(All of this really happened to me. I am posting it to make others aware of what happens in some universities. Names of people and institutions are omitted)
NOTE: I submitted a report of this information to SACS, the accrediting agency. After some reported follow-up, I was told no cause for action was found. In other words, this is still going on.
Copyrighted
Chapter I Introduction and Warning
You are about to read some things that may shock you. Please keep the following in mind while reading. This article is organized into 3 sections, each with different purposes. Throughout, I am careful to distinguish observations from interpretations. I ask that you do so also.
(1) The first section (Chapters II and III) contains descriptions of events. In this section I present unembellished descriptions of things I actually saw. People often ask how I know I saw cheating. From these descriptions, you should be able to interpret whether you believe my subsequent interpretations, in the latter sections. The first chapter is things, the meaning of which is obvious. The second chapter in this section is descriptions of things that I actually saw, but the meaning is not so obvious, at least to an outside observer.
(2) Based on my observations, I believe that the students are highly organized in their cheating. The second section (Chapter IV) consists of my extrapolations about how the cheating MIGHT be organized within one school. Parts of this may be wrong or incomplete. Bear in mind that this was written from the perspective of an unwelcome outsider. Chapter V is web tools for cheating. Chapter VI is about faculty and adminstration complicity
(3) IN Chapter VII, I suggest some possible solutions.
Chapter II “Just the facts.” Things that I observed directly
Statements about cheating
During a panel discussion at orientation, I asked about cheating in this institution. One student said that basically all students cheat, but infrequently. This student, later, privately told me that I would be amazed at the level of cheating that occurs. This student mentioned signals. He told me that dropping a pencil means "I'm in trouble." A cough means "the answer is C."
Many professors will scramble the order of questions and choices in multiple choice questions. He also told me that students can decode all of this scrambling. (I believe I discovered one was this is done, described below.)
Cell phones in the test.
On three occasions, I caught students with cell phones on during a test. In one case, a student had a wireless ear part in her hand. She had apparently taken it off her ear (from under her long hair). In another case, I saw a student putting a cell phone into her pocket as she went to sit down for a test. The third one I saw was at the end of a test, a student pulled a phone out of his pocket, said something into it briefly, and then returned it to his pocket. This occurred as he walked from his seat to the door.
Stolen tests
A colleague had a test stolen from his locked office. He had counted them before leaving the day before.
In our department, we were not issued individual printers. We had to print everything, including our tests on common printers or copy machines. One day (early in my stay there), I printed a quiz in the evening and did not collect the tests (from the locked copy room) that day. The next day, the tests were gone. At that time, I was not suspicious and figured my memory was wrong. However, more than 50% of the students got 100 and another 25% over 80 on that test. Another time, immediately after I sent a test to a printer, I got an irrelevant phone call from a student (a senior, telling me that he was missing class because he had to look at a house he was buying). When I got to the printer, one page of the test was missing, and the test was not where it should have been on the printer if it had just been printed.
Chapter III. Suspicious things I saw for which I cannot prove the meaning.
In test signaling.
Before you read this, be warned that the universal response to these items below is that these are normal behaviors and impossible to prove that they are cheating behaviors. This is correct. Please remember that this is the place in the article where I am listing suspicious, not confirmed, cheating behavior. I am not listing normal behavior. I am listing behaviors that were excessive and repetitive. Moreover, in a good cheating system, normal behavior is the perfect cover. In addition, I believe that some of these behaviors were covers for the real cheating behavior, such as whispering into cell phones.
There was significant audible noise during test taking. Audible kinds of signaling I saw/heard were: coughing, yawning, sniffling, sneezing, stretching, chest thumping, head scratching, fidgeting, squirming, repeatedly turning pages. I am now at another institution, where students are absolutely silent while taking tests.
There was a LOT of erasing, moving pencils around, dropping pencils, switching pencils, clicking mechanical erasers, moving and switching different color mechanical pencils, pencil twirling. I never saw an old-fashioned number 2 pencil there. Often, many students would have multiple erasures of the same tet questions.
