<p>4 out of 10 grades were same. (Were incorrect answers on multiple choice also the same?)
All exams students logged in and logged off at the same time
One exam student A is gone and student B does poorly. Then student A returns and does well.</p>
<p>That above doesn’t indicate cheating in my opinion. </p>
<p>However, if the wrong answers on the exams are too similiar, then there would be reasonable suspicion of cheating. It is very unlikely that two students would get consistently same wrong answers on an exam. Collaborating that with taking the test at the same time and noticing big differences in performance when tests were taken on different days, that would be a reasonable case of suspecting cheating.</p>
<p>It is possible that the university is having cheating problems in on-line courses, and is encouraging professors to pursue suspected cases. (Not that this makes you feel any better)</p>
<p>Every university has a well-defined process for academic dishonesty cases, and probably an appeals process. They may not have much experience dealing with cheating by high school students in on-line courses, though. </p>
<p>My suggestion is to call the dean’s office and find out what the process is. I would not recommend starting out this interaction adversarially–just be the concerned parent of a high school student. The best case is when the person you talk to wants to help you.</p>
<p>The university can’t punish a student just because a professor feels like it. They have to present the evidence, a third party (university official, like a Dean) has to look it over, agree that the event transpired. Then an appeal process must be permitted in case of unfair or uneven treatment.</p>
<p>As a parent, I’d look carefully at what evidence the professor has and how that compares to the story the S or D has. If the evidence the professor has doesn’t strongly support cheating, I’d request a hearing through the Dean and hope that they will be fair and reasonable, and pursue an appeal if the punishment doesn’t fit the circumstances.</p>
<p>If the evidence the professor has combined with the S or D appears to indicate cheating took place, then I might be looking at an attorney to help the S or D get out of it.</p>
<p>In my opinion, the only thing that would strongly collaborate cheating would be if wrong answers on two tests were highly similiar (perhaps about 80% or higher were the same). Wrong answers shouldn’t be highly similiar on two tests. </p>
<p>Another highly suspect would be if all of the exams that had the same 4 scores the students missed exactly the same questions with exactly the same wrong answers.</p>
<p>Start/stop times for taking the exam, changes in performance of one student if another is absent, and 4 exams having the same score on a multiple choice exam is probably not enough to punish a student of cheating. Of course, this can be used to further validate cheating if the first two (same wrong answers or identical tests turned in) options were true.</p>
<p>Perhaps a good evening to rent and watch “Stand and Deliver” – where a group of Hispanic calculus students were accused of cheating. They had “too similar” scoring. Turns out what they had in common was the same teacher. The whole group approached problems the same way because they had the same instruction. </p>
<p>As to the kid that scored poorly one time and better another, the thing to do is ask. Did the kid have a bad taco? A migraine? A cat that died? Any number of things can affect one test on one day.</p>
I disagree. It’s easy for two students of similar abilities to have the same misconceptions, if they learned the material at the same time and from the same teacher. That can easily lead to getting the same wrong answers on a problem.</p>
<p>Like several others in this thread, I still remember being suspected of cheating in high school - I know it was in a math class, but I can’t remember which one. The teacher noticed that another student and I had the same wrong answers on a test, so next time he moved me to a different seat. It was a very small class in a small, rural school, so it was noticeable. I was mad about being suspected and mad that I was the one who was asked to move. (I thought it was because I was the girl.) The other student and I hadn’t cheated; we just had a similar approach to the problems and took the same wrong turns.</p>
<p>I find it disturbing that an instructor can fail 2 students based upon wrong answer statistics on tests that the proctor detected no problems with. Unless the professor has found that the computers used to take the exam were tampered with (not mentioned in the original complaint), I can only see a reason for the professor to proctor the exams himself (or herself) to validate or disprove this anomoly.</p>
<p>I’d be curious as to the instructor’s qualifications are with regards to statistics…</p>
<p>^ That’s exactly why I think there is more to the story. It wasn’t like the instructor sent a warning to the student, it was a full on fail or else. Perhaps the student was warned earlier or there is something else we don’t know.</p>
<p>I don’t think I’d ever fail a student based on suspected cheating based on multiple choice exam results.</p>
<p>Was the teacher satisfied? I know it is very annoying, but i think it is Better to be exonerated rather than to have that cloud of suspicion over you, even though it is very unfair that you get singled out and publcially humiliated by treated as a suspect in public.</p>
<p>I’m glad you’re going to fight this. The professor has to prove his accusations, and nothing he has said that I have read rises to that level, it’s all circumstantial.</p>
