<p>I am a high school teacher, and I encourage my students to collaborate on homework. In fact, they are most welcome to stay after school and work on their homework in my classroom and get my help. However, I am very strict about cheating on tests and quizzes, and I did not believe that it was much of a problem, until recently.</p>
<p>I was unwell on a day that a test was scheduled in one of my honors classes. The substitute administered the test for me. I was just about to begin grading the test, when I received an email from one of my colleagues who informed me that a student was boasting to others that he had copied the entire test from a classmate. I checked the tests and found that two of the tests were identical, down to the errors. When I confronted them, the cheater accepted responsibility, but said very calmly that he saw nothing wrong with cheating if given the opportunity, and that he did not regret it at all. On reflection, I feel that he was just putting on a tough act; but at that time, I was shell-shocked and completely speechless. I kept asking myself that if we do not teach integrity, then what is the value of the education we provide?</p>
<p>To make a long story short, this student, who had excelled before (I am certain that this was the first time he had cheated in my class…he had very innovative ways of solving problems!) went from an A to failing the class, in spite of my best efforts to let him know that I had no hard feelings and that I understood that students make bad decisions sometimes. It was almost as if he had decided for himself that the consequence for his transgression was to fail the class.</p>
<p>I feel troubled both by the culture among students that condones cheating, and the pressures placed on students that force them to adopt any means to achieve success. I fear that the ultra-competitiveness of the college admissions process is having the detrimental effect of weakening the moral compass of our young students.</p>
<p>@MaineLonghorn: I’m sorry but it is true. Students like me will sometime have this urge to cheat if it get too hard. Teachers that prevent cheating are good. Teachers that doesn’t aren’t really “bad” but rather lazy or care less. </p>
<p>But I haven’t cheated at all since this school year started. But I saw people flat-out cheating. Heck even my Spanish teacher last year just admitted that: “If you’re gonna cheat don’t make it obvious.” While it might seems she allowed cheating she said the funniest thing: “Don’t look right, left, or up. There is no reason to look up, there is nothing up there. Only look down at your paper.” Her efforts to make the tests seem easier (as Spanish is a learn-it-or-don’t subject for most people) were effective but the rest is up to the students.</p>
<p>As for the ACT/SAT, Previously there was no ID and Photo in advanced required. Now it is required. That means there is no way you can get someone else to take your test. But having taken the SAT yesterday under this new policy I notice a fatal flaw: Say for example a students already get an high scores on his SAT (2250) and already got accepted into an Ivies. His friend is lower (1600) and asks for help. The register for the same day, same test and showed up at the same time to get into the same classroom. There are two scenarios:
1.) The first two 25 minutes passes and bathroom break. While no one is looking they switched book and answer sheet. the 2250 guy have not really about lower SAT scores but the other guys get inflated (I don’t want to say unrealistic because he may had the potential to get 2400 any time) scores. The teacher had no idea, no one does.
2.) They simply switch seat and do the same thing.</p>
<p>Both of these are on part of students AND teachers; being it can be prevent only by watchful eyes.
I’m not saying this actually happen but I’m just pointing out the flaw or rather “the last opening for cheating”. Everything have been done by the SAT/ACT board, the rest is up to the test administration. </p>
<p>Technology: I do, however, believe that school that allow cell phones usage in class are opening up a can of worms for cheating. My school don’t allow cell phones at all or ANY electronic devices but it sort of stupid (this is 2012 where the world is connected by the technology revolution). Like Cell phones (or now smartphones) should be allowed like during lunch and passing period (assuming you can get to class in time) but there should be “no-phone zones” only in classrooms. This way cheating can be prevented by use of technology and a school could advance technologically.</p>
<p>I admit, I cheat occasionally. For me, it’s mainly copying HW assignments. In rare instances, I’ll ask my neighbor for an answer or two to a test or quiz. One time I copied a full vocab quiz from this girl who sits in front of me and got a 110. I only copied because I hadn’t received my vocab book to study from, yet he still administered the test to me. </p>
<p>I also don’t have a problem with people copying off my work. I’m a real popular guy at school, and the last thing I would want to do is have a crazy rumor spread across the entire school saying that I didn’t let someone copy off my work. Plus, it shows that people think I’m intelligent (Which I am :D)</p>
<p>…but cheating is a habit that I must get out of. As my name states, I want to be a doctor. I can’t cheat when it comes to saving people’s lives.</p>
<p>This is nonsense. If you cheat, it’s ENTIRELY YOUR FAULT. Just because it’s “easy” to cheat makes no difference. Do you know how easy it is to cheat on taxes? If you cheat, though, it’s still your fault.</p>
<p>Ugh, it reminds me of when my kids do something and then whine, “It’s not MYYYY fault!!” Well, yes, it is. Good grief.</p>
