Curbing the desire to cheat
One way to curb the desire and/or opportunity to cheat would be to assign individualized work. You don't have to go to the trouble of individualizing all student work if you set up an assignment that can apply to multiple situations. For example: You want your students to show their progress with proficiency in Excel and Access. You ask them to visit and select a business of interest. Every part of your course lesson plan can be related to the real-world business of choice. An Excel budget set up for a large department store would be different from a budget set up for a barber shop. An Access inventory for a car parts distributor would be quite different from the categories chosen for a grocery store, etc. In this manner you've individualized the work by using projects than can relate to many situations.
I let my students know what is going to be on the test by reviewing the material. I do not allow them to keep their test. I only caught one student cheating. He knows the rules but he doesn't put any effort into school. He doesn't do his homework, he sits in class and does nothing.
I neglected to say that they all had to pick different businesses and notify me of their choice. So, yes, you are correct with your suggestion.
It is possible to copy and paste with Excel and Access, yet with the assignments based on the different businesses, students using a grocery store, (for example), would set up different categories, different #'s of categories, and different formulas (say based on fruit and vegetable weights) as opposed to a sporting goods store with its own categories and formulas based per item or on bulk rates for golf balls, etc. Taxable and non-taxable items make a difference (like in paper products vs. food - or retail items vs educational items for schools, etc.
I see what you are saying, and I agree to an extent. By giving individualized projects, you do have some control. However, how would you ensure that a set of students did not go to the same facility? It is still possible to copy & paste with Excell & Access.
I would suggest writing down the names of different businesses onto cards, and then have the students pull a card out of a hat. You could then assure that each of them had a fair shot, as well as reduce the change of cheating.
