Cheating & Paranoia in Community College Exams

[Math Is Hard]

Last night I was taking an exam and my teacher did something that startled me. She came over and lifted up my hand and lifted up my scantron form to check for any kind of cheating (a cheat sheet, I guess?). This has never happened to me before.

The community college science classes I take seem to be extremely vigilant about any sort of dishonest behavior going on. They ask that you put your bags and books to the side of the room, seating is assigned, different exams are given out, and if any person is late and enters before someone leaves, they have to take a zero for the exam.

I have some friends who are community college teachers and they have confided that cheating is rampant. I can understand that this is a problem, but this seems to be an ENORMOUS problem.

I guess I am grateful, because I sure hate it when other students try to cheat off my test (I know when its happening and it makes me really nervous), so I like that the teachers are being watchful. But it was just so weird to me because I am a diligent student, and I felt sort of randomly singled out last night, the way they pick people at the airport for security checks.

I also take classes at a regular four year university and I find the atmosphere much more relaxed during exams. Is cheating truly more of a problem in the community college classes, or are the four year universities not looking for it as hard?

 

[Pengwuino]

Its a huge problem at my university as well. The problem, i bet, is that cheating was never dealt with in high school. When i was in HS, it was incredible when someone WASN'T cheating and the teachers didn't care.

The problem you might have faced at a different college (or more likely at a HS) is that if someones caught cheating off of you, BOTH of you woudl get zeros. They did that in my high school and I was just amazed at how they could even imagine giving both people zeros if one idiot peaks at someones test

 

[Poop-Loops]

Cheaters are begging for an ass-kicking. Apparently in my Calc classes last year, all of the running start (a program where in your last 2 years of high school you take half HS classes, and half community college classes, for free :D ) kids just cheated off of each other and the teacher never noticed.

Now, brats like that might not care, but people who worked HARD to know what they do, care a LOT. ESPECIALLY if the test or class is graded on a curve.

I wish beating someone for cheating was legal, I would major in that instead of physics.

PL

 

[Pengwuino]

Should have reported them. Problem is that people don't report this crap and end up complaining about it to themselves later.

 

[Poop-Loops]

No, plenty of people reported it. The instructor just shrugged and said "what am I supposed to do?" They just don't care. Or at least that one didn't. Some instructors say they WILL expell you for cheating, but I doubt it. People just don't have the balls to do something like that today. A shame. :(

PL

 

[Math Is Hard]

Thanks for responding. The whole dang thing is depressing to me and I appreciated hearing your insight on this!

 

[Math Is Hard]

If you feel like someone is cheating off you, what should you do? Do you try to cover up your exam? Do you tell the teacher?

 

[Emieno]

Is cheating truly more of a problem in the community college classes, or are the four year universities not looking for it as hard?

If it is a problem, why did you cheat in the exam anyway? You are not the only one who was/is doing great jobs in the community.

I did have a lot of answers for such a simple question during the time I was in elementary school.

 

[Math Is Hard]

If it is a problem, why did you cheat in the exam anyway? You are not the only one who was/is doing great jobs in the community.

I did have a lot of answers for such a simple question during the time I was in elementary school.

Try to pay better attention when you read these posts. I did not cheat.

 

[Tide]

From the other side, it is very difficult to actually do anything when you do find a student (or students) cheating. It becomes a major ordeal and investment of time documenting every fact, nuance, instant and justifying everything you did or did not do.

You become the object of interrogation. Did you specifically notify the students beforehand that cheating is not allowed? Did you specifically tell the students beforehand that the may not exchange notes during an exam? Did you specifically notify students beforehand that dialling up a classmate on a cellphone during an exam is not allowed? Do you have an physical evidence an offense was commited? Did you catch it on videotape? You get the idea!

The problem, of course, is that colleges (particularly small ones) can't afford litigation and we know mom and pop will lawyer up in an instant if dear son or daughter is besmirched by accusations from a lowlife prof that their progeny are anything less than perfect and beyond reproach.

 

[brudally]

If it is a problem, why did you cheat in the exam anyway? You are not the only one who was/is doing great jobs in the community.

I did have a lot of answers for such a simple question during the time I was in elementary school.

