Tim,
Oh yes!!! Give credit where credit is due by rewarding those who cite their work and do their own work!
Shelly Crider
In addition, we should also try to tip the balance of reward (if cheating is successful) with respect to penalty of being caught. If the assessment has a major impact on course success, the pressure to cheat (to pass or for a better grade) is intensified. However, if the assessment is a small proportion of the overall measurement of success, the risk of getting caught outweighs the gain. Many small assessments over the span of the course will make the risk-reward equation balance in favor of not cheating.
When the assessment is a major part of the grading, however, the reward of cheating (if not caught) drives the desperate student to illegal actions. As a case in point, this story of an MCAT tester cheating in an on-ground, proctored environment: http://oncampus.macleans.ca/education/2011/05/31/b-c-men-charged-with-cheating-on-mcats . The reward of successful completion of the MCAT was so great, the cheater took a stupendous risk.
"Fences keep honest people out" is a truism, but if you have little to steal, you don't worry about thieves climbing over the fence. It also helps the "normally honest but scared" student stay honest, and supports their sense of right and wrong.
Victor,
Online or traditional classroom...we do need to watch for students who cheat.
Shelly Crider
Loretta,
I am very happy to hear that you care. When students know you care, you get more involved students.
Shelly Crider
I believe we should be concerned with students cheating in an online environment. I see this no different than cheating in a traditional classroom. Consistent lack of concern regarding the cheating issue in an online environment I believe weakens the overall credibilty of any distance learning education program and creates an environment where future students can expect to enroll in a less academic rigorous path while in pursuit of a "higher education". Instructors should be cognizant of the potential for students to submit previous work (or other peoples work), plagiarize, have someone else submit quizzes and exams on their behalf, etc. Our responsibility to the student, and the class should not be any different than serving as an instructor for a traditional class.
Disagree. Either way it goes student are hurting themselves in the long run. We as instructors are here to make sure that the student get the concept of the program. And I care.
Crystal,
I like that....you do need to appeal to their sense of right and wrong.
Shelly Crider
Now you have a great question! I think (and try) to present it in both a matter of fact way (if you cheat you will fail the course) as well as trying to appeal to their sense of right and wrong. We need to make sure we let the students know that they will not gain anything from cheating and if they are caught, the will not like the consequences. I also try to make them understand the sense of accomplishment they will have when they complete a task well. I also try to offer awards for great projects (such as having a contest for student projects and awarding a certificate for the best job and posting the best completed projects on bulletin boards within our school).
After going through the material for this section, I know I will be able to continue to do this with an online class, just modify the methods a little. I will also need to watch out for the cheaters in a bit of a different way.
Crystal,
You are so right again! Students are merely robbing themselves, but how do we impress that fact upon the student without pushing them away?
Shelly Crider
I disagree. I feel that we should always be on the lookout for cheating. By cheating, a student is not only robbing himself or herself of gaining useful knowledge, they are degrading the instructor and their peers who put the time and effort into executing the task. If a student is allowed to “get away with†cheating they will continue to do so. There are many things we can do try to prevent it.
• Run plagiarism checkers
• Check time, date, and author stamps
• Have exams proctored
manuel,
This is true. Each time a student cheats, it actually comes back on the school.
Shelly Crider
We should be concerned about students cheating in an online environment because at the end of the day the student needs to know the material to perform in the real world. Otherwise they'll crash and burn and the institution that issued the certificate get a bad reputation on the market place.
agree, cheating is cheating whether it happens in online or traditional classes.
Neidra,
That is so true. Many students simply do not know how to cite properly or even to cite at all!
Shelly Crider
I don't know if you can gauge cheating in the online environment. Students have access to a sundry of resources not available to them inside of the classroom. Outside of plagiarism, students may not know that they are cheating.
About using the same paper for two classes: A fellow instructor and I actually worked out an assisgnment where the reaserch and the body of the work could be used for both our classes. My class was an introductory class for the primary field that was being studied at the career college, and the other instructor taught speech. The assignment was specifically a "demonstration/ presentation" which worked in perfectly with my course and the speech class. Fortunately our classes were back to back with the same students. The other instructor and I decided on the parameters for the topics. Each student had to have the topic approved by both of us. My class was always a few miniutes after the sprrch class ended. I would attend the earlier speech class to hear and assess the students presentation. It really freed up time that I could address other subjects (and be able to have a class discussion) that I often had to hurry through.
Everyone has a different philosophy on the retaking of exams. If you are becoming certified and you do not pass the test first time, you can retake certification exams. So, why not allow students to retake exams. I was allowed to retake a medical terminology exam when I worked for an insurance company. Although I got a 90%, I wanted 100% so I took it again and got the grade I wanted. But more importantly, I still remember my medical terms and it has been 32 years since I took that class.
Andre,
some students simply like the challenge of cheating!
Shelly Crider
Sandy ,
Many students simply do not know how to cite correctly. Teaching students this one task will help them a great deal.
Shelly Crider
Scotty,
There are students who miss the big picture....very sad indeed.
Shelly Crider
