Cheating on Exam

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Doctor
Posts: 98
Joined: Wed Jun 20, 2018 1:28 am

Cheating on Exam

Post by Doctor »

My G1 students took their internal exam this week and I am in charge of grading the exams for both sections of G1, mine and another teachers section. Yesterday I had my G1 section clear their desks of everything and put all writing materials away and I gave them their ungraded G1 paper and went through it with them. I was keeping a really close watch on them and I didn't see anyone with a pen or pencil out. Anyway this was obviously not a wise move on my part but live and learn.

Anyway, today 3 students went to their tutor and told her they had changed answers and wanted to change their answers back. The tutor went to my HOD, who blew his stack, and now wants both sections of G1 to resit the exam on Monday. I think this create more problems then solutions.

Any suggestions on how to solve this issue?

By the way, the 3 students who "confessed" want to change wrong answers they claim to have written down yesterday back to the right answers they had initially written down during the exam. These three kids are low achievers across all their classes and I don't believe them. I think they just see an opportunity to earn a few extra points.
mamava
Posts: 320
Joined: Sat May 11, 2013 7:56 am

Re: Cheating on Exam

Post by mamava »

Most teachers I work with who hand back tests like that scan them before handing them back. That way, if a student tries to change anything, there is a scanned copy of the original test.

Penalizing the whole class would of course cause problems. Deal with the students who are at issue and leave the rest alone.
Doctor
Posts: 98
Joined: Wed Jun 20, 2018 1:28 am

Re: Cheating on Exam

Post by Doctor »

mamava wrote:
> Most teachers I work with who hand back tests like that scan them before handing
> them back. That way, if a student tries to change anything, there is a scanned
> copy of the original test.
>
> Penalizing the whole class would of course cause problems. Deal with the students
> who are at issue and leave the rest alone.

Of course I won't do it like this again but I thought I had kept a fairly close eye on them.
My thoughts exactly on moving forward, just deal with the students who confessed.
PsyGuy
Posts: 10789
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 9:51 am
Location: Northern Europe

Response

Post by PsyGuy »

Well the main lesson here is the one you already acknowledged, in that this was a bad idea. Dont give unmarked exams back to students, theres no reason for it, just bad. Do the review after they have been marked and recorded. When I am finished marking/grading I run them though the copier and scan, save it as a file if I can, or just make a paper copy of them before handing them back to the students for review. What i really like to do is use Google Classroom so that once the student submits it, then any changes, edits, etc are recorded as different versions of the original.
You are not smarter than your students when it comes to subterfuge and deception. Students will always be one step ahead of ITs/DTs. The mistake is ITs thinking they know and have seen everything, when you have that mentality you stop looking, and thats when you miss the new tricks.

It defiantly creates problems, most of them are your problems, as the students basically got themselves a practice exam.
I disagree with @mamava, assessment isnt punishment. Write a whole new exam, administer it, mark and record it, then discuss and review it with them. Sounds like you made yourself an extra day or two of work.
expatscot
Posts: 307
Joined: Thu Jan 14, 2016 4:26 am

Re: Cheating on Exam

Post by expatscot »

I'm really confused.

Why would you give an ungraded test back to students? Even the best student would be tempted to change something - especially if you are going over it with them. Surely it's a complete no-no?!

I have to say that I'm not surprised the HoD went ballistic - I would too. In fact, in some schools this would be a disciplinary matter.

If I were you, I'd do to the letter whatever the HoD wants you to do. You are going to have to deal with student and parent pushback and complaints on this and it will be really difficult for the school to defend you, I'm afraid.
Doctor
Posts: 98
Joined: Wed Jun 20, 2018 1:28 am

Re: Cheating on Exam

Post by Doctor »

expatscot wrote:
> I'm really confused.
>
> Why would you give an ungraded test back to students? Even the best student
> would be tempted to change something - especially if you are going over it
> with them. Surely it's a complete no-no?!
>
> I have to say that I'm not surprised the HoD went ballistic - I would too.
> In fact, in some schools this would be a disciplinary matter.
>
> If I were you, I'd do to the letter whatever the HoD wants you to do. You
> are going to have to deal with student and parent pushback and complaints
> on this and it will be really difficult for the school to defend you, I'm
> afraid.

Yes, it was a big mistake.
PsyGuy
Posts: 10789
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 9:51 am
Location: Northern Europe

Discussion

Post by PsyGuy »

This was a serious error in judgement, what could you have possibly been thinking.
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