Detecting and Preventing College Cheating in the Electronic Age

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Detecting and Preventing College Cheating in the
Electronic Age

• Drs. Bud Banis
• and Jennifer Siciliani
• Presented
• At the University of Missouri-St Louis
• 3rd Annual Conference on Teaching Technology
• October 29, 2004

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Cheating is ubiquitous

• Steroids in professional sports
• Shoddy work for fair pay
• Poor pay for quality work
• Sales of property with hidden defects
• Used cars
• Behavior at traffic merges
• Marital infidelity
• Political campaign promises, broken
• Unearned credentials (i.e. college diplomas)

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Thoughts that tend to be associated with the
decision to cheat

• If cheating were wrong, then it wouldnt be so
  easy
• The rules are unfair no one could possibly
  adhere to them
• No one could possibly do this much work without
  help
• The professor doesn't care
• It probably won't be detected
• The professor is an incorrigible, pompous buffoon
• Everyone else is cheating
• If I don't cheat too, I will lose
• Everybody cheats/lies!

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The Psychology of Cheating

• The Fallacy of the Commons
• Each English village set aside a central grazing
  area (the "commons") with enough space and
  grazing resources to allow each villager to graze
  one cow. Nearly every person tried to sneak in
  an extra animal for grazing. Their rationale
  my grazing one extra cow cant hurt the land and
  affect the outcome. Its only one more cow.

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The Psychology of Cheating

• The Fallacy of the Commons
• The problem all villagers thought the same
  thing and the land became barren for the whole
  village. Everyone tried to cheat, forgetting
  that their cheating had a cumulative effect
  when added to the cheating of all others that
  resulted in nothing for anyone.

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But cheating is self-defeating

• Cheating can be described through game theory and
  the prisoner's dilemma model
• People who drive up the shoulder and cut in cause
  traffic jams
• People who do lousy work will be paid what they
  are worth
• Companies who offer lousy pay will get what they
  pay for
• Free-riders on team projects will end up on
  inferior teams
• A degree from a second-rate university will be
  inferior

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How do we, as teachers, teach the lesson early?

• Clearly define cheating to students with several
  examples
• Explain that avoiding cheating is an active (not
  passive) process
• Help students to know and understand the Student
  Code of Conduct and how it relates to their work
  at the university
• Show that you care and that you are watching
• Be open about controls in place (smile youre
  on camera)
• Reward honesty
• Define and encourage transparency

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How do we, as teachers, teach the lesson early?

• Provide a learning environment in which students
  can ask questions about work expected, especially
  when they feel totally lost concerning work to be
  due (this can lead to desperation that in turn,
  leads to cheating)
• Be reasonable in workload expectations
• Be fair in assessments and grading
• Don't make rules you can't enforce
• Prosecute transgressions consistently and fairly
• Incorporate lessons on ethics and cheating in the
  curriculum

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Incorporate lessons on ethics and cheating in the
curriculum

• Examples
• Game theory examples above
• Incentives and the decision to cheat
• What the students think about cheating
• Coverage of the university procedures for
  dealing with academic dishonesty and
  indiscretions

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It might help to add an affirmation for the
noncheating student to sign

• Acknowledging that perjury may be a prosecutable
  criminal offense, I swear under penalty of law,
  that I have not and will not give or receive any
  unauthorized assistance on this exam (assignment,
  paper, etc.).
• Name
• Student number

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Detecting and Preventing Cheating in the
Electronic Age

• Cheating may be easier, but detection is easier
  as well
• Plagiarism and Google
• Different versions of exams (random questions,
  different numbers)
• Coincidence scores
• Paper checking services online
• Electronic surveillance during exams
• Electronic sleuthing

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Example of Electronic sleuthing

• Statistics problems incorporating student numbers
• Detecting dissonant results
• Back calculating to the source of the solution

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Back calculating to the source of the solution

• Sensitivity analysis and EXCEL Table Tool
• Back calculations with EXCEL Solver
• Find these videos and more at collegecheating.com
  and collegecheating.net

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War Stories and Discussion

• We all have them! Sharing these with others and
  hearing others experiences will help you to
• Handle cheating when it happens in your classroom
• Find support and peers advice for dealing with
  situations as they happen
• Understand and be aware of various forms of
  cheating