3 rules for a cheat-free classroom
January 10, 2011 by Taylor HanniganPosted in: In this week's e-newsletter, Latest News & Views
Cheating has never been easier, a professor laments in a new article. But he also offers three specific ways to curb the practice.
Dr. Michael Hartnett knows a little bit about academic cheating: He’s been a teacher, professor and tutor for more than 20 years.
As we all know, technology has made cheating easier than ever. But that doesn’t mean it has to be a losing battle. In his article titled “3 Rules to Encourage a Cheat-Free Classroom,” Hartnett offers up three strategies to combat this age-old problem:
1) Ban electronic devices from the classroom. If calculators are needed for an exam, wipe out their memories before students get them.
2) Disallow bathroom breaks during exams.
3) Prohibit students from putting their hands below the tops of their desks. “Nothing good can come from students whose hands are hidden in their laps,” Hartnett says.
For more info on Dr. Hartnett, click here.
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Tags: Cheating, electronic communication
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January 13th, 2011 at 3:25 pm
Really? Is this a joke? Three “strategies” to prevent cheating? Denying students access to the toilet and requiring that their hands stay in plain sight at all times – is this higher education or prison? Actually, I believe prisoners have more rights than the test taking students in Dr. Hartnett’s classes. I can sympathize with the issues Dr. Hartnett faces, but I’d encourage any educator to question the assumptions about students that these autocratic strategies suggest before adopting this type of classroom management. What kind of people will come from an institution that treats its students with such disrespect and suspicion?
We do not need strategies to curb cheating. We need intelligent discourse and a thoughtful examination of a system of higher education that encourages students to cheat.
January 21st, 2011 at 1:38 pm
I have taught college for over 15 years, and this is not a joke – it is just common sense. Even when I was in college, students were not allowed to leave class during an exam. Why would this be allowed? Back in my college days, students could take a “bathroom break” and have a friend waiting outside with the notes/textbook; today students have much easier access to information via the internet with their mobile phone. On the flip side, using your logic should professors walk out in the middle of class if they need to use the restroom? Can you imagine the student backlash if a professor did this? With respect to the hands-in-sight rule, did you know that students can text a classmate answers to an exam – with their phone in a pocket and without looking at the screen? The reality is that most students do not cheat; however, students cheat at EVERY university…large, small, public, private…and yes, even at the military academies (despite their honor codes).