<p>I’m not gonna lie and say that I have never done it before, because lets be honest, we all have or will at some point. I will agree that there definitely are different kinds of cheaters out there. I think it only becomes a serious problem when someone does it numerous times and consecutively does it. And at that point, at least in my school, if you are resorting to doing that for almost every test/quiz, you’re gonna get caught.</p>
<p>At my school, I don’t think its that huge a problem because most teachers pretty much patrol around the room. There are no cell phones in class so that type of cheating isn’t a problem. Plus, there are pretty big consequences for cheating if caught. The most I see is people doing their homework in the morning and copying. Let me just put this out here, my current English teacher told us not to cheat because its not worth losing your integrity. If you don’t know it, you simply don’t. I completely agree with him. A teacher will probably never look at you the same way if you are caught. Of course, we all have probably done it before, but we’re human and I think as long as you don’t make it a habit, its fine and you’ll probably regret it later and realize that you shouldn’t do it again.</p>
<p>I heard some juniors in my Spanish class bragging to each other about how they “cheated so hard” on a bio test. Awesome.</p>
<p>How do you guys feel about sharing study guides with large groups of people? We have a strict-ish honor code that mentions collaboration between peers - as in, don’t do it. My Brit Lit class explicitly states that using guides/summaries is cheating.</p>
<p>What tends to happen, for example, is the night before my Global Voices test, some kid on Facebook was like “like my status for a study guide” and basically the whole class did, and they all ended up looking at the same nit-pick summaries and character analysis. I think cramming that kind of information in your head is stupid, so I opt-out when people ask me. Most of the teachers i’ve asked have no opinion but there is something that doesn’t feel right about it.</p>
<p>So cheating isn’t really that bad. I know a girl who doesn’t do her own homework most of the time (but i’ve never witnessed it), but i’d rather watch her coast now and then crash and burn later on than rat her out.</p>
<p>@Elleya What exactly does your Brit Lit teacher mean by using guides/summaries is cheating? Like sparknotes, etc? Because I know in a lot of my classes people take notes while reading the assigned book and make a study guide using those notes to study for a quiz/test. But if your teacher meant when kids use ONLY guides and summaries and don’t read the book, then I agree.</p>
<p>@marissa; yeah, she means no sparknotes, cliffnotes, etc. I’m sure that she definitely means “don’t just read summaries,” but the rule implies that looking at summaries isn’t allowed. </p>
<p>But what you also describe is what a lot of my friends do, they think it’s fun to take our notes/the summaries from SparkNotes and compile it into a huge guide and share it with whoever wants it. I think it’s an unfair situation for everyone, from the freeloaders to the fact that everyone is just cheating themselves by either a.) not reading, or b.) reading half-arsedly then using a guide to figure out the rest.</p>
<p>and to clarify my previous post, when I said, “yeah, it’s not that bad,” I meant the scale of cheating in my school. I think cheating/copying/what have you is sickening and i’d never do it and have never done it. I just feel bad/sad for the people who do/feel that they have to.</p>
<p>There is a fair amount of cheating that goes on in my school - mostly on homework and tests - but it seems to be pretty concentrated. There are about 10-15 “known” cheaters - everyone (sometimes I even think the teachers…) know they don’t do any work. The frustrating thing is their average is 5-6 points higher than me. </p>
<p>On the topic of “study guides” - I make them fairly regularly from my own notes. I think it’s okay to share them for classes like math/science where the formulas are “known” knowledge and the information “concrete.” I wouldn’t share my study guides for a class like english - because those our my own theories/ideas/opinions.</p>
<p>I agree. I make study guides with my own notes for science and history. I think study guides are a method of studying. Although, when you aren’t using your own notes or are copying something, then I would say it falls in to a category of cheating. But other than that, I wouldn’t consider study guides cheating.</p>
<p>Cheating… Meh, I don’t really care much anymore as grades don’t really matter from this point on in the college admissions in terms of my school’s grades. For those that do it, it’s their issue and their own integrity. </p>
<p>This approach is slightly influenced at the negativity I’ve received when trying to deal with cheaters, as a student the only thing more I could do would be to tell the teacher, but I’m not going that far. </p>
<p>As for cheating nowadays at school, I don’t see it occurring often, but the previous classes sort of infuriated teachers, made them stricter about cheating, and such and such so that it affects classes down the line.</p>
<p>There actually isn’t a lot of cheating. Kids don’t see a point to it. There aren’t rules against working together on or copying homework. And it’s not really possible to cheat on tests.</p>
<p>Cheating is not a big problem at our school. People do ask questions about tests/quizzes but it’s not a big deal since we all help each other out, with homework or/and borrowing textbooks. Everyone cheats on tests and such in my APUSH class, since she just walks around a few times. Hmm… everyone in my English class sophomore year cheated on spelling tests, book tests, etc. Everything my teacher gave us, we copied each other or looked on other papers.</p>
<p>The kids who cheat in my school are the ones who are nowhere near my class rank and we’re not graded on bell curves, so I couldn’t care less what score they got.</p>