You misunderstood, he was not cheating, his teacher was just checking if he was cheating in his test.

 

[Pengwuino]

The problem, of course, is that colleges (particularly small ones) can't afford litigation and we know mom and pop will lawyer up in an instant if dear son or daughter is besmirched by accusations from a lowlife prof that their progeny are anything less than perfect and beyond reproach.

Are you sure about that. Where I go, people have been expelled from the university before for cheating... many times actually.

 

[Manchot]

LOL, I'm the student version of your teacher. Instead of being paranoid about cheating going on in the classroom, I'm paranoid about being falsely accused of cheating. Hence, I typically sit in the front row during an exam, as close to the professor / TAs as I can be. It's hard for someone to be suspicious of you if you voluntarily chose to sit near them.

 

[Math Is Hard]

LOL, I'm the student version of your teacher. Instead of being paranoid about cheating going on in the classroom, I'm paranoid about being falsely accused of cheating. Hence, I typically sit in the front row during an exam, as close to the professor / TAs as I can be. It's hard for someone to be suspicious of you if you voluntarily chose to sit near them.

Same here. I'm the front-row-sitting, hand-raising, always-question-asking, "teacher-you forgot-to-assign-homework" student. I almost think that my check up was deliberate so in case any questions were asked about who was inspected, she could point to a "front row student" as well as her "back row students".

or maybe I'm just getting on her nerves

 

[brudally]

LOL, I'm the student version of your teacher. Instead of being paranoid about cheating going on in the classroom, I'm paranoid about being falsely accused of cheating. Hence, I typically sit in the front row during an exam, as close to the professor / TAs as I can be. It's hard for someone to be suspicious of you if you voluntarily chose to sit near them.

That is exactly what I do also have in mind,
I do the same everytime there are tests. Thats an marvelous idea.

 

[Tide]

Are you sure about that. Where I go, people have been expelled from the university before for cheating... many times actually.

I am quite sure! I didn't say no one gets expelled. I was pointing out that it is a difficult process and some teachers may not want to take on the burden. The threat of litigation is real and has a chilling effect on taking action - but most teachers end up doing the right thing!

 

[Cyrus]

Cheating is a big deal at my school. They make us sign "honor pledges" and sign our name. If your caught, you go to some sort of board review to see if you get a zero, an xf on your transcript, or just flat out kicked outa college. Whata buncha crap in my opinion. If they don't have the balls to fail like a man and retake the course, kick the b@$tar... out. Honestly, most teachers even give you a formula sheet, what else do you need my god...

 

[Manchot]

Cheating is a big deal at my school. They make us sign "honor pledges" and sign our name. If your caught, you go to some sort of board review to see if you get a zero, an xf on your transcript, or just flat out kicked outa college. Whata buncha crap in my opinion.

Why? You deserve to fail if you cheat, and your transcript should reflect that.

EDIT: You edited your post, so mine no longer reflects yours accurately. :) Disregard what I said.

 

[Math Is Hard]

I also want to say, that I don't blame my teacher - she is awesome! Really - one of the best I've ever had. But she has been forced into this paranoia by 15 years of experience with students. That makes me sad.

 

[Cyrus]

Why? You deserve to fail if you cheat, and your transcript should reflect that.

I agree, but don't waste my ink on political nonsense. I pledge not to cheat, I guess that means I won't right......NOT... see my point. If I am going to cheat, I can write whatever the heck I want to, it doesn't amount to squat. Its just being PC to make it SEEM like the school is taking big action.

 

[neurocomp2003]

i've tried to help friends cheat on exams =]
it is a big issue but probably for the bigger universities...
i've seen some TAs actually help a student out on an test. kinda cool.

 

[Kalimaa23]

Most of my exams are oral, one on one affairs with the professor. Takes care of any cheating instantly. It also makes the evaluation process more personal, and in my opinion, fairer.

 

[Pengwuino]

Most of my exams are oral, one on one affairs with the professor. Takes care of any cheating instantly. It also makes the evaluation process more personal, and in my opinion, fairer.

What kinda major is that?

 

[Igor_S]

Most of my exams are oral, one on one affairs with the professor. Takes care of any cheating instantly. It also makes the evaluation process more personal, and in my opinion, fairer.

