Plagiarism among undergraduate students in the Faculty of Applied Science at a South African Higher Education Institution

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate plagiarism among undergraduate students at a higher education institution in
South Africa. This study investigated the awareness and causes of plagiarism among undergraduate first, second and third
year students of the departments of Chemistry and Mathematical Technology within the Faculty of Applied Science at a
university of technology. A quantitative research method was used. The results of the study confirm that student
plagiarism is fairly common. The study shows that 41% of undergraduate students think that plagiarism is very serious,
but plagiarism is still being practised within these departments. It was also found that 71.9% of students admit to using
the Internet to compile their assignments. This implies that the Internet is the most possible source of plagiarism.
Students also used books and journal articles as possible sources to plagiarise.