Imitative practices in a Russian university: forms, causes, and consequences

Researchers note a growth in imitative practices in the educational process, evaluating this fact as alarming for the university and society as a whole. Imitations in education lead to economic, social, and professional-personal losses. The aim of the study is to identify the most common forms and reasons for imitating learning, the attitudes of students and teachers towards the established practice. In the context of our approach, imitation is considered as a phenomenon that leads to the substitution of the essence of learning with its external formal features. Participants in this phenomenon and process include all subjects of relationships in the field of education: employers, educational management bodies, university administration, teachers, and students. The study is based on a survey of students and teachers from 11 Russian universities (621 students and 89 teachers). Analysis of the responses showed that students most often resort to forms of imitation indicating their subjective passivity: dividing questions when preparing for seminars, completing assignments according to a template. Among the forms of imitation that should be classified as academic dishonesty are cheating and using Internet resources during testing. Teachers imitate teaching by awarding points for attendance, for the fact of submitting a test without evaluating its quality. The reasons that compel subjects of learning to resort to imitation are the desire to avoid overload and to evade forms of work that seem excessive. The study revealed that the situation of imitating learning is evident to both teachers and students. Students’ attitude towards imitation is more lenient compared to teachers. High-achieving students have a more negative attitude towards imitation than low-achieving students. Neither students nor teachers seek to eliminate imitations; moreover, under certain circumstances, they are willing to take advantage of such opportunities. Changing the situation should go beyond teacher-student relationships. All elements of the education management system need to be geared towards quality and high educational values, rather than formal indicators of efficiency.