Also, I saw a lot of finger movement, eg, a thumb being moved between successive fingers, knuckle cracking on different fingers, Another strange thing that happened once was after turning in a test to me, a student came back and said that he wanted to look at a question again. I let him and he pointed to one question, for which he had the answer "B". Then but he walked close to another student and wagged his pencil twice.
Chapter IV. My hypothesis about how the cheating is organized.
I believe that this cheating is a system-wide activity among students. It is a cultural norm at this particular institution. I believe there is a highly developed culture of cheating there. I believe that the majority of students participate and certainly every student is aware of. I believe that it is successful because it clandestine and highly organized. As long as students are organized and faculty/administration is not, cheaters will "win."
Here, I cannot prove any of this, but the pattern fits. What follows is completely hypothetical. It is certainly wrong in some details. However, I believe that in general terms, this is approximately what is going on. The cheating could be run in a “military-style” organization with test captain, sergeants and foot soldiers for each test. Each thing I describe is their ideal. Obviously they do not succeed in all aspects for every test. The general idea is that (1) advance copies of the test are obtained. (2) The "captain" (usually a senior, or very good student) actually learns the most material. (3) During the test, the captain is in two-way communication with someone outside the test. (4) The captain transmits answers (4) everyone else uses the answers and /or transmits them.
Attempts to obtain advance copies of current test—
I have already described three cases that describe how advance test copies are obtained. In addition, other activities may be occurring.
Before a test.
Students may sneak in digital cameras into Xerox rooms to take picture of tests (when stealing is not possible). Every department has student workers who have keys and access to departmental files and copy machines. One professor told me that one time he thought he glimpsed a copy of his test on student's laptop before a test. Whenever I went to campus during evenings or weekends, there were students hanging around faculty offices.
Hacking professors computers would be easy, since all university laptops are connected to the same network. Just one mole in IT would be sufficient to siphon tests. The main drive for each professors (standard issue) computer is on the network. Moreover, someone in IT could be communicating when a professor is about to print. I tried to keep my files on my desktop, not the server. And tried to keep the computer not connected to the network. I heard from faculty that the copy machine sometimes breaks down while printing out a test. I believe it may not be accidental.
Relevant professors may be under surveillance by students around the clock before relevant test times. I always saw people "talking" on cell phones, outside my office, which is in a distant, dark arm of the old building. There are desks in the hall, some chairs and always someone on the phone. I believe that at least one the observers is on cell phone, maybe pretending to be talking about something else (to explain their presence) or maybe transmitting the professor’s whereabouts. Anytime the professor enters or leaves the office is communicated. If this is coupled with the network person, they would know when the professor is sending something to the printer. Even if not, the watcher could figure it out, depending. One time I noticed that same person (not a student worker) hanging around the department office, where there were about 6 faculty offices, over several hours. I think this because I walked to a class, taught and walked back and the same person was still there, appearing to talk on a phone. Copies of previous tests could easily keep a bank. I was told that the department policy is to return tests. I was asked what can they study? I said try books. Here’s a suggestion. They pay big bucks for the books, why not use them?
During the test:
I think that for each test there is one (maybe 2) “captain”, probably with a concealed phone. In several of my classes, I think I spotted the captain — usually someone you would not suspect, say a really good student. However, in one case, I suspect it was not a good student (“Student 1”). Student 1 was in my Wednesday class. A few hours before the exam, Student 1 called me and asked whether the test was multiple choice or otherwise. Then I caught her a putting a cell phone into her pocket on her way into the test (administration reaction to that noted below). A poor student could still transmit signals from someone outside the class during the test. In another class, I think was a very good student (Student 2). I caught him doing some really fancy hand signaling.
