I was once a clinical instructor before in one of the private institution in the city (read my story on My First Job in The Academe). During that period of time, I was astonished at the rampant cheating taking place with the students in the classrooms and in the campus.
Being a student, I could only remember sharing answers with my classmates on our assignments and some projects. It was seemed so hard to be cheating in exams in one seat apart or worst testpapers in set A and set B. Our Anatomy class moving exam will never give us a chance to answer, but just to startle us to literally "move" lol! Practical and revalida exams will only shed light for some tips and hints, and unfortunately, still no chance to cheat.
Still, I think, every student cheats in one way or another. One big reason for cheating is that they see their peers getting away with it.
Campus Cheating
There must be a lot of ways on how to cheat, students are so innovative and creative in this aspect. Students looked over each other's shoulder, devised coughing codes to communicate with friends, and flashed answers on the backs of their hands while pretending to stretch.
I once caught one of my students using his cellphone to send answers via text message to a friend's phone. The code "28-2," meaning the answer to question number 28 was letter B. I immediately confiscated the test paper and gave both 5, this is F in some universities.
In a Philosophy class, two students turned in homework essays that were almost identical. The professor reported this incident to the college dean for investigation, and both students were suspended and given 5 for the course.
Incidents such as these are all too common. In recent years, many colleges and universities have reported a surge in plagiarism, unauthorized collusion on assignments and cheating on tests.
In the Koren Drama, Law School, one student so much admired in the campus for being intelligent, was caught plagiarizing a case study. She even tried to cover her cheating act by inadvertently covering a crime. Wow! I was dumbfounded how cunning some intelligent people are!
Online/ Module Cheating
Nowadays, learning academically has become hilarious with the new ways of learning especially in children. I have heard a lot of parents answering modules for their children. My brother, who is also a father, mostly busy with work have to rush answering some unanswered parts of his daughters module just to complete it during the submission day. The same scenario with a colleague of mine who has been preoccupied most of the days with work too, have to answer her son's module task. According to her, most of the lessons were just so difficult for a second grade schooler. Sometimes, she needs to use the internet to cram for additional information.
I've seen this meme in Facebook, and this might be one comical scenario of a student in an online class with his mom watching him. Poor kid, but this can be real in anyone's home.
My nephew already in middle school sometimes resorts to his classmates group chat to answer questions during online examinations. Most of his essay tasks were checked by yours truly, lol! For the reason that he struggles with how the questions are formulated. Seriously, I even have trouble comprehending all those stuffs. Sometimes, I wonder if I have ever encountered such lessons in my high school, because some are really mind boggling.
These are forms of cheating, but, parents rationalize it as a way to survive schooling for their children at this time of pandemic. This is a sad excuse, but a reality for all of us.
Closing Thoughts
While this surge in cheating has been blamed on many factors, including a declining emphasis on moral values in the home and school. Also, with the internet, students have access to a treasure-full of information they can pinch without proper attribution. There is that feeling about the internet that information is out there for everybody to use as they see it fit.
Well, I just hope that there is still learning despite all these things happening.
I can only hope.
Thanks for reading everyone!
Take a good rest now and may you have all the strength you need for another busy week of work and earning. xo
P.S. Thank you @Eylz2021, @Pichi28 and @MizLhaine for renewing your sponsorships!
Related articles you might like reading:
Help Your Child Excel in Online Classes
A Tribute To a Teacher Who Believed in Me
What To Do When The Teacher is The Problem
Lead Image/ First and Last Photo from Pixabay (free to use images)
Meme from Facebook
10/10/2021
If in-person classes were cheating, now it has multiplied, everything is online. It also depends on the home and as you have learned, the internet should be used as a learning tool.