My TA told me to keep my eyes on my own paper during a test, which was odd cause I didn’t look at anyone’s test. Then the teacher came up to me and asked me to move seats. Now I’m really scared cause I think both of them think I cheated when I didn’t. I was sitting next to two of my friends but always looked at my own paper. What do I do?
I’m currently in a pedagogy class right now, and we’re learning about this very topic when dealing with students. This is just what we’ve learned, and what I have to say are the ethics that you’re supposed to follow.
I don’t know what your test was over, nor what the class is specifically, but if they have suspicion of cheating, they’re going to need GOOD evidence that it happened. They have your test, which if it were a serious enough concern, they will go over what you’ve written down on the page. If it makes valid sense, then they have little to go on. If it’s scantron-based, then they have an even more difficult time proving that you cheated because they need to locate the scantron of who they believe you cheated from. But they’re just bubbles. They can’t do much about it.
If it was a math test or something, and what you wrote doesn’t justify your answers (in accordance with the instructions), what the professor is supposed to do is give you a chance to defend yourself–how did you get from point A to point Z with no logic in between? At times, it can be a learning opportunity for both student and professor.
They also didn’t immediately kick you out of the exam, which a sign of hope.
If you’re really innocent, you have every right to deny the claim. The burden of proof lies with the TA and professor. They don’t have a camera to go back on (I assume), so they’re likely going to let it slide this time. However, in future exams you will be watched much more carefully and scrutinized much more heavily than other students. If for some reason you fail the exam because of the suspicion of cheating, do NOT hesitate to take further action to defend yourself. Even go higher up (department chair or course coordinator) if you need to. Again, the professor and TA must be able to provide proof that you cheated. Without any sort of proof other than he-said-she-said, they typically have to drop the claim.
In theory, most universities have a preponderance of the evidence standard for student disciplinary proceedings. This is a low bar, which means they find the professor’s testimony slightly more credible than yours. In practice, universities rarely discipline students over cheating accusations without substantial evidence.
Perhaps you have a nervous habit of looking around in a way that makes you look suspicious. You should try to stop doing that.
As a teacher, those are the things I do when I suspect cheating but am not sure. Don’t worry about it–when I do that and the student continues to ace tests, I’m fully satisfied.
I’ll note, as someone who’s been faculty at a few different universities, that when someone gives very definitive statements about policies and procedures (as, e.g., cameraphone did), there’s a pretty good chance they’ll be wrong. This is because policies and procedures differ, and sometimes significantly, between universities as far as what’s admissible as evidence, how much weight is given to different sorts of evidence, and so on.
(Also, it’s non-trivial but not really all that difficult to write exams that make it fairly easy to catch those who are cheating off someone else’s test, even in scantron format. How someone would think scantrons automatically make it incredibly difficult to catch cheating, I don’t know.)
If you can, space yourself from others. Also, you could try sitting at the very front where it would be difficult to look at other papers.
I also agree with @CheddarcheeseMN . You might have a nervous habit of
- looking around or turning around to look at a clock
- excess fidgeting/shifting in your seat
- while thinking of something your head is up and eyes looking around longer than you realize
- you are staring at someone or something
You might want to sit further away from your friends so they aren’t tempted to make comments or facial gestures/eye glances to you.
@Bieberfever1995 Did you discuss this with the TA/ Prof after the test? It may help shed some light on what the concern is and if there is a concern you can let them know you will be selecting a seat in the front of the room to alleviate any future concerns. Nips it in the bud.
Seconding what @paveyourpath said. (Also, you might find, say, that someone may have been looking at your paper without your knowledge but given the way seats were set up it was easiest to ask you and not them to move, and you’d find you’re in the clear and could stop being stressed.)