Cheating

by James Reardon

“Who will not be deceived must have as many eyes as hairs on his head” --Proverb

What is cheating?

“Academic cheating is defined as representing someone else’s work as your own. It can take many forms: from sharing another’s work to purchasing a term paper or test questions in advance, to paying another to take a test or do the work for you. Statistics show that academic cheating among high school and college students has risen dramatically during the past 50 years” (nocheating.org).

The first thing you need to know is that high school students have always cheated and the trend has been on the rise for the past twenty years. A poll conducted by Who’s Who Among American High School Students in 1998 revealed that eighty percent of America’s top students admitted that they had cheated, at least once, during the four years of high school.

Why students cheat:

Students cheat for various reasons but the most common reason seems to be due to the pressures of receiving good grades and attending a good college. Some students will do whatever it takes to succeed in life even if that means cheating.

“Early research indicates that cheating seems to have more to do with the particular situation than with the general honesty or dishonesty of the individual. Many students will cheat if the pressure to perform well is great and the chances of being caught are slim.” (Educational Psychology)

One of the advantages today’s students possess over the average teacher is their knowledge of technology and how to use it. The rapid advancement of computers, IPods, cell phones and hand held mini computers has given today’s adolescent a great advantage over today’s teacher. The use of the internet is a very effective tool which is being used to help many students better understand various topics. However, many students also use the internet to complete homework, essays, and write research papers. Most adolescents are well aware of the mass of information available on the internet and know how to copy and paste this information onto their paper. There are numerous websites that offer thousands of completed research papers for students for a fee.

How to prevent cheating in the classroom:

There are numerous actions and strategies a teacher can take that will help prevent cheating in the classroom as well as tools to deal with cheating if it does occur.

1. At the beginning of the year, you need to clearly define to your students what cheating means and the consequences they will face if caught cheating. It is important that you are very clear in your definition and that all the students clearly understand the rules regarding cheating.
2. I would also recommend that you create a written agreement for both the students and their parents to sign. This will serve two purposes: first, when you confront the student and the parents about the cheating, you will both have this agreement as a reference for the misconduct and second, the student becomes empowered to report any witnessed cheating. There will be parents who will defend their children and refuse to believe that their child would ever cheat. It is important that you are certain of the cheating before you approach a student or parent.
3. If the school allows you to set your own class rules, simply do not allow cell phones or iPods, as well as any other digital devices, during class time. This will quickly eliminate the technological advantages adolescents hold over most teachers.
4. Decide on the type of test you will administer and the arrangement of desks in the classroom. Multiple choice tests are the easiest tests to copy and essay tests are the most difficult. However, if you prefer multiple choice tests, there are ways you can help prevent cheating. For example, you can use the same exact questions and rearrange the order of the questions for two or three different tests. The more traditional style classroom which has rows of desks is more conducive to multiple choice tests. Obviously, you could change the arrangement of desks on test day, but your students may feel uncomfortable with the change.