Reducing student cheating
What are some ways you can reduce the opportunity for cheating in your classes?
Hi Trina,
Trust is a factor, but even some students you place full trust in will try to take short cuts, which can be very disappointing.
Patricia Scales
to my experiance if you build up a trust between you and your students, believe it or not they are not cheating even you leave them aloan for a few minutes.. trust is the key and you have to let them know how much importent to you to trust them and deal with them like an adult.
Hi Sabrina,
Great story to share with students about cheating. They should certainly see the importance of being honest based on this story. We have to do the very best we can to deter our students from cheating.
Patricia
Hi Susan,
Great questions to ask students to really give them something to think about. Our students have a lot of issues, but no issue should be that major where you have to be dishonest. You seem as though you do a great job to emphasize the importance of being honest.
Patricia
I also tell my students, future medical assistants and pharmacy technicians, that they will be dealing with people's lives in their careers.
I ask them "If you cheat on a test, how will you not cheat at work?"
A good way to reduce cheating is to give the students plenty of hands-on learning time before they need to take a test or submit a research project. I feel only when people lack self-confidence do they actively cheat.
Also some of my students may not have their basic needs meet, such as adequate food, shelter, clothing,transportation, and safety and security. As a result they cheat for survival. Again, these types of students may not be best suited for health care positions until their basic needs are met and this goes beyond the scope of instruction.
I do my best to pass along the merits of honesty, integrity, and high standards of personal ethics, to my students. I own up to my own mistakes and try never to make excuses for my own failings.
I sometimes use 2 versions (same content, just organized differently) Also, I also prefer to stay at the back of the class. Moving around is also good - just not too often as to distract the students.
One of the things discussed on the first day of class is cheating. I always tell my students that being a medical assistant requires integrity. Most of the times, MAs deal with patients' lives. I give as an example an MA doing lab work on blood samples. If he/she messes with one sample but is afraid to own up, and instead uses sample from someone else's blood - I ask them that if one can cheat on a test in the presence of ten or more people around, who is to say that he/she won't do it when he/she is alone - as in the example given? Hopefully, it brings home the point.
Hi Donna,
Study guides are great for students to have. If they fail the test, they tend to take more responsibility because of having a study guide provided by the instructor. I can certainly see how a study guide can help minimize cheating.
Patricia
I think if you give them a study guide on the day before the test to go over the important points. This will reduce student cheating.
I try to spread the students out if possible. I also make it clear from the beginning that they (should have) studied and spent time preparing for the exam and need to be aware of roving eyes and to protect their papers.
As mentioned in the course I also spread the students before test. Usually I have scrambled test questions and purposefully distributed the tests so that wandering eyes were not as easily able to copy answers correctly.
If I catch a student cheating on a test, I take out points. Then we have a conversation where i explain to them the importance of integrity and honesty that this is not about just passing a test, and how important it is to aquire the knowledge, and skills.
Mary
Hi DaGabrielle,
Students will quickly realize if you are a push over or not. I can see how this method of testing really makes one study because they cannot look at their neighbor's paper to get answers.
Patricia
This section was extremely helpful. I've used most of the suggestions noted but I did find standing in the back of the room a helpful suggestion. I've been fortunate as most students suspected of cheating on exams in my classes find their grade on the exam more an example of not being prepared.
I give out different test. I normally generate 3 test and give them out like that so then when they realize what I have done they start to study and be prepared.
Hello Ms. Scales:
I do this as well. In addition, I tend to watch students from the back of the room rather than the front, as mentioned in the course material.
Best,
Susan
Hello Ms. Scales and colleagues:
Since I teach research methods as well as case analysis, I utilize turnitin.com to maintain student writing integrity. My students are studying to become proficient in a field in which ethics has been tested (i.e., accounting) over the last decade. Enforcing the requirement for original content ensures that (1) students can effectively paraphrase; and (2) that they are ethically prepared and motivated to excel in their chosen field one day soon.
Should students exceed an acceptable criterion for content, I return their paper and require a rewrite. Sometimes a grading penalty is assessed. However, we, as instructors, must be vigilant in enforcing the requirement for original content. This enhances the learning experience, and ensures rigor from a curriculum perspecitive.
Best,
Susan Weiss
Hi Phil,
Continue to do what you are most comfortable with when it comes to reducing cheating. Every instructor's personality is different.
Patricia
Making multiple tests, cell phones away, and table tops cleared except for the exam/test.
During tests, I am constantly moving. The randomness of movement helps dissuade cheaters. I use different tests to discourage wandering eyes. I attempt to make sure that every student is prepared for testing, in so doing the need for cheating is minimized.
I believe if the instructor is aware of their surroundings and makes it known to the students that he/she is paying attention while they are taking their exam, it will help keep the students from cheating. Poor classroom management will allow students to cheat.
