Joseph,
I agree.....cheating is cheating and I do not like it wherever it occurs!
Shelly Crider
Cheating is something that I really don't emphasize on much. If I see a student cheating I will address it immediately. Accessibility can obviously promote dishonesty in an online environment but who is the student really cheating? Themselves! I always try to establish what is expected from my students in an online environment and most of the time my students really want to understand the material instead of just getting by.
I think we should be concerned. I know that there is a fair amount of hiring of other people to complete papers and or assignments. If you go to craigslist and look under tutoring you will find listings of people who will complete your online math homework for a price.
I do not think, however, that there is materially more cheating going on that in the traditional classroom. You can always pay someone to do your homework and write your papers. It may be harder to get someone to take your quizzes and tests though.
One cannot consider this cheating by itself, though. One must compare it to the benefit that online education gives those who honestly complete the courses. In this cost-benefit analysis I think that online learning clearly provides more benefits. This comparison is the biggest argument I have for public universities that shy away from online learning because of the opportunity to cheat. Overall, most students honestly complete courses themselves and the benefit of reaching non-traditional students through the online classroom is truly a public good!
Best,
Brian Stout
Kimberly,
It does seem like we live in a just getting by world. Helping students along by letting them know we are watching for cheating is a justice to them.
Shelly Crider
Brian,
It is so sad to know that there is opportunity out there to be paid for writing college papers. How do you put that on your resume?
Shelly Crider
I think we always must be concerned about cheating, whether online or in a traditional class. One way to minimize cheating is to encourage opinion pieces (both in an online and traditional setting) - as we "get to know" the students, we can tell if there is cheating occurring or not. Realize the value of the question "why?". Keep probing (whether online or in a traditional setting) and we can minimize any cheating.
I think so also. I don't think most students cheat because they don't know;I think it's the fear of not knowing that drives them to cheat. I find when I ask my students questions they give me the correct answers but once I place the question on a test they freak out! Most adult learners have so many barriers and test anxiety is at the top of the list.
Thanks,
Kim
I think you do have to be concerned about it. It can be a more serious problem with on-ground learning because you have no way to verify who is doing the actual work. We're basically relying on the statistical improbability that it will be a different person substituting for the student.
The best defense for this is a pro-active instructor who pays attention to their students' submissions. Sudden improvements inconsistent with previous work, for example, may suggest a need to talk to that student and see what's going on. Sometimes they may just need a little more help and, if they get it, they won't feel the need to cheat.
Douglas,
I, too, like the opinion pieces as this allows the student to show what has been learned.
Shelly Crider
Kimberly,
Good point. Fear of not knowing is a true fear!
Shelly Crider
Pat,
I love your statement on the "pro active instructor". Get to know your students! This will help them feel a part of class and want to do their own work.
Shelly Crider
It is true that students cheat in traditional classes. That doesn't mean we shouldn't be concerned about it.
If someone wants to pay someone else to take their classes for them, they can do that face-to-face or online. While the person getting the credit will need to have a photo ID to register for school, I don't ever check photo IDs of my face-to-face students. Someone else could be answering to the registered student's name, attending the classes, turning in the work and taking the tests.
That would be easier online. In this case, getting to know the student would be irrelevant, because it would be the same student all the way through the class, just not the student who will be getting the transcript credit.
We think that it is harder for online students to, say, look at someone else's paper during an exam, since they are not all in the same room taking the exam.
That may not be correct. My brother reports that a group of students in his undergrad program all signed up for the same online classes, then had a "study group" for the exams. They all got together and answered all of the questions together. I'm not sure how we would "catch" this unless we used a testing center or required students to turn on their web cams during testing.
WE should always be concerned with students cheating. I have found that having a presence in the online classroom, whereby you are interacting and communicating to your students responses. This will assist with learning your students content knowledge and when to provide additional resources, or if need be counseling on appropriate response protocol.
Glenda,
I have never heard of a "study group" but I do bet they exist. Makes me want to add more critical thinking questions to a test!
Shelly Crider
Cynthia,
Cheating in class only leads to cheating in the workforce some way.
Shelly Crider
Yes, cheating is cheating. As an English instructor, I quickly familiarize my self with every student's writing ability. For writing assignments, finding plagiarism is easy. I now find it necessary to explain to younger students that copying and pasting is plagiarism.
On tests and quizzes, I have found one approach that seems to work for me. I make the questions challenging. I don't use recall questions, but write questions that will demand thought. Then I encourage students to work with each other if they want. Surprisingly, I still have students who sometimes don't do well. That's simply a lack of effort. But I know the students who get good grades on my tests learned the information.
@s101crider
I am concerned with cheating in an online class! There is not much you can do about students cheating on a test -- they could always open a second browser window and look up answers and no one would be the wiser. But when students present plagiarized work or purchased or copied essays -- then this is an issue I take seriously.
I allow students one chance to revise an essay I have found to be less than original. I describe the problem, direct them to appropriate sources to learn about plagiarism, paraphrasing and citing their sources, and then request a revision with some specific deadline. If the student is a repeat offender after this opportunity, then they receive a 0 for additional plagiarized assignments.
I will sometimes relate the story of the Minister of Defense from Germany who had to resign, ruined his career and whose PhD was revoked for plagiarism.
Everyone should consider plagiairism an egregious form of cheating.
I think that cheating in an online environment is a real possibility. I was a TA for a professor in an online course and you can see that there are students working "collaboratively" on projects and exams by how they log in to take them. The ability to watch students in the online world is very powerful. It is an ethics thing.
I also one time had a professor accuse me of cheating by my score on turn it in. He did not understand the technology so it cuts both ways.
Doug
@s101crider
Shelly,
I disagree. Cheating is chearting. Does not matter if it is online or in a classroom.
@s101criderThe bottom line is that the student is learning. If we take away the motive to "cheat" it makes a win win situation. In other words, teach them how to paraphrase and use citations properly. Turnitin can help to an extent, then students must become responsible for proper citations. Face it, in the real world, if you want to know how to do something, we look it up on the internet. Let's teach students how to legally do that and still maintain a level of profesionalism.@s101crider
