpractice at all levels of basic, secondary and tertiary education in recent times in Ghana. This phenomenon of examination malpractice does not augur well for the education system of Ghana and for that matter the future of the nation, especially when all educational institutions have codes governing the conduct of examination. Therefore, any factor that is likely to undermine effort at ensuring adherence to the code of ethics ought to be identified and eliminated. This paper reports on an enquiry into factors contributing to examination malpractice at one of the tertiary institutions in Ghana. A sample size of two hundred and fifty (250) students was used for the study. Among other things, the research findings revealed that there are three dimensions contributing to examination malpractice in the tertiary institution, which accounted for 70.65% of the variance in the original variables. In sum, the issues considered to be contributing to examination malpractice in the tertiary institution are: misconduct of some lecturers and invigilators, societal moral decadence, and institutional failures. Staff and students of the polytechnic will do well to focus on these dimensions to safeguard the image of the institution.

Keywords: Examination Malpractice, Factor Analysis, Principal Component Factoring