<p>From my years in graduate school I was aware of a few instances of cheating. When tests are done by hand and not multiple choice, believe me, you can spot the cheaters.</p>
<p>The format of this test would make it much more difficult to ascertain if someone is cheating. That doesn’t mean the standards are lowered so the professor can hide behind some statistical nonsense. He still has to prove his accusations, he can’t just say them. I’m really glad you’re going to fight this.</p>
<p>Let me ask you this. Did the students have to turn in any scratch paper that they used after the test?</p>
<p>That’s good advice, but just because a professor doesn’t take every possible anti-cheating measure doesn’t give students free-reign to cheat. The best option is honesty (NOT that the OP is not a cheater or anything, I just wantted to address that issue).</p>
<p>I hate cheating too. But if I want to prevent cheating then I have to be more proactive, especially when I don’t directly supervise the testing.</p>
<p>The burden of proof here is squarely on the professor. The allegations are very serious and he has to prove what he claims, it isn’t enough to be suspicious.</p>
<p>Last night, I received an e-mail from the professor saying we now have until tomorrow to decide how to handle this. His information was more specific than the principal’s. He states that, “We do not know how the cheating occurred. Our accusation is based soley on the pattern of answers that your son and another student at the school gave on several tests.”</p>
<p>This is the information he provided us with:
Nervous system test, they each scored 23/30 with the same 7 wrong.
Sensation and Perception, one student got 9 wrong, including all 8 the first student<br>
got wrong.
Third test (not identified), they got 6 questions wrong, 5 of the 6 were the same questions. </p>
<p>As hard as it is to say, I myself can see where that would look suspicious. My son still denies there was any cheating, and I think if there was it would have been the other student copying him. My son is #5 in his class of 444 based on the transcript I have now. </p>
<p>Our options are:
Fight it. I do have in writing the accusation is based solely on statistics. However, if the ruling is against him, he will be left with a permanent mark.<br>
He mentioned we can still take the WF grade, although some students appeal and end up with a standard “W” grade. In either case, it would then be up to the principal of the high school to decide what to put on his transcript. </p>
<p>I’m scared to death. I don’t want to jeopardize his future with the possibility that should we fight it, they would end up ruling against him and there would be a record of cheating on his transcript. He wants to go pharmacy school, so I’m afraid he would be risking that. To fight it would be taking a big chance, and as I said at this point I don’t think my son would turn in the other student if cheating did occur. I have had many conversations with him since this happened, and he sticks by his story. I don’t think he would turn the student in under any circumstances, honestly. If we did take the WF, I think we could more than likely get the principal to leave it off because of the fact it is technically not a class from his high school, even though the course is taken at the school. He is aware of the situation and knows that we feel pressured. I need advice!</p>
<p>smom, it seems that you are getting inconsistent information from the prof. Yesterday, the principal told you that your son was absent on test day but received a better grade when he took the test the next day. But the prof’s email to you seems to base his accusations primarily on the answer patterns for 3 tests. There were more than 3 tests given in the class, right? What about the other tests? And, how different were the patterns of correct/incorrect answers on your son’s and the other student’s tests compared with the rest of the class? </p>
<p>The evidence is suspicious, yes, but not damning. I think a meeting with the prof, your principal, the proctor and the prof’s dean or dept chair is warranted, and that you should immediately send an email to all of the parties requesting an extension of time to make your decision until that meeting can take place.</p>
<p>smom123 -
Have you had a conversation with the dean? </p>
<p>I am thinking out loud here - never been in your shoes but…
IF he takes the WF - then might another school inquire about it? If so, then he would need to explain anyway correct?
I am just thinking that the WF might not make this all go away.
What does your son think? Does he want to fight it?</p>
<p>smom, you are quite a spot. I thought about your situation, and I think how I would proceed is to negotiate for the W. I was thinking about this prior to the professor raising that suggestion. If you can just negotiate that and be assured that your son will get a W rather than a WF, I think it would better than risking a serious blemish on your son’s record.</p>
<p>True, I don’t have information from the other tests. There have been 10 total so far. He said the thing that brought it to his attention was the fact that my child was out of school on a test day, the other child did terrible on the test when they had been been doing fairly well, and my child came back the next day and got a great score. That is when he started comparing apparently. I’m assuming his 3 tests (or 4 if you include the test I mentioned) are all he needs to make his accusation.</p>