Conflict Resolution Strategies

Cheating on exams has become much more than writing answers on hands or taping a cheat sheet to the brim of a baseball cap. Cheating has evolved just as the world's technology has. The advancement of technology has heightened the potential for cheating as the student has a multitude of resources right at his or her fingertips.

Cheating among students is on the rise. A recent survey found that 80% of the top students listed in the Who's Who in American Schools admitted to cheating. That's the highest percentage in the survey's 29 year history. Studies indicate that teachers who do not take time to explain the academic policies and consequences of cheating are more likely to encounter students who cheat without realizing they are cheating. Moreover, students said they resorted to cheating when teachers did not give sufficient time to research and prepare for assignments. Pressure to do well on high stakes standardized tests for admission to colleges and universities was also cited by students as a reason for cheating.

Students are always discovering new ways get illicit assistance at exam time. Using the internet to cheatÐ'--often referred to as "e-cheating"Ð'--is becoming more common as internet usage grows. Students no longer need to travel to the library to research and collect information for term papers. By simply typing a key word in to a Web search engine such as Google, Yahoo, or Ask.com, a student can find an abundance of information on virtually any topic. While the internet has made it easier to access information, it has also made it easier to misuse information. A student can now commit plagiarism by copying and pasting text found online directly in to a word processing program, and turn it in as his or her own work without properly citing or crediting the author. Students sharing assignments with other students via e-mail is another form of e-cheating. This often occurs between students taking similar classes at different schools. One student will simply email a paper to another student as an attachment.

Perhaps the most blatantly dishonest form of e-cheating is the use of "Web Paper Mills," which are websites that offer access to a large database of papers. Students can download a paper, put their name on it, and turn it in as their own. Hundreds of these sites exist and they are easy for students to find. For example, by typing "free essays" or "free term paper" into any Web search engine, dozens of Web Paper Mills come up. Some Web Paper Mills offer papers for free, while others charge up to $35 per page for custom essays [McMurtry].

And while many examples of e-cheating involve paper plagiarism, in recent years as web-based exams have become more common, e-cheating has also become an emerging problem [Rogers]. One set of researchers examining this issue found many students were engaging in dishonest practices such as accessing websites and instant messaging other students during online exams, or bringing disks containing answers to the exam [Baker].

Just as internet usage has grown dramatically in recent years, so has the usage of portable electronic devices such as cell phones, MP3 players, and PDAs. Consequently, students are using these devices to cheat on exams by secretly accessing virtually endless amounts of information that can be stored on them. According to Scott W. Campbell, cell phones have become the fastest growing communication technology ever, with subscriptions reaching over two billion across the globe.4 Cell phones have many built in features such as cameras, text and instant messaging, and internet access which make cheating easier for students to hide. Students can use these features to create high tech cheat sheets, look at photos of notes and previously taken exams, send and receive answers from classmates, and search the web for information (walker) 3. Research shows that 85% of education instructors sampled believe cell phones should be banned from the classroom.1 This can be a daunting task because students won't part from their phones.

Portable media players like iPods are not only being used by students to relax in their studies; they are also being used to cheat. Rebecca Boone writes in the Edmonton journal that notes can be downloaded into these audio devices under the lyrics section and students can listen to the notes while taking their tests unbeknown to the instructor.5

A PDA, or Personal Data Assistant, is a handheld mini computer. Updated versions can hold in excess of 1 GB of data which enables a student to store massive amounts of information. A student could have access to text documents, spreadsheets, databases, graphics and computer applications right in the classroom (Richardson, 2002)1.

Although using these various devices is not new, many instructors and administrators are unaware that they are being used by students dishonestly. Usage during an exam is not easy to detect. Most of these gadgets have headphone attachments where students can hook up their ear buds, threading one through a long-sleeved shirt and discreetly lean their head on their hand secretly listening to the stored audio on the device. Aaron Richardson says "Awareness of the capabilities of these devices is pivotal to the enforcement of honor codes and testing policies."1 With the ever growing popularity of cell phones, iPods and PDAs, it may be very difficult to prohibit them in the classroom, but instructors and administrators can minimize their dishonest usage by being aware of the of the creative ways students have found to help them in the classroom.

For students, getting caught and punished is only one of many downsides to cheating. The stakes are high when a student wages to cheat themselves into a grade. Some of the effects of cheating are instantaneous while other negative effects can follow a student throughout his or her career. Many schools and universities have a strict code of conduct that prohibits any form of cheating including plagiarism. Some even expel students from school or place students on academic probation.

When a student decides to cheat, they are losing out on an education. If the instructor gives a test to measure what the student obtained during class, the student isn't retaining the information. Kremmidas says that students who cheated their way to their degrees will likely to enter a workforce without the skills they were hired to do. This could be a risk factor for more than the student. Imagine if you went to the doctor who cheated on his medical exam, would you want them doing life altering operation on you?

A pattern evolves from the success of cheating. There have been surveys that indicate students who cheated in college are more likely to cheat on the job. (Eastman & Valdosta) Sandra Martin explains the corporate