It's easy to fall into old habits and patterns. Changing the quizzes and finals not only dampens the possibilities for cheating, but also keeps us fresh with our material.
I also use this method - has worked for me.
The first day in class when I go over the syllabus I explain the consequences of cheating. Besides that, I have the same test in four different forms ABCD and order. Usually, in particular if I suspect somebody may be attempting to cheat, I will stand in the back of the class observing while they take the test.
I make two forms of the same test(a TestA and a Test B). And I pay attention attentively.
having diffent test is a great idea,difficult to grade but a great idea, separating the students helps if there is room, or changing seats for those who write on the desks
Unfortunately most of our class rooms do not allow us enough space to spread students out during tests. I usually walk around. I will have to try stationing myself behind students, but again a lot of our classrooms do not allow for that either. I liked to idea of having different versions of the test and that would be simple enough to do. Most of our exams are from electronic test banks that will scramble the questions for you. On my shorter quizzes, I use short answer questions, and do not have any problems with cheating.
I walk around the class during the exam and this helps a great deal in preventing cheating.
I give the students separate tests, Test A and Test B and separate the students by spacing them out. Plus I watch them all attentively.
While reviewing the course syllabus, explain the penalty for cheating. Also, give specific details on what the student should focus on for the test, so the test expectations will be clear.
I utilize an exam program that allows me to create many different versions of the same test or quiz. This allows me to maximize my assessment development time while reducing the opportunities for students to look at others' test/quizzes for answers. Students know up front that I do this so it takes away the need for the wandering eye.
Hi David,
You are right. Short answers are more work on the instructor, but as educators we should not do what's easiest for us; we should do what's best for the student. I hear instructors say all the time t/f and mutiple choice tests are a lot easier to grade.
Patricia
Send the right message right at the start of class "I will be watching" Because prevention is still the best medicine...
Some of the more obvious things you can do is to spread the students out so they are not on top of each other while taking the test. This is not always a solution as class sizes are many times very large for the classrooms we use. Another thing I do is to remind the students in the first class session why it is important they not cheat. I stress the importance of understanding the content to be taught as they will have to pass a national examination after they graduate in order to get their license to work. I tell them there is no way they will be able to cheat on the national examination because they take it at a testing center and are not allowed to take anything in to the computer testing room. Another thing I do is to give different tests. The questions are all the same and the choices are all the same but the choices are scrambled. I use up to 4 different versions on objective style tests so they can't just look at a question on another student's test and copy the answer. I use mostly objective type questions because those are the types of questions used on their national board examinations.
Bill
T/F and multiple guess tests are easiest to cheat on...short answer are tougher
All papers submitted to our school must be run through Turnit In. I make reviewing similarity scores a part of the pre-grading process. I review any Turnit In reports that come back with high similarity scores to find out the source of that score. I do this every time. By being consistent, I can identify cheating students quickly, rather than letting them slip through the cracks.
I also teach a session on citation and avoiding plagiarism. I make my zero tolerance policy for academic dishonesty clear from day 1, including announcements and in class discussions on it.
there are different ways to do. First of all, students can only come to test with a pen and an eraser. You can alternate questions and/or tests among students.
We attempt to reduce cheating in the classroom by having all students place backpacks, books, cell phones in the front of the class room. The students can only have two pencils on their desk top. The instructor will roam the room during testing. There are no breaks while students are testing. We alternate tests A, B, and C. Students who are absent on the test day will receive an alternate test. This tends to decrease cheating in the classroom overall.
In our campus, we are required to have all electronic equipment off and in front of the classroom. We use several proctors to walk around during the test and we have a Test A,B, C with different questions and different answers to select in different order.
One of the ways I have done this is to have the test printed on different colored papers and tell the students that each colored paper is a different test. Another way that I am looking at doing is to have the tests done timed on the computer in the classroom no books allowed and the computer is locked as to trying to copy the test and send it to another student for future testing. I have not implimented the computer testing yet but I have learned that this is the way the National Boards are going so we need to start having students take tests this way to prepare them for their National tests.
Well I start each test/exam by making a statement. "Please, do not put me in the position of failing you?" I then walk around the class room the whole time. That is very similar to what my instructors did when I was in college.
It seemed to keep me focused.