After one of the tests, students wanted to go over the answers with me. I indicated this was fine with me, but I couldn’t remember whether I had scrambled the questions or the answers. One student volunteered that it was both! How would she know that before I had graded and returned the tests? Another time, I went over the answers, post-test. There was one question that was a little obscure. When I said the answer there was a loud, collective, “Oh,” from ALL the students. It was like they were all taking the test together as one group!
Earplugs. Student 2, whom I saw take a cell phone out of his pocket, at the END of a test, was wearing large purple earplugs. The earplugs could conceal small wireless devices. He could be receiving signals with the earpiece and transmitting with the pocket phone. The earplugs were sticking out more than one would expect.
Also, doodles on the test are probably reminders in the signaling process. He also had some rubrics that made no sense. Maybe those were the signaling patterns. This may be another reason students wanted to keep tests. There were check marks and asterisks all over the tests.
That “captain” is in 2-way communication with someone (or several people) outside the room. This outside person would be feeding answers to the test taker and the test taker I signaling (in a predetermined code, for which question answers are needed. The university has a text message system that they provide the students with. The captain then signals others. I don’t know how the signals are disseminated, but I believe that there is some kind of relay system, perhaps hierarchical. Then, students distract the teacher as much as possible. If a single flashed number, like three fingers, can convey an answer to everyone in viewing distance, a single distraction of the teacher is fatal. If there is a grammatical of numbering error, multiple students keep asking the same question. There were constant irrelevant questions. (Teachers should not answer questions during tests.) I had one student ask me how many points a question was worth. I do not allow bathroom breaks, but one time the student took her test at the beginning of the test, looked at the test and then asked to go to the bathroom. Other distractions in class: I had the door shut and a student left and propped it open with a door stop, so I had to unjam it, because there was noise outside the door. I would not remove it next time.
In class signaling.
I wasn’t able to work it all out, but there must be different signals for needing an answer and having an answers, for example, foot tapping would mean “need” and pencil tapping might mean “have an answer.” The kinds of signaling I thought I saw were: coughing, yawning, sniffling, maybe sneezing, stretching, chest thumping, head scratching, erasing, moving pencils around, dropping pencils, switching pencils, erasing, clicking mechanical erasers, different color mechanical pencils, repeatedly turning pages, fidgeting, squirming. Also, there was a lot with fingers, eg, a thumb being moved between successive fingers, knuckle cracking on different fingers, pencil twirling. I never saw an old-fashioned number 2 pencil there. One student returned after handing in a test to me and said that he wanted to look at again. I let him and he pointed to one question. He had answered “B.” Then, and this may be my imagination, but he walked close to another student and wagged his pencil twice.
I know that it starts to sound ridiculous, and I am aware that I cannot prove any of these things. However, there are many reasons that I think these are signals. Also, there is a lot of the same going on as decoys. One student told me some of them. He told me several things, but one was that a cough stands for C.
Since, by a certain point in my time at University, the students knew I was on to signaling, I now think some of it was faked, to draw my attention away from the ringleaders. I saw one student watching me. The next time I looked at her, she was wiggling here fingers. I turned to look in the direction she was “signaling”, I saw nothing then I looked back and she was laughing at me. Students that I have challenged have asked exactly what I saw them doing, as if to report back how much I know.
Another point is that although my experience was in one department, I believe that what I observed is too well-organized to only occur in only one department.
I realize that after a point, this may sound paranoid. I had NO suspicions originally. As time went on, my suspicions were aroused, and then became worse and worse. I eventually had to remove myself from the situation. It is possible that I have over-interpreted my observations. However, here I am just reporting what I saw and what it MIGHT mean. I believe that, while I may be incorrect in some of the details, the preponderance of the evidence supports that there is a pattern of organized cheating at this particular institution. It is extremely unlikely that this is the only institution where it occurs in this manner.
