Reading Notes #6

Reading Notes #6 Comm 702 10/20/11 Margaret Brady

What great chapters! I can’t wait for discussion this week! I am living this right now! Regarding cheating, I gave an exam two weeks ago in a large lecture hall. There are panels in front of the students knees so you can’t see what is on their laps. I passed out the exam and then “hung out” around the room, watching to make sure notes were put away, etc. I sat at the desk in the front of the room watching for “straining eyes,” etc. I got back to my office and received an email from a very good student who told me that some girls who never sit in the back row were in sitting next to her in the back row and she thought that was odd but whatever. When she stood up to hand in her exam, she noticed that THREE of them had their notebooks OPEN on their laps! She wrote this to me and said she would find out their names because they are in her Chemistry class and that she would point them out to me but she never did. Although I assured her of anonymity, she was probably afraid of being called into the Dean’s Office anyway. Meanwhile, even if I did find out who they were, what can I do? I didn’t catch them in the act. How do I know if she’s telling the truth? But, more importantly, what can I do next time? I cannot be everywhere in this large room at once. However, at least I’ve been tipped off as far as what to look for.

What about lab reports? I have three students who work together and when they turn in their typed lab reports, they have the exact same wording for their conclusion sentences. I know they are working together and they’ve come to the same conclusion but one would think they could write things in their own words. Should I take points off?

Once, I gave an exam which was multiple choice with an essay question at the end. When I graded them, there were two tests with the EXACT same wording on the essay! Obviously, they MUST have been cheating! But it is a small class, 20 students, wouldn’t I have noticed? So, what I did was I went in on Monday (the exam had been on Friday) and said, “Take out a piece of paper” Yes, they panicked. I said, “This is only for Student Assessment (we have to report to an Assessment Committee each semester). You will not be graded on this but I’d like you to answer the following question that was on your test again. Just do the best you can with what you remember.” Low and behold, they must have studied together because they were far apart and still wrote the EXACT same sentences!

I want to discuss forced choice tests vs. fill in the blank/short answer/essay tests!