When I was in high school, everything was easy. Skipping class, forging parental signatures on notes to get out of school and go shopping, cutting line in the cafeteria to get the best slices of pizza, everything. The easiest activity, which I ONLY EVER USED for those stupid spelling tests on words that would never come close to making it into my daily vocabulary, was cheating. Most of the daring yet lazy boys spent more time on cheat sheets than actually studying. They utilized several methods, and each time they were caught, they would beat their brain trying to come up with the next innovative cheating technique.
When I got to the University level, I never thought i’d see as much cheating as I do. Last year, in an auditorium that held 250 of us, the professor caught a cheater in the middle of an exam and called him to right to the front, completely disregarding the fact that we were all watching this kid’s dignitiy get pummeled. But he deserved it, right? Cheaters suck. They don’t just ‘never prosper’, they suck!
According to Donald McCabe’s research (an academic integrity expert) at Rutgers University, 54% of Engineering students suck. ENGINEERS? These people are supposed to be aiding the human race with their wisdom. And they’re CHEATING their way through school? Damn. Penn State University and Washington State University joined Rutgers in the statistical survey analysis and all three determined 56% of Business students admitted to cheating. Well, its business, sneaky bastards, so that’s to be expected. But they also found 47% of non-business students admitted to cheating too!
So whats the damn deal? Are more students cheating than ever before? Researchers like McCabe seem to think so. The scariest part is the students they surveyed only accounted for 13% of the university’s population. So how many aren’t fessing up? And what secret tools are they using?
Popular Cheating Methods:
*Disclaimer: this is a list, not a promotion! (like this and this)
1. Txt Messages. While most professors have wised up to this tactic, its nearly impossible, no matter how old the prof., to catch the cheaters in the waaay back of the auditorium.
2. Signals. Yes, I really have seen it. It’s like poker, really. A tug on the ear, adjustment of a hat, cross of a leg, they might mean #16 = C.
3. Write on yourself. This one has been around since high school… or medieval times I can’t be sure. On the stomach, on the arm, on the sole of your shoe, anywhere that’s concealed, I’ve seen cheat sheets.
4. The Clear Pen. Boys in high school cherished this one too. You unscrew a pen, a clear one, so you can see through it. Then you insert your tiny cheat sheet that you spent hours on, or made sure to type it up in size 6 font. If you place it in perfectly, it rolls right around the plastic shape of the pen.
_______________________________
And cheating on exams isn’t the only way to cheat…
Lets not forget Plagiarism AND paying for papers.
But it seems that no matter how many threats are in my class syllabi regarding expulsion if caught cheating, i’ve never seen it happen. Slap on the wrist, zero for the assignment, get back to class.
*Is your school tough on cheaters? Or are you one of them? SPILL! No judgement, I promise.
photo courtesy of: http://grizzlymedia.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/cheating.jpg
December 7th, 2008 at 4:20 am
yup yup all of us cheat .. aaaw common big deal … i recently gt busted though… i few fake tears and yipee im back to class