<p>Thanks for the insight, lskinner...I can see I don't have the imagination to be a good academic cheat. Just as well...</p>
<p>If the test was a MC test, I suppose a cheater could take an A test and change his answers on his exam paper to match those answers. </p>
<p>I think it's outrageous for the teacher to make such an allegation! I had a friend whose 4th grade daughter worked like a dog on her "State Report"--only to get an F. The teacher thought she cheated because her work was much better than her usual product. Talk about crushing a kid!</p>
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so the practice of altering bluebooks may exist.
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<p>Indeed it does. </p>
<p>Googling on "cheating altering exam" turns up a large number of academic honesty policies that explicitly mention this practice. </p>
<p>One of the google links is an annual report from Yale which briefly describes all disciplinary cases that came to administrators' attention during the year, along with the disposition of each case. Three of the cases in that year's report involved altering exams and submitting them for regrading.</p>
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...A sophomore was suspended for two terms for resubmitting forged blue books....A freshman was reprimanded for adding an answer to an exam after the test was over....A sophomore was suspended for two terms for changing the answers on an exam after the exam had been corrected.
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<p>Aside from plagiarism, the three cases above were the most common form of academic dishonesty that came before Yale's administration that year. (The only other case of exam cheating was a student who referred to course notes in the rest room during an exam.)</p>
<p>EDIT: On further reflection, the second case mentioned above may have been a student who added an answer after time was called for the exam, but before handing it in for grading. The third example cited is the most unambiguous example.</p>
<p>Maybe watching fireworks? He/she sure has a lot of nerve starting an interesting thread and then not hanging around all day to hear the advice! ;) Just kidding, but it is the fourth of July!</p>
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One poster mentioned that a prof was in the habit of copying bluebooks to trap cheaters,
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<p>That was me. I should add that the practice also protects honest students. In that class, I found some sort of problem with my exam. As I recall, the prof. mentioned that he might check my bluebook against his copy before fixing my grade. It was nice knowing that the prof. wouldn't doubt my honor.</p>
<p>It would probably be enough for the prof. to just announce that he or she might copy the bluebooks, even if it's just a bluff.</p>
<p>The problem with any accusation, if one is innocent, is that it is very hard to prove a negative. This isn't the kind of thing where you have an alibi--unless you can prove you were in Aruba while the bluebooks were left in the hallway.</p>
<p>I don't think a professor would accuse a student of cheating unless there is a reason because it's too much hassle, and most teachers are not out there to get their students. I think many people have posted good questions. Where is OP anyway? We need him/her to come back to answer these questions.</p>
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<p>I don't think a professor would accuse a student of cheating unless there is a reason because it's too much hassle, and most teachers are not out there to get their students.<<</p>
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<p>And if the reason is nothing more than the student did so much better on the final than on his homework and there are some erasures on the test? As Marite said, how do you tell if the erasures were during the test or after the test? As a teacher, I would at least try to see if the student really did cram and knew his stuff...not just send his name to the Honors Council.</p>
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Well, I'm learning new things all the time on CC!
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<p>sja.ucdavis.edu/files/tips.pdf has a number of pages of suggestions for faculty to create a climate of academic integrity--including both positive, proactive, and inspirational suggestions as well as practical deterrence tips.</p>
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I should add that the practice also protects honest students.
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<p>I agree--I think this is a very important point. Professors may find it distasteful to take deterrence measures, but it does indeed protect the integrity of the honest as well as deterring and/or detecting the dishonest.</p>
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Prof should announce that he WILL copy bluebooks, even if it is only a bluff.
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<p>This strikes me as intentional dishonesty and an inappropriate example on the part of the professor. </p>
<p>An acceptable honest alternative is that the professor could state that he reserves the right to copy bluebooks for this purpose or that he may copy a random subset of the bluebooks of unspecified size.</p>
<p>I think too few teachers actually stand up to bring cheaters forward. Too many students cheat and get away with it. My D knew too many kids in high school that cheated and got into top schools. Many of her teachers were very reluctant to deal with it because fear of law suit.</p>
<p>What strikes me as odd about the original post was that the bluebooks were apparently found in the pile with all the other bluebooks. Why would a student send an e-mail questioning his or her marks without first retrieving the exam to review it?</p>
<p>If the practice of altering bluebooks is as widespread as it seems to be from what posters have said, the fact that the bluebooks were left in hallways is inconsequential in this particular case.</p>
<p>I've always disliked MC tests, and now there is a reason to dislike them even more. My S has had tests that were open books, some that were take-home, some in which lists of questions from which the final, in-class exam would be drawn. I do not recall MC questions being included in his tests.</p>
<p>Profs could do a lot more to curb cheating without seeking to trap cheaters, by devising different kinds of exams.</p>
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Why would a student send an e-mail questioning his or her marks without first retrieving the exam to review it?
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<p>Many students have their last final exam and leave town well before professors have finished grading their exams. So I don't find this particularly strange.</p>
<p>In fact, if the student can document when s/he left campus (e.g., by a plane ticket or receipt for turning in dorm keys), that might help establish an alibi showing the student did not have the opportunity to retrieve the graded exam.</p>
<p>If the test were MC, would the answers have been written in a blue book or would it have been a sheet of paper with the bubbles on it? I'm guessing if a blue book was used, it was probably an essay test. A little more difficult to alter.</p>
<p>"so I asked my professor if he could review the exam, make comments, and then mail it to me"</p>
<p>Maybe the professor didn't want to go to this trouble. I can imagine that if everyone in the class wanted the prof to do this, it could be pretty time-consuming.</p>
<p>Profs are supposed to provide comments. And if there is a dispute over grades, they are supposed to go over the exam--which the prof presumably did in order to allege cheating. It's part of the job; they cannot refuse to review exams unless they are morally, totally, absolutely certain that no error was committed. But only God can achieve that degree of certitude (God, however, has a non-paying job).</p>