[Bioteaching] advice for addressing widespread cheating on exam

[Anne 'Michelle' Wood]

HI Kelly, So far I have been either lucky or incredibly naieve because I've not experienced widespread cheating in any classes. Usually the sort of 'technically correct but not-from-the class" wrong answer you describe varies from student-to-student or clearly comes from the top Google hit when you search the obvious keyword. This latter leads to something that looks like collaboration because severl people use the same phrases, but it is really a serch engine deriviative.  I now have a syllabus policy that I even sometimes repeat in the instructions for assignments and, especially exams, that says the exams are to provide them an opportunity to show what they have learned in class and to demonstrate an ability to apply the material from class. "While being able to look things up on the WWW is a useful skill, factually correct answers not based on course material will not earn as much credit as exemplary mastery and engagement with course material"

If I were dealing with the situation you describe, I would probably throw out the questions involved with the explanation to students that there were so many duplicative answers derived from outside the class that the question (and/or content) was not a good measure of mastery of course material.  This might hurt some students who got it right, but - generally - those students would probably also do well on the questions you retain.  This would only work if you have enough questions left to have a reasonable exam.

You could also reiterate that using outside resources is not allowed and that by using these resource students who did so potentially harmed the students who made the best of the 'difficult' question.

Thanks for bringing this up. I think it is good for us to continue to report our experiences and solutions to cheating. I think we have to do everything we can to elevate honest behavior and create consequences for opportunists and cheaters.

Best regards,
Michelle
________________________________
From: bioteaching-bounces at lists.uoregon.edu <bioteaching-bounces at lists.uoregon.edu> on behalf of Kelly Sutherland <ksuth at uoregon.edu>
Sent: Thursday, March 18, 2021 4:31 PM
To: bioteaching at lists.uoregon.edu <bioteaching at lists.uoregon.edu>
Subject: [Bioteaching] advice for addressing widespread cheating on exam


Hi all,



I am grading the Canvas online final exam for BI357 (Marine Biology) and there’s evidence of widespread cheating.  I don’t think it’s realistic to pursue each student that I suspect of cheating and it can also be hard to prove.  For example, some students had answers that were technically correct but included information that we never discussed in class.



I am not shocked but definitely disappointed and am wondering what other folks have done to address instances of widespread academic misconduct, especially this year.



Would people be willing to share their experiences/approaches?

Many thanks,

Kelly



________

Kelly R Sutherland, PhD (she, her)

Associate Professor of Biology

Oregon Institute of Marine Biology

University of Oregon



Office: 473B Onyx Bridge

Phone: 541-346-8783



sutherlandlab.org

@SutherlandLab


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