James,
True! If a student tries to "get by" in school....what exactly will he/she be capable of in the real work place?
Shelly Crider
James,
I love teaching moments as well all have them.....and learn from them!
Shelly Crider
Loriann,
A keystroke away from failing or graduating in some cases! I hope students take the time to complete their own work...that is my hope!
Shelly Crider
William,
Interceding is just what the student needs. Cheating happens all over the work in all different fields. Interceding early will help guide a student to a more positive outlook.
Shelly Crider
I submit that I would want the student to "cheat" in an on-line course. Any activity that reinforces the learning is of benefit. If the on-line content is not conducive to the student using other sources, to students recording information, or to students backing up or moving forward in the course, then I submit that the on-line delivery method is not adequate for the content.
That's a very ambiguous question. Today, with the plethora of web information, and the lack of student's understanding of which to consider reliable or non-reliable sites, it is difficult for the non-experienced learner to differenctiate topics which can be used personally to hep them with their studies. In an online environment, I often find that students copy and paste their findings to their work and mainly from not reliable resources. In addition to doing this, they fail to provide references or cite their sources, and of course, this is considered cheating (plagiarism). In both aspects, this type of cheating is done. An online instructor has an easier way to finding out if a student has cheated by copying and pasting a small fragment of their work onto sites such as google to see if it was found elsewhere. A traditional class instructor, tends to rely more on the personal knowledge or the expectation that the learner should have included sites, paraphrasing and other elements to be considered and avoid plagiarism or cheating.
I disagree. Cheating, is cheating. Academic integrity is essential, regardless of the delivery format. Minimizing cheating is just as important online, as it is in traditional classrooms.
Norman,
I do like the use of other resources! You can even send students on virtual field trips!
Shelly Crider
Carlos,
We do need to teach our students on what information is correct on the web!
Shelly Crider
Natasha,
Academic integrity is essential. Who wants to say they graduated from an accepted cheating college?
Shelly Crider
I have to disagree. We need to be concerned with cheating because in a purely online environment, students have access to an incredible amount of material. Unless we, as instructors, are careful, we open the door to plagiarized content, or at the least, students who coast through assignments and discussions without actually retaining the material.
I think we should always be concerned with cheating no matter what. It is important to have systems in place to assist with cheating. Turnitin.com is a great software that assists with cheating for traditional classes and online classes. It helps to ensure they are citing their references, using their own words and not using other pass student's work to submit as their own.
Students can still cheat in an online learning environment. Students can easily still plagiarized things when they write essay or papers. They can feel since they don't see the instructor, they might not be as nervous to attempt cheating.
Eric ,
Yes and coasting leads to unretained material, which then when the student is asked where they attended college......ouch for that college.
Shelly Crider
Ali,
So many students do not know the importance or how to cite. It is always good to have a good reference to give to them.
Shelly Crider
Heather,
When a student wants to cheat, they will find a way to cheat....online or in a classroom.
Shelly Crider
QUESTION: We should not be concerned about students cheating in an online environment; they may cheat in traditional classes as well. Do you agree or disagree? Explain your answer.
ANSWER: Just as Onsite instructors should be concerned with plagiarism and cheating, Online instructors *should* be just as concerned with students who cheat in an online environment. The main reason is because cheating is unacceptable no matter what type of learning environment is being offered. It's our job to encourage students to be ethical in how they present classwork or homework to us. Its also our job to make sure they are learning something. Turning a blind eye to cheating or plagiarism doesn't help the student or the school in any way.
Fialishia
Dianne, good point. I've seen some students not even try to conceal their plagiarism. Like you said, "its amazing what students will try to get away with". I had one student literally copy another person's Discussion Question response word-for-word. Of course, after I asked for feedback on what I saw, the student dropped the course. I think its important to not turn a blind eye and let students know that cheating is not acceptable in an online environment.
Fialishia
Stephanie, good question. There are times when I'll consider allowing a student to redeem themselves ---especially if they are honest after I address it with them. For example, if a student leaves off a reference in a their Research Paper or doesn't cite all of the necessary references, I will allow them to fix it for partial credit.
Fialishia
Of course we shold be concerned blatant plagiarism cannot be tolerated and using tool such as turnitin and others like it provide us the opportunity to realize and utilize their own critical thining skills rather than simply cutting a pasteing the thoughts of others and at the same time reinforce the need for proper documentation supporting their own thoughts.
As far as students working together when taking online tests. I have found that timed tests help eliminate the collaberation between students while testing. It's hard to go online to your fellow student for an answer when you have only about 45 seconds to answer each multiple choice, fill in the blank or short answer question.
