If the classroom allows, put a chair between each student, have them clear their desks, and walk to the room while they are testing. This will reduce the opportunity, and less cheating will be noted.
Walk around the room so the students know you are observing them. Have all books, papers, cell phones etc. put away.
The opportunity is reduced if there are different versions of the test given at the same time.
I use spacing of students far enough apart so that it should eliminate the copying from others.
I space the students out as much as possible, nothing on the desks, at all, including cell phones. I make sure they aren't even in their pocket. I have caught two students using cell phones to cheat. Also, at the beginning of a course we have a very long discussion regarding cheating. I teach Medical Assisting classes, so I try to show them the importance of ethics. How cheating is a sign of your character & if there is a problem with information not sticking, please come to me. This really has worked. Of course with time I've learned some tricks!
Hi Lisa,
I have also find that if you keep students engaged there is less student chatter as well. What do you typically do to minimize cheating?
Patricia
I find if you do more class discussion there is less student chatter. Keeping them involved & engaged has worked for me.
Hi Joseph,
These tactics are very effective in preventing cheating. Three sets of tests are real painless to create with today's technology.
Patricia
I like the idea of using 2 sets of test questions. This ensures that students cannot look off of the student next to them (and if they do, it will be obvious).
I have them clear the tables of everything, put away cell phones and they are not allowed out during there exam.. Then I have 4 different versions of the test..
I really like this answer. It is simple as sounds so efficent.
Some ways that I could reduce the opportunity for cheating in my class are as follows:
1)arrange seating so that students aren't able to look over one anothers shoulders.
2)Stand in the back of the class
3)Gain their respect
4)Be aware of notes, clothing, and body parts that can have answers written on them.
5)Be aware that some students will roll their eyes as they are thinking, do not assume they are cheating. Keep watching them.
I offer various things to reduce stress. A walk down the hall and back, I will give them a hint on a question, go on and then return to difficult questions. I will also have a 1-1 if I observe a student having severe difficulty. Sometimes they are having a personal crisis and feel pressured.
The biggest thing I do is make sure we learn, review and practice everything they are assessed on.
I reduce the possibility of cheating by actively walking around the room during testing. One could also, if space allows, seperate students to decrease the chance of cheating. I feel that if I am tentative and moving around the class, the students will be less likely to cheat and I use this method most frequently.
Hi David,
Self confidence does play a part in cheating. If you are confident in your knowledge about the test, you do not feel a need to cheat. Those who question their knowledge base as it pertains to a particular test has more of an urge to be dishonest when it comes to testing.
Patricia
A simple step for me to use different sets of test. Like a test a,b,c,d.
mixed questions and sections. and you have to know how to spot the cheaters and put yourself in their shoes, we were all students at once and we know the tricks.
simply stating you will get a zero or you will only cheat yourself (which is true) will not deter them.
Hi Sherri,
Students need to really understand what is meant by being ethical. I like how you ensure your students understanding of being ethical. Many of our students have only learned how to beat every system they come in contact with. They know how to survive.
Patricia
Position yourself in such a way as to be able to see everyone during the test.
There are several ways, such as devising tests that make it more difficult to cheat, such as scrambling answers or devising tests with three different formats and then give them out alternately across the rows of students. Depending on how you set up the question, such as a case study, also makes it much harder to cheat on the answer. Other ways are to continuously walk around the class, and to park at the back of the class - much easier to see them that way. I make students put all cell phones away, and if they claim emergency status (someone at home sick, etc.) they then can give me the cellphone and I offer to answer it for them (horrors!) - otherwise, they need to learn to turn it off while testing. Separating students also works well.
I have the students sit every other seat, put their cell phones up on the table in front of them, and all books and notebooks go in their bags and go under the table. We have incidents of students using their cell phones to text friends outside of class for answers, thus having their cell phones up on the table in front of them. It amazes me the new ways students have found to cheat. We have a test proctoring policy that states the instructor has to be physically observing the class for the entire test. We can't be working on lesson plans or grading papers as the students take a test.