Chapter V. Web tools for cheating
2. From a web blog. http://www.helium.com/tm/275009/cheating-common-college-campuses
“SMS stands for Short messaging serves and is also called text. Sending a text is becoming more and more popular every year because it allows the user and receiver to send short messages with out talking on the phone and is less the cost. .. If you send a lot of text message you can add a fetcher to you cell phone plan to pay about $3-$10 [depending] on the company for unlimited text messaging. ..So I say text messaging is a great thing [because] it allows us to talk to people when calling [is] not appropriate … Now … kids in school have [their] cell phone turned on and on silent mode and talking to each other during class and are using cell phones to cheat on test by asking another student my text what the answer is. … Happy text messaging.”
“…That's not all the police had to deal with, however, with them also reportedly turning up 42 pairs of so-called "cheating shoes" with "transmitting and reception ability" prior to the exam, as well as some "cheating wallets" and hats.” (from Academic Dishonesty: An Educator's Guide Journal of College Student Development, Jan/Feb 2003 by Waryold, Diane M)
Chapter VI. Faculty and administration complicity
Departmental
When I showed my chairperson the bluetooth phone, she said that she did not know what it was. Soon thereafter, in a different test, I spotted a student putting a cell phone into her pocket as she sat down for a test. I screamed (which I shouldn’t have done) for her to leave the test. She ran to my chairperson crying that she just wanted to call her mother. My chairperson had the student call her “mother” in front of us and let her back into the test. When the test was stolen from my colleague’s office, my chairperson sent an email to keep tests in locked cabinets. I asked how to get one and there was no answer. I know I could get one myself, but this inaction displays a lack commitment to fighting cheating. When I accused a third student of sending hand signals, of course she objected. Then she went to my chairperson. My chairperson came back to my office with one of the nuns. We discussed various things, but my chairperson decided to accept the grade on the quiz in question and allow the student to retake a special make-up exam, since the poor student was now too upset to take the midterm that day.
My chairperson called a faculty meeting (a regular one) but said, that after a discussion she had had with the dean, we should have an off-the-record discussion about cheating. When my colleague stated in the faculty meeting that a test had been stolen from his office, there was no outrage. There was a little discussion. Then someone asked whether this means that some old keys are “out there.” (To me that is the obvious answer.) It was discussed and decided that it was unlikely. Then I told about finding the bluetooth. One person volunteered that they do not permit any visible electronic devices in tests. Well, duh!!!
Administrative
I sent several emails to the Dean about my detection of cheating. I had no response, except that she planned to start an “integrity committee” and I could be on it. I have read the faculty handbook on integrity. My reading of it is that the professor has the responsibility and the right to ensure that no schoolwork is compromised by any kind of cheating. I did not see any formal mechanism for dealing with cheating, except at the classroom level. I was later told that there is an honor committee, and that it is dealt with at the “committee” level, not at the Faculty Handbook level. However, the person telling me this could not find it. So then I unsuccessfully searched the University Web site for an honor committee. Not found. I found a “hearing” committee, but I believe it was a pre-law committee. I was told by another faculty that a faculty person that she knew had one incident in which formal charges were brought before a committee; that person said I would be contacted. I heard nothing.
It is very difficult to get copy machines for the department and printers for individual faculty. All copiers in our department are networked. I would guess this is true for most departments. We have been told that this is for financial reasons. However, in the faculty orientation, The president of the University gave a long litany of large amounts of funds that he procured for the University. Perhaps these funds are earmarked for capital expenses, but in the context of a very large budget and maintaining the integrity of an institution of learning, I find it puzzling that these conditions continue.
I was assigned to a particular classroom to teach a particular class. There were 66 student registered for the class. The room has elevated bleacher type levels is rated for 72. However, it is extremely crowded when all the students are there. The small seats with writing boards are crowed so that the student arms are almost touching one another. There is a line of desks on the floor, up to the podium. I seriously question the room-size requirement guidelines, because the teaching room that I lecture in is not large enough for the students, let along a test where they should be spread out. I won’t go into detail about the difficulty I had just getting an adequately sized room for testing 70 students. The previous complaint is more about bureaucratic ineptitude, but the result was that I had to give tests under conditions that invite cheating.
