Some ways I have reduced student cheating in class is I give them the paper needed to take the test and I do not allow them to have anything on their desk but a pen or a pencil and the paper I gave them, also when I have the room I make them sit at seperate desk's and all their belongings go to the front of the room so they are not tempted to hide anything. I know it seems extreme but it has lowered the need to cheat by taking these steps.
Use multiple versions of the test (same questions just in different order). I usually sit at the back of the room when monitoring a test,and/or periodically walk around the room.
I incorporate essay type questions with different scenarios, I also re-arrange multiple choice questions for every third test handed out. With the classes I teach, I have oral tests instead of written and hands on test given during their lab(massage) sessions, holding up instruction on a card informing them what technique I want them to demo. Just a few examples of test variance to discourage prospective cheating
I also create a test where the questions are the same, but varying order. This helps prevent student cheating. In addition, I also stand at the back of the room during testing. Students do not know where I am looking or whom I am observing. This positioning is a deterrent to the student who is considering cheating.
Hi Heidi,
I also like to tell my students that you will be watched during test time. This is a simple way to let them know up front that you are not going to tolerate their foolishness because your eyes are wide open.
Patricia Scales
I like the idea of giving everyone a different version of the test. I also agree with the instructor walking around the room to keep the students honest.
It has been shown that some students have purchased various test banks on line. If they do use a test bank for my tests, they may be surprised because I may change something in the stem or even make up new answers. Once they see that this has happened, they don't use the bank anymore
Hi Stacy,
Different versions of an exam have proven to be a great way to minimize cheating. With today's technology it is easy to create various versions of an exam.
Patricia Scales
I have the students turn off the cell phone and clear everything from the table and sit one chair length away from the next student. Even with this strategy I find students attempting to cheat.
I will have several versions of the exam. I will give one row Exam A and the next row will get Exam B so that the person sitting next to them has a different exam. I try and have my desk to the side or the back of the room. This way they do not know where I am or what I am doing. I will also walk around the room.
Heather great points! I give my students instructions about doing group work and explain the difference between group work and copying. I tell my students it's OK to divide the labor equally, but for any questions that were given to one student by his or her partner, it's that student's responsibility to verify those answers.
Then each student must type up his/her own assignments.
As for those textbooks that have answers in them...we all have at least one of those. I find it best to use those for in-class, participation work where students can demonstrate their knowledge, or make them graded assignments that aren't weighted as much as the examinations.
Attaching the class work to employability is very effective.
In my class we've attached mock pay checks, based on weekly pay periods, to their work. All the students start with a base salary and are paid hourly according to attendance. Absenteeism = reduction in pay.
In addition, bonus pay levels are attached to unit grades. Students get that in career colleges because earnings are so important. A zero grade as a result of cheating is tantamount to a getting no paycheck. There's not a single person that can't relate to "all that work for nothing."
The idea is to make students see the value in their efforts. It's such a great way to show them the grade they received is the grade they earned. This also instills a little healthy competition. :P
I have a test on colored paper, I have the class clear the desk of everything and split the class up no one near another test taker.
For my larger classes I have two students sitting at each table so I prepare two tests we call them A & B tests. One student gets test A & the other receives test B. Its the same test but the questions are scrambled. The students dont have a clue but it keeps them from having the chance of cheating.
When I have a smaller class I will have one student at each table which helps reduce the chance of cheating.
When I give an exam I prepare multiple forms of the exam. I also seperate students when possible. When the student are taking the exam I walk through out the room. I do this to reduce the amount of cheating and to make myself available to the students for questions they may have.
Hi Ruby,
Continue to be a great educator! Don't let this student dampen your spirits, obviously you are excellent at what you do, otherwise you would not have been doing it for 14 years.
Patricia Scales
I ended up having to move her away from her two buddies. She was a problem from the beginning of the semester. It was my first semester to teach at this college and she wrote a letter to the Dean the second week of class complaining about me, also signed by her two cohorts. She ended up not coming back the second semester, and another one of her buddies only came for one more semester, and the third buddy ended up being a great friend at the end of the third class. Every student in that class at some point contacted the Dean's office and told them that I was a wonderful teacher. The "BAD" lady just didn't connect with me. Generally there is one in every class. I taught live classes for 14 years in two different community colleges, and I never had a bad student who fought me all the way like she did.
Multiple version is the good way to avoid cheating.
We should also try to teach some rule of ethics and consequences of violation of ethics.
Hi Ruby,
She told on herself didn't she? Wandering eyes would want to know. How did you handle her?
Patricia Scales
One of the things we have done is make faculty aware of the test banks that are available on the internet. Students who were using these suddenly did not do so well when we started making changes in the questions that were being asked. It is a fine line to walk as we want to use standardized questions so we can benchmark, but don't want test answers to be memorized.
