We have all been through the process of last-minute cramming for tests or walking into a classroom completely unprepared. In most cases, all that you really had to be prepared for was the lousy grade that you were about to receive. In the case of some students, the idea of a bad grade was more than they could take, which is usually when cheating happened.
Though our world has advanced in many ways, one thing that teachers still see within the classroom is cheating. Whether you’re an administrator or educator, today’s blog is for you. The team at Precision Data Products is going to cover a few of the things that you can do to minimize the chances of cheating in your classroom. The points that we cover in today’s blog can be used as stand-alone means of minimizing cheating or can be combined to provide a fool-proof plan. With that being said, let’s get started.
Monitor the Room
One of the most essential parts of minimizing the chances of cheating in your classroom requires you to monitor the room — constantly! The moment that the test starts, you want to make sure that you are positioned in a place where you can see all of the students. Aside from that, you want to make sure that you minimize, if not eliminate, distractions. While it may be challenging to spend the entirety of the test merely watching your students to ensure that they aren’t cheating, it’s what needs to happen.
If the classroom size is more than you can monitor on your own, consider inviting another teacher to help you. Return the favor the next time that they have a class of this size taking a test and need some additional help monitoring their students.
Establish a Policy & Repercussions
Aside from watching your students while they test, it’s crucial that you establish a policy on cheating and share it with them. Your policy should go into detail about what is considered cheating and what the repercussions will be if a student is caught. By providing them with this information at the beginning of the semester and reminding them before each test, you can minimize the chances of cheating. More importantly, providing them with this information shows that you have some initial trust, but that it is up to them to uphold their end of that relationship.
Strategically Setup the Room
If you’re sincerely worried about cheating happening during the test, you can go as far as strategically placing chairs throughout the room so that you know, with confidence, that your students aren’t cheating. If you can do this, you are going to want to make sure that all of your students are spread out. Another way that you can manage this is by mixing up the questions and creating two different tests. Then, alternate the test to each desk that you have so that the students on either side will have a different test. Though this may seem like it would take some extra work, you’d be surprised how easy it is to shuffle the order of the questions to create a new test, and the best part is that you minimize the likelihood of students cheating.
Greet Your Students
Now, this may sound like a silly way to minimize the chances of cheating, but it is actually a great way to get an idea of who is nervous when they first enter the classroom. As you greet your students, get an idea of any strange or nervous behavior. When students act unusual or on edge, it’s often because they know they are not prepared for the exam and may even be considering cheating during the test. It’s such a simple task, and yet, it can provide you with a world of knowledge on how your students are feeling and who you may need to be watching out for.
Incorporate Test Sheets
A method that schools and universities have incorporated into their method of testing is the bubble test sheet. There are countless benefits to utilizing test sheets for exams, but one of the primary ones is that it can minimize the chances of cheating. While students could still try and cheat, it’s extremely difficult to do so when using a fill-in-the-bubble answer sheet. If you’ve already implemented the points that we’ve listed above, and you’re still struggling with cheating, it wouldn’t hurt to give test sheets a shot.
Shop Precision Data Products
The team at Precision Data Products has worked tirelessly to create the test sheets that you need to minimize cheating in your classroom. Our PDP 100 form is nearly identical to the standard Scantron 882-E form and provides you with the same benefits. Browse the various answer sheets that we carry in our online store, and see just how beneficial adding this material to your classroom can be.
