<p>Sooo I have recently been punished for "cheating" on a test in my AP Physics B class. It was a free response test and I got all of the correct answers...but I didn't show any of my work. Because of this my teacher concluded that I got the answers through cheating, gave me a 0 on the test, and wrote me up to the administrators for academic dishonesty.</p>
<p>All of my attempts to appeal this decision have failed. I tried to prove to my teacher that I could do the work and I got my parents involved and all that jazz, but the policy is "if it looks like you cheated, you cheated". I asked my guidance counselor and she said that this indication of academic dishonesty will show up on my transcript and can never be removed.</p>
<p>I'm a junior right now, and I know that when college apps come around they all ask something like "have you ever been disciplined for any form of academic dishonesty since the 9th grade?". I am going to have to answer yes to this, but I didn't even cheat, I just failed to show my work. </p>
<p>I've read around CC that if you must answer yes to that question, show remorse in your explanation and tell what you have learned from being caught cheating. </p>
<p>But what if I didn't cheat? How should I go about explaining it?</p>
<p>Threaten to take the school to the district level.
A teacher from TFA came to our school to teach for a year, then he left without submitting my final grade. After that I transferred to another school and he another, but a semester past and still no grade! At that point I had frequently contacted my old school, but every time the principal always said, “we’re taking care of it.”
So I emailed the district and told them what happened. Lo and behold, they got into contact with the principal of my old school right away! A few days later I got my grade back, though not the same grade, but still an A for the class.</p>
<p>What, did you just write all the answers down? I took AP Physics B last year and I remember the scoring guide is VERY meticulous about work. Like the answer is worth only 1 point out of 3 or 4 points and points are given just for writing down the formula. I was always annoyed because I didn’t show all the “correct” work, like writing “conservation of energy applies” or the basic formulas; I just jump right into the work for the answer.</p>
<p>How did you even solve those questions without showing any work?
I took AP Physics B during high school and I remember writing endless amounts of work.
Even I’d be suspicious</p>
<p>What kind of questions were on the test? Finding resistance in a series (simple)? Or calculating the net force of both electromagnetic and mechanical forces acting on an object (difficult)?</p>
<p>If you can show that you did the work in your head, you might be able to prove yourself right. I usually show minimal or no work on homework–thanks to my Ti-89–but on tests, I show as much work as time allows.</p>
<p>If you really didn’t cheat and can prove it by doing another test - different problems - without showing work, then consider consulting an attorney. School districts don’t like law suits.</p>
<p>Your shool’s administrators will only do so much. If you’re serious about your appeal take it to the district level. Walking in there with an attorney wouldn’t be a bad idea either. If you can’t afford one get your unlce to dress up lol.</p>
<p>You should sit down with your teacher and talk about this ability of yours to do all the math in your head. You will need to demonstrate this skill with another set of problems. This is an uncommon talent, and your teacher may never have seen it before in a student.</p>
<p>You also need to find out exactly how much work your teacher expects to see written down so that you can fulfill that requirement in future exams. If your brain is deriving the results in a way that truly is not consciously accessible to you, you and your teacher need to talk about the best way for you to represent those steps that you are consciously aware of. For example, if you do not process this information specifically with words or numerals because you think visually, you may need to come up with a drawing.</p>
<p>If you are writing only one or two words for the answers because you just don’t like writing, ask yourself if this is a pattern for all of your classes, or for a particular type of class. Is it challenging for you to get the words onto the paper if you write in pencil? Is it easier if you write with a keyboard? In that case, you may want to be screened for any processing disorder. There are many small steps between the eyes/ears, the brain, the hand, and the paper. If any one of those steps doesn’t work as efficiently as the others, it can result on difficulties with writing.</p>