When 5 new faculty members tried to meet informally to discuss issues, we were essentially prohibited from doing so, by one of the nuns. Also, because of the difficulty with proctoring, I suggested making a list of times that faculty are available for proctoring. I was told to not pursue that because faculty should not be pressured to proctor.
Chapter VII. My recommendations.
Cheating must be dealt with on two levels.
I. The more important level is institutional.
(1) The institution must, first of all, have a public, no-tolerance policy for cheating. This should be achieved by several means. First, by simple and clear statements of the ATTITUDE. In all statements, such as Faculty and Student Handbooks, web site, (even printed on all tests) at strong statement (THE University statement, whatever it is) must be posted. The lengthy student code of conduct has about ONLY one sentence on the issue. (Since this University is a Catholic University, I think that the statement should be ground in faith and a relationship with the Almighty, but that’s just me.) This no-tolerance policy must emanate from the highest level, that is, the President of the University.
(2) The institution must create enforce policies with consequences for cheating. Many institutions have “Honor Boards” I’m sure that there are “best practice” policies to guide the effort.
II. In the trenches
Unfortunately, the second level on which cheating must be faced is in the classroom. It is clear that there is an intensely adversarial relationship between students and faculty surrounding grades. The students are clearly organized in a hierarchical structure and faculty must combat it on those terms. Moreover, any system can be beat. But we still have to try. Do we disarm our military because terrorists continue to infiltrate the US? I think that if the underlying adversarial nature of the endeavor can be healed, the cheating would diminish.
Ethics discussions in classrooms
Ethics should be openly discussed by faculty in class. First this gives a heads-up that this classroom is a no tolerance zone. Secondly, I believe that many students do not understand why it is wrong. One student I asked said that he has to cheat because everyone else does. Another student told me that University students are very unhappy about the living and eating situation, so they feel entitled to misbehave. It might be possible to include an ethics component in the Freshman 101 course (but it should be given every year).
Develop alternative assessment methods
The purpose of testing is to determine whether the student has learned. There is much new research on nonadversarial assessment methods. This university actually has people trained in this, and there have been some workshops. Clearly it is not enough. One problem is that since everyone’s course load is so high, very few people have time to attend. These workshops should be mandatory and that time should be made for everyone to attend on a continuing basis.
Support
Five of us (new faculty) were prohibited, by a nun, from meeting to discuss issues. Also AAUP is barred from the campus, and the substitute “faculty association” is only permitted to meet at and for a dictated amount of time. To stop cheating is extremely time-consuming, especially since the load is already so high. (Imagine having to do one critical part of your job, in detail, 2 or 3 times). I was given some software (for which we had a site-license) to help scramble question and choice order. The software ended up taking more time than it would have manually. Blackboard is supposed to be able to do this. Unfortunately, much of faculty comradery is based on having a common enemy, the cheating students. The goal of faculty should be to work together to strengthen student learning.
Information
Until that time is reached, faculty should share with one another any cheating methods that they detect. It is clear that students are highly organized around this issue and the faculty must meet that organization, similarly organized. At the moment, the coding that I broke will not be available to anyone else. I doubt that the sophisticated level of cheating that I found is only carried out in my class.
Proctoring
Having enough proctors is very important with this level of cheating. Minimally you need 2 in every test, one to never stop looking, and one to answer questions. Proctors do not have to be students. There should be an optimal student/proctor ratio. Keeping the test time as short as possible is important, because it gives the students less time to figure out the hands signs. There are probably signals for the kinds of questions, multiple choice, TF, etc. so the more different kinds of question you put, the harder it will be for the signals to go out.
A final thought
I asked one student whether he thought there was a lot of cheating going on. He replied that he thought there was more than there should be. I asked, “Well, how much should there be?”
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