Seating Arragements
Our classroom is small and we have a lot of students. Since they have to sit closely together, I think that it would be easy to cheat. What is the best way to arrange the seats for exams?
I agree, having the same test with mixed questions helps prevent cheating. Also moving around in the classroom while the test is going on lets the students know your watching what they are doing.
I think this may be effective especially if you are assigning them a seat next to another student they don't usually socialize with. This "new" seating arrangement would make it more awkward for looking at another's answers.
I use a couple options, often both together. I seat the students differently, so they are not close to the students they usually hang out with, and I give the exact same test, but with the questions scrambled. That way, nobody can complain that their version of the test was more difficult than somebody else's version.
During any quiz or exam i don't allow students to seat in the same spot. I usually assigned sitting as they walk in. It is hard the first time i doit, but after it becomes part of the classroom structures.
After taking this part of this course. I believe I have decided that to discourage the temptation to cheat I will have the students sit every other seat in the classroom. Has anyone else tried this approach and how did it work for you?
Hi Jeremy,
You do not have many options with arranging the seats. You need to make different versions of the test. Just mix up the arrangement of test questions to create different versions of the test.
Patricia Scales
Hi Amanda,
I concur! The best way to deter cheating is to let your students know that you are watching them, and you are mobile and on you feet while they are testing.
Patricia Scales
If you don't have much room to space them out in the class (I'm assuming you can't seat a student every other desk?) the material made a good suggestion of monitoring your students from the back of the class. Knowing that your presence is back there and you are watching for any wandering eyes may be enough to deter them from the idea of cheating. Just a thought!
