Spot a Student Cheater
Cheating in the classroom is on the rise. If you think your child or a young person close to you may be cheating, here’s the information you need.
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How Do High School Students Cheat?
There are many ways students cheat in school to earn better grades than they may actually deserve. Here’s a list of 20 of those techniques:
Plagiarizing, or unfair use or close imitation of someone else’s writing. This is a particularly frequent occurrence when it comes to longer essays or end-of-term papers that can have a significant impact on a student’s grade.
Paying for an essay written by someone else. This can take the form of paying a classmate to write the paper, or hiring one of many online essay mills that will produce a paper for a per-page fee.
Copying another student’s homework, either with or without that student’s permission.
Using a calculator to program notes for unauthorized use during an exam. More complicated calculators used for higher-level math classes are frequently used for this purpose.
Writing notes on one’s hand, arm, or even a leg or ankle before taking an exam.
Falsifying lab data in order to agree with one’s hypothesis, even if that hypothesis is incorrect.
Using one paper for multiple classes. This presupposes that teachers will not compare notes to see if students are reusing essays previously written for other classes.
Using cell phones to text-message examination answers to one another, or to store notes for assistance during exams.
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Writing notes for exams on desks, or even odd items such as gum wrappers or water bottles.
Hiding cheat sheets in bags or pants pockets.
Using technology to cheat. With the rise of the Internet, this has become a major problem. This includes looking up answers to questions on the Internet while taking an exam, or emailing oneself cheat sheets.
Not following the rules when completing take-home exams – for example, using sources such as the Internet or textbooks when strictly prohibited from doing so.
Using a device such as the GSM Pen, which can help a test-taker get exam information via a cell phone. The pen has a micro-earpiece using Bluetooth technology that allows students to unobtrusively chat to friends and get answers.
Stealing a previously graded test to get the answers.
Stealing a test or exam and claiming it was never graded.
Taking a bathroom break during an exam, during which the student calls a friend who can look up answers.
Using iPods and other portable music devices to provide information during exams.
Taking credit for group work in which the student did not participate.
Attempting to bribe teachers to provide inflated grades.
Trying to argue teachers out of grades assigned on tests and essays by the use of false logic – for example, claiming trouble at home when there is actually none.
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There is an old saying that those who cheat are cheating only themselves, and this is true. By obtaining good grades through false methods, students learn nothing of actual value. Cheating may be tempting in today’s competitive classroom environment, but it’s not worth it in the long run.