Yep, similar here. :) We have both written and oral parts of exam for almost every course. Sometimes (rarely) there's just oral part, and extremely rarely there is no exam (maybe 3,4 out of 40 or so courses in entire 4 years as undergrad). It is possible to cheat a little on written part, but on oral it's just you in front of blackboard (or sometimes you write on a paper, but not much of a difference) and there's no way to cheat there.

 

[Kalimaa23]

What kinda major is that?

Physics.

Ignore this line, it is to make the message long enough

 

[BobG]

The problem goes back further than 15 years. In high school, the class valedictorian for the class ahead of me was caught cheating on one of his final exams. I thought the whole thing was handled pretty questionably all the way around. The school didn't want to ruin his reputation, so they made him retake the final. I never heard how he did on the retake but with 3 grading periods and 1 final figured into a semester grade, he only needed a C on the final to get an A. So he was still class valedictorian at graduation. The next year, several teachers were pretty loose about spreading rumors. Each individual teacher may have made sure no one could figure out who they were talking about, but several teachers talk about the same incident, it isn't too hard to figure exactly who they were all talking about. Hard to figure out the thinking of the student - did he make class valedictorian because he cheated all the way through high school, only getting caught once, or did the pressure to excel just get to him? Just failing him for the final wouldn't have been a horrible punishment, either. One B in your entire high school career wouldn't have looked bad, but it would have been enough to cost him class valedictorian (this is what seemed to irk most of the teachers that talked about the incident). The combined behavior of the teachers wasn't that impressive either, since the incident probably shouldn't have wound up being public knowlege.

For me, I was only acused of cheating once - actually, the teacher just very strongly insinuated it - since I hadn't cheated, he had nothing but suspicions. I was very depressed about the whole incident. He would seat everyone aphabetically, except at our table, we had one senior who added the class after the seating chart had been done. It was a first period class and three of us had the same home room, so we would study for the test together during home room. The teacher publically voiced his suspicions about our similar answers on the test in front of the class, which was embarrassing (and a little bit encouraging - we were pretty worried about this test, but we must have done well). The senior not accused of cheating looked more depressed than us, since Physics wasn't exactly his strong suit, anyway. When he handed our test results out, I'm not sure which depressed me more - being accused of cheating or the fact that all three of us got D's.

I guess three goofballs choosing the same wrong way to solve so many problems looks more suspicious than if we'd all chosen the right way. We did finally stop helping each other study. Usually, a group can point out misconceptions by any individual member, but with us, it was the other way around. I swear, together we could manage to lower our IQ's at least 30 points.

 

[Manchot]

Yeah, the main reason that I'm scared of getting falsely accused of cheating is that it happened to my mother in seventh grade. Fortunately, because I'm so transparent when taking exams, it has never happened to me.

 

[Math Is Hard]

I guess three goofballs choosing the same wrong way to solve so many problems looks more suspicious than if we'd all chosen the right way. We did finally stop helping each other study. Usually, a group can point out misconceptions by any individual member, but with us, it was the other way around. I swear, together we could manage to lower our IQ's at least 30 points.

I loved your story, Bob. I guess three wrongs don't make a right!

 

[Poop-Loops]

How I make sure people don't think I'm cheating:

Take off jacket (all I have on is a t-shirt. Nothing up my sleeves!), have only what you need on your desk (calc, pencil, test) and finish first or somewhere up top. That way, no cheat sheets or anything like that, and I couldn't have copied since I was one of the first people to finish.

Of course, finishing first isn't good if all your answers are wrong. :(

PL

 

[JasonRox]

My university catches people sometimes, but it doesn't seem to happen a lot. I know it does happen a lot though.

 

[what]

I don't know but i never got the point of cheating, i mean you can only put a limted amount of information on the cheat sheet, is it really going to help you? Personally, i don't cheat, mainly because it'd be illogical, if i took the time to look something up, space it right and write it down i would remember it. I guess I've always been that way. Although, other people cheating doesn't make me mad, i don't really know why, it just doesn't bother me, unless they're premed and cheating on a bio exam . Although, now that i think about I've never had the reason to cheat on an exam either, so maybe that has something to do with it.