 "We sometimes forget the seriousness of not preventing and handling cheating in our classrooms. If students can cheat on a test, it sends the message that they do not have to pay attention, do the homework, or study the subject you are working so hard to teach," says classroom management expert Howard Seeman. Besides, Seeman says, if cheaters get away with cheating -- and get higher grades because they cheat -- that sends a de-motivating message to the hard-working students in your classroom. Included: Seeman offers easy-to-apply advice for preventing cheating plus tips on dealing with cheating if it does happen.
Is cheating a problem in your school or classroom? Are you at a loss about how you can prevent it from happening -- or about how to handle it if it does occur? Professor Howard Seeman shares the following six tips to help you head off the cheaters before they strike!
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Professor Howard Seeman, author of Preventing
Classroom Discipline Problems: A Classroom Management Handbook,
is a former New York City public school teacher and professor
of education at Lehman College, City University of New York.
A national consultant on classroom management, Seeman has
published more than two dozen articles on education, psychology,
and philosophy, and has been a keynote speaker at many national
education conferences. Seeman also teaches an online course,
Preventing Classroom Discipline Problems. You can learn more
about that course on his Web site, classroommanagementonline.com.
When is a discipline problem not a discipline problem? Learn
the answer to that question and others in Know
When to Discipline!. In that Education World e-interview,
Seeman explains why knowing when to discipline can be more
important than knowing how.
Don’t miss that article and others in our Classroom
Management Center. |
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Tip 1
When you give a test, arrange students' desks in neat rows and sit in the back of the room. When students can't see you well, they are usually more nervous about trying to cheat. Those who are tempted to cheat usually will try to turn around to see where you are. That makes it easy for you to spot potential cheaters.
Tip 2
Cheating is easier when you give a short answer test -- for example, tests
with true/false, fill-in-the-blank, or multiple-choice questions. Try
instead to give tests that require short essay responses. Yes, short essay
tests might be more difficult to grade than the others, but it
actually takes more work to design valid and reliable questions
that are not guessable. If you still prefer short-answer tests, create two sets of tests.
On one set, type the questions from 1 to 10; on the other set, arrange
the questions in the opposite order. Copy one set of questions on white
paper, and copy the other set on yellow paper. Pass out the two versions
of the test to alternate rows of students; students in the first row get
the white version, students in the second row get the yellow test, and
so on. Tell the students you have done this so that if they are tempted
to cheat, they'll be copying the wrong answer. Another good thing about
setting up the test this way, is that you can use one answer key to grade
both sets of papers.
Tip 3
Don't take away the paper of a suspected cheater, or reprimand him or her in the middle of taking a test. Such an action will cause a disturbance during the test, and the disruption will give other students an opportunity to cheat. Instead, inform students before the test that, "If I suspect anyone is cheating, I won’t say anything during the test… If you get your paper back with points off, you'll know why." A statement such as that may often make potential cheaters too nervous to cheat.
Tip 4
Tell students at the start of the test, "During the test, cover up your answers.” You might even let students know that any student who helps another cheat also will face repercussions. By encouraging students to cover up their own papers, you will probably be giving most students permission to do what they really want to do. But now, since you directed the action, they'll be able to do this without risking peer disapproval. Also, the students most likely to follow your "cover up" instruction are usually the ones who studied for the test -- and the ones who will have the most correct answers. Thus, you've cut off from view the major sources of correct "cheatable" answers.
Tip 5
Don't wait for the day of the test to tell students how you'll handle cheating. By then, it's too late to motivate students to study, rather than to try to cheat. Instead, give warnings about cheating a day or two before the test. By doing that, you might motivate a potential cheater to study instead.
Tip 6
Return test papers at the end of a class period -- not at the start of
a class period. Doing that is helpful in two ways:
- Students will be more likely to listen to a review of the test answers
before they get their papers back.
- If you return papers at the beginning of class, cheaters who lost
points or got zeroes might vent their anger and disrupt your planned
lesson. If they get back their papers at the end of the period, they
can talk to you after class. Even better, they may go home to vent,
and cool off by the time you see them the next day. They might even
be motivated to do better in the future!
To learn more about preventing and handling cheating and other classroom
management issues, see Preventing
Classroom Discipline Problems: A Classroom Management Handbook. Readers
can contact Prof. Seeman through his home
page.
Howard Seeman
Copyright © 2003 Education World
12/06/2004
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