Cheating and Academic Integrity
Define cheating. In the case of written work, explain what plagiarism is, why it's wrong, and how to avoid it. This is especially important for students who struggle with irrational guilt due to an overly sensitive conscience.
Use a pre-test checklist. This ensures procedural consistency and reinforces guidelines and expectations.
Control the environment. Prevent opportunities to cheat by thinking ahead and eliminating temptations in advance.
Before passing out tests, double check your board and classroom walls to make sure that no answers are available anywhere.
Arrange students so that no one has a direct view of anyone else’s paper during a test.
Collect study sheets or test reviews before administering a test.
Walk around the room during tests. Doing this every 10-15 minutes is infrequent enough to not be much of a distraction, but frequent enough to keep students accountable.
Never sit at your desk and work while your students are taking a test. Stand at the front or back of the room, or sit on your desk facing the students.
Know where to look. Research and understand the most common methods for cheating—notes inside pockets or desks, study guides on the floor, giving answers to other students orally, copying answers from another student, etc.
Bring the receipts. Don’t accuse a student of cheating unless you are confident that you can support the accusation with evidence.
Walk in love. If you catch a student cheating, be gentle, encourage the student to confess, and be quick to forgive.
Promote repentance with restitution. Give the student a chance to make amends by redoing the assignment correctly (usually with a points deduction for the initial offense) or by completing additional work.
