So one of my classes (biology) had this final to prepare us for the AP test. However, before that final, I downloaded a bunch of real Collegeboard practice tests online (from reddit, it’s a repository of a bunch of different classes). And it just so happens that one of the tests I took happened to be the final, and now I’m accused of cheating. Should I refute this? Is it considered cheating when you were looking for practice resources to prepare yourself for the actual AP exam, and coincidentally, your own class’s final happens to be on that?
If the tests were officially released by College Board, then you are in the clear. If they were posted to Reddit by someone who got them “unofficially” (through some kind of cheating) then you aren’t.
Ah, I think the Reddit person said they received it from their teachers or something similar to that. But teachers are not supposed to share it. However, I feel that it is quite unfair for me to try to practice with exams, because the teacher doesn’t give out that many in the first place. In fact, I used it for multiple classes (like Comp Sci, which there were no exams for it done in class at all). I always thought that anything you found online is fair gain. And I didn’t specifically go out of my way and say “I’m so going to find the AP Bio final. Hehehehe.” I have a high A in that class anyways, so the final wouldn’t have made much of a dent.
Your teacher can’t be sure of your intent. (although with a high A in the class it seems unlikely that you’d need to cheat) That said, I think you should take your defense seriously, as cheating is a serious allegation!
Good luck, I hope it works out for you.
How did they find out?
I think the fact that you got it off of Reddit is going to be a problem. That’s why we are always deleting links to it on CC. Kids can get in trouble!
Why was the teacher using a test that was available on the internet? I don’t understand what you did wrong.
“I always thought that anything you found online is fair gain.”
Uh, NOOO!! Obtaining copyrighted materials through other than official sites is NOT allowed. Just like streaming music or videos for free on unauthorized site. IT IS ILLEGAL.
I don’t understand how you were found out – can you please explain a little more detail?
Lots of bad stuff on Redditt. There were leaks in China of actual SAT exams that were still in use. I’m not saying they made it to Redditt but don’t trust unauthorized sources. Be forthcoming and hope for the best.
Fair game. And no, it not. Illegal materials abound on the internet.
If you knew or should have known that the exam you took off Reddit was posted in violation of copyright laws, then you did something wrong which may be against your school’s rules.
But I don’t think that qualifies as cheating on the test, which strikes me as a different thing. Cheating, to me, would be getting hold of the test you knew you were taking or using crib notes or something like that.
If the test hasn’t been officially released by the CB, how did the teacher get it? If the teacher got it through unofficial sources the way you apparently did, s/he isn’t really in a position to complain. If s/he used an officially released old test, again, fair game for you to have found and studied from.
The teacher pulled an old test from the Internet to use as the final and, coincidentally, you happened to find the same test to study from? Oh, well. Too bad if the teacher doesn’t like it. That’s not cheating.
Wrong. Completely wrong. To give one example, I quote from my university system’s official policy on academic integrity, which defines academic dishonesty as including, among other things: “using material sources not authorized by the faculty member during an examination or assignment; utilizing devices that are not authorized by the faculty member during an examination or assignment”. Pulling stuff off of Reddit easily falls under this.
(In fact, this case may fall under another line in the policy, which forbids “possessing, buying, selling, obtaining, or using a copy of any material intended to be used as an instrument of examination or in an assignment in advance of its administration”. That’s a more questionable case, though, since the OP doesn’t appear to have known that this was what was going to be—or even likely to be—on the exam. Still, if there was a reasonable chance, that’s a problem for the OP.)
That is one type of academic dishonesty. Please don’t fall into the trap of thinking that because you have identified one, you have identified all.
If the teacher used a past AP biology exam as the class final, and you happened to download the old AP test before your final started, I don’t believe that’s cheating. Teachers/administrators/etc know that a significant number of past papers––whether AP, IB, etc––exist online. If they’re lazy enough to just use one of those as their final, then a) that’s pathetic and b) how can they assume that no one looks online? I think your best argument is that you were trying to download as many official practice tests as possible to prep for the AP exam.
I don’t understand @dfbdfb’s point. “using material sources not authorized by the faculty member during an examination or assignment” –– the OP gained access to the past test BEFORE the exam it sounds like." utilizing devices that are not authorized by the faculty member during an examination or assignment" –– again, BEFORE the test started. Now, if you knew which exam your final was and tried to find it, that’s a different story.
OP, am I correct in what the school is accusing you of?
Sadly I believe this is categorized as cheating because past AP exams are highly classified (my teachers don’t let us keep our tests after they’ve been graded because they have some old test questions that were released to teachers). Because you obtained these classified tests that you were not supposed to, that is theoretically cheating.
If both the student and the teacher obtained the test (independently) in an unauthorized manner, then both were cheating (in terms of copyright).
Very interesting situation! Unless there is more to the story, I think the OP is in the clear. If anything, the teacher has some answering to do as to why a previously prepared test was adminstered in his/her class. The teacher may in fact be the one who is violating copyright law for personal/professional gain!
@dfbdfb you say it is dishonest to use " material sources not authorized by the faculty member during an examination or assignment". Well first of all the OP didn’t use the source DURING the exam, and second, if preparation is included, are you saying the faculty member must explicitly authorize every book in the library to be allowed for studying?? How is pulling sample exams off the internet different than pulling practice exams from a book in the library? (again excepting the case that the teacher prepared an original exam that was somehow leaked to the internet…highly unlikely in this case, I think.)
I tell my kids when they are struggling with an concept (like a math concept) to Google it for alternate explanations. Sometimes seeing how someone else explains it makes it click. I don’t think that is cheating. I still think the OP has a problem if this is copyrighted and illicitly placed on Reddit, though.
@intparent: I do the same thing. Last year my son had a calculus homework problem he could not figure out… I googled the question on my computer and up pops the entire set of homework problems plus the answers!! They were from a school site in another state. He used it to clarify the one answer that had him stumped but I can see where a dishonest student wouldn’t really have to bother to understand anything.
I don’t understand how this could be cheating if the OP had no idea this would be the final and was genuinely studying. At my school, the teacher would probably be excited that someone was taking initative.
I think the best course of action, though, would have been for the OP to go talk to the teacher at the beginning of the test and possibly take an alternate final. (Which could still happen, I guess.)