dealing with cheating on exams<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\ntrying to catch an individual or a small group of cheaters in an exam of 100+ students can be a difficult task, but there\u2019s a lot that we can do to make cheating more difficult.<\/p>\n
proctoring effectively. <\/strong> proctoring can seem basic: watch the students as they take the exam and make sure they\u2019re not chatting or looking at one another\u2019s tests.\u00a0 however, there are some aspects to proctoring that are easily overlooked.\u00a0 for example, it can be difficult to observe students when they are wearing a hat that covers their eyes, so many professors require that students either remove their hats, or put their hats on backwards.\u00a0 another often overlooked feature of proctoring is the need for at least two proctors.\u00a0 part of the proctor\u2019s role is often to field student questions regarding the exam, but while the instructor is answering that question, who is observing the students?<\/p>\n
randomize the blue books. <\/strong>in many of our large classes, students use blue books for exams.\u00a0 students are typically asked to bring these blue books with them to class on exam day, especially in large classes where the instructor would have to pay a considerable amount of money to provide all students with exam booklets.\u00a0 some students see this as an easy way to cheat: write answers in the blue book and refer to those answers throughout the exam period.\u00a0 of course, there is an easy way around this problem. ask students to hand in their blue books as they walk in the classroom. shuffle the blue books, and then re-distribute them to students randomly.<\/p>\n
randomize the exams. <\/strong>perhaps the most traditional way to cheat on an exam is for a student to copy off of his or her neighbor. the easiest way to avoid this is to hand out different versions of the exam. some professors hand these exams out on different color sheets of paper to further confuse a student who might like to copy his or her neighbor\u2019s exam.<\/p>\n
randomize the seating.<\/strong> in our teeming large classes, it isn\u2019t always possible to leave spaces in-between each exam-taker.\u00a0 we can, however, shake up the seating arrangement. for example, one common technique is to require students seated in the back few rows to switch with those students seated in the front few rows. this can prove logistically challenging with a large class and a limited amount of time, but if we have a couple of minutes to shake the students up, it can do a lot to prevent exam takers from cheating.<\/p>\n
switch up our exams each semester. <\/strong> designing tests can be a time-consuming affair. for that reason, some instructors use the same test questions year after year. while this is tempting, it is not advisable if we hope to prevent cheating. some fraternity and sorority houses, in particular, keep files of past exams for a variety of courses. change exam questions up each semester to prevent some students from having an unfair advantage.<\/p>\n