Cheating
I do think that when a student takes an exam while using e-learning it is not so much knowledege that the student obtains. Student can easily have an open book or notes to pass the test.
What about having the test be a timed test?
I completely agree: there is no way for us to make sure that students don't print out the lecture notes and don't have them in front of them, when taking the quizzes or tests.
Not cheating is for those students who are truly motivated to learn something and really want to get something out of the course.
Another thing: when you offer the same course over and over again, the quizzes can get passed on from past students to future students. How do you deal with that, besides making up new quizzes each time?
You can have a group of questions that you randomly use. You can also time the test.
Cheating/plagiarism is a problem throughout society and online classes is only a part of this issue. I agree that having timed test and a bank of questions can slow down cheating, but nothing is totally fool proof just as it isn't in an onsite classroom. There has to be a desire from within each student to value honesty and recognize that this information will be needed in their work environment or perhaps will show up on national certification boards.
LC
Lou you are right...not just in education, but there is cheating that goes on even in the workforce! I do like the certification idea!
It's a moral issue and a test of integrity. The person cheating is only short changing themselves.
You are oh so right! There are some students who really do not think they are hurting themselves.
When students are taking exams online, it's best to have them apply knowledge instead of just regurgitate information.
If a student has been studying, then they will know what pages to look at for cetain answers vs the non-studying student. If they have a book in front of them and have never looked at the material, then they will not have a clue and waste a lot of time looking up one answer. The test should only be open for the day it is scheduled, then the instructor should close it out to eliminate others getting it. It also should be timed (sufficient amount of time). So if the non-studying student takes a long time trying to find an answer, they will most likley fail anyway. I don't think it is a big deal if a student has a book open while at home taking a test. As long as they know where to find the answer, then I think we have done our job. The students who have not studied will be slower (timed test), vs the students who studied and know where to look for answers because they studied.
Yes this is true knowledge is very important but regurgitating information might make the student retain the information more because of the constant reading they will have to do.
Maryann,
Good point. For most people, you need to read the material more than once!
Shelly Crider
