Been Caught Cheatin
Posted by Stuart at 12:59 PM on October 02, 2003My adventures in proctoring continued today. I was sitting in the back of the room watching the students take an exam. I noticed that one student in particular was nervously glancing around the room. It seemed a little suspicious, so I checked back on her now and then. At one point, it looked like she was just staring into her lap.
So far, no harm no foul. Students do wierd things when they are stressed out in an exam. (I wonder what I looked like during exam time.) But she kept glancing up and around and staring at her lap. Eventually I couldn't stand the suspense any longer so I went over to her and asked her to show me what she had been staring at. Unfortunately for her, it was a sheet of notes that she was using to cheat on the exam.
What surprised me more than the fact that a student was cheating was the way I reacted to it. It was almost as if I was the one who was caught. My heart was racing and my hands were shaking. I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach as if I had been busted.
Then I became a little bit angry at the student. Why did she have to cheat? Why would she put herself in such a risky situation? The penalty for cheating is "F" for the class, "W" for all of the other classes that semester, and a one year suspension. Hefty punishment, I'd say. It could even be a potential life-wrecker. Why did she feel that she should take the risk? It was only a mid-term. How can anyone be that desparate? Or is it a matter of being that lazy?
And that is the story of the first time I have caught someone cheating on an exam. Hopefully it will be the last, but somehow I doubt it.
Yet apparently the harsh punishment doesn't do much to deter the crime. My boss just told me that they have around 30 cases of cheating every exam period. 30 cases of students who get caught, that is.
Then again, perhaps the number would be much higher if the penalties were not as severe.
A similar punishment was used at my undergrad school, Washington and Lee University in Virginia. We had a student-enforced Honor Code that students and teachers took very seriously. Any one caught lying, cheating, or stealing was expelled forever. In this case, it worked very well and very rarely was anyone actually expelled.
But I think you are right, that certainly is not the norm in America.
Oh, the fond memories of Mr. Andrews walking around on top of the desks with a yardstick during tests. He would walk onto your desk, use the yardstick to move your hand out of the way and then shake his head in disdain while briefly glancing at your test. And then there's the "FAIL" stamp.
Also reminds me of Chris. There was the time Mr. Andrews asked Chris what he was going to do with his life. Chris replied "I'm gonna be an Engineer." Julius' reply: "Son, you'll never make it."
I actually saw him a couple of years ago at UWF. He remembered me from all those years ago. He now teaches only at UWF part time.
We always had kids cheat on their exams when I was a TA. The sad thing was even if you caught them red handed there was NOTHING that could be done. It was our word vs. their word and their word ALWAYS won. The only way you failed this class was to NOT show up (for exams.. not for class).
Another example from a different class and prof:
A Prof copied a student's exam after she graded it because she suspected after 3 other exams that the student was erasing the bad answers and writing in the correct ones. Sure enough the student came back for "corrections" and had erased the bad answers and written in the good answers. She faced immediate dismisal and went to the academic review board. They concluded the prof went through the WRONG channels and the student could not be outright dismissed FOR cheating. But there is justice. They would not change the Prof's grade for the student. With an F she was put on academic probation. As a grad student... academic probation means the dept head has the option of letting you try and make the grades up or letting you go. He let her go.. without a student visa she had to leave the country. ie. dont cheat
While teaching in public schools, if I caught a student cheating, I took up the test and had the student write a note home, telling the parents of the incident. Another paragraph was also added; if the parent signed the note, and the note was returned, the student could take another test on the same subject, same format, but with different questions. I would always follow up the letter home with a phone call. I had very few students cheat.
Hopefully, you will not be in that position again.
Your account reminds me of that movie "The Emperor's Club" starring Kevin Kline that was shown at the beginning of this year. I could imagine all the hopes and efforts upon a student dashed and the disappointment arising when you caught your student cheating.
Wooooo... so many comments on this one. And one of them is another fond Mr. Andrew's story. Excellent!
I guess cheating is a universal occurence. I just never cared that much about it until I became a teacher. It is almost like a competition: students try to do as little as possible to get as good a grade as possible at the same time that the teacher tries to get the students to learn as much as possible.
Sigh. Oh well. Exams are now over so I don't have to worry about this topic until December. Actually, now that I think about it, I think I will be in the US during final exams in December, so that means I don't have to worry about cheating students until March 2004. Woohoo!
Wow! I don't think American kids were ever subjected to punishments as severe as that.