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Self-Assessment Question:
Do you need specific strategies for preventing cheating and policies
for dealing with it when it occurs?
Quick Take: Every
teacher in a situation with graded activities must think about the
possibility of cheating (also known as "academic dishonesty" or
"academic misconduct"), and make some plans for dealing with it.
Students themselves have reported a relatively high level of cheating,
by others and even by themselves: 40-70% say they themselves have
cheated at some time or other in college (Davis, p. 299.)
In
general, the best strategies are to take specific actions to PREVENT (or
at least minimize) cheating, but when it does occur: TAKE ACTION. Here
are more specific strategies.
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1. Make cheating "not cool": Develop group norms
against cheating |
a. At the beginning of the course, establish standards and
expectations of honesty. The syllabus should emphasize learning
goals, first and foremost. But when discussing how grades will be
determined, make it clear that academic misconduct will be
prosecuted and what the penalties will be. For example, when
cheating occurs, will you lower the grade on that assignment or in
the whole course, give an "F" on that assignment, give an "F" for
the whole course, or something else? Will there by different
penalties for different kinds of cheating?
b. If writing
assignments will be used, this is also a good time to help students
understand the difference between plagiarism and acceptable use of
outside sources.
c. Several authors note that having a good
relationship with individual students discourages cheating. People
are more reluctant to be dishonest with someone they know and
respect.
d. McKeachie (1994, p. 96) describes a course activity
he uses, to involve the whole class in a discussion of whether they
want to use the honor system that term. Even when they decide not
to, the discussion helps develop group norms for honesty and shows
all students that the majority of students do not like "cheaters."
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2. Make cheating "not necessary": Help students succeed without cheating
The two main ways to do this are: |
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Make the criteria for success in the
course very clear.
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Make sure that the resources and learning activities make it possible
for all to succeed. [Note: This is one area where norm-referenced
grading (i.e., pre-determining a percentage of the class to receive A's,
B's, C's, etc.) is disadvantageous, compared to criterion-referenced
grading.]
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3. Make cheating "not easy to do": Provide an appropriate testing
environment |
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When giving exams, don't overdo it but
make it clear that you or someone else is monitoring the exam
situation.
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Use alternate seating and/or alternate forms of the exam in larger
classes.
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When assigning papers, choose a device for selecting topics that
reduces the likelihood of students using previously written papers.
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4. Make cheating "not pleasurable": Take action when it occurs
This is the last resort, not the first. But when, despite other efforts
to eliminate or reduce cheating, a student still engages in academic
misconduct, do something about it--don't ignore it. That does a major
disservice to honest students in the class.· |
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All writers on this topic urge teachers to
follow school procedures. In most cases, this means reporting the
problem (or at least major problems) to the appropriate
administrative office, rather than just talking to the student about
it or only administering a teacher-imposed penalty. When teachers
fail to report problems of serious cheating, the institution has no
way of knowing when a given student is cheating in many classes and
needs to be dismissed or put on probation.
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Also follow whatever policies you put in your own syllabus on
cheating. To do otherwise is to reduce your own credibility in the eyes
of your students.
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McKeachie adds the good suggestion that one also consider contacting a
student's counselor or academic advisor. They sometimes know whether a
student is under some particular stress that would lead to cheating,
and/or whether cheating by this student is a concern of other teachers
as well.
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Source:
http://www.ou.edu/idp/tips/ideas/quick17.html
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