I have never had so many cheaters in a class as I do this semester. They cheat on their tests, on their workbooks, on their in-class and out-of-class assignments. And the worst part is, even though I know they're cheating, I rarely manage to catch them in the act (which is so dang frustrating). Here are a few samples of their cheating:
Yesterday, a girl I'll call Sun, was absent. During class, we did a listening activity where the students had to write down their answers and turn them in. Miraculously, Sun managed to turn in both her homework and her answers to the listening part, which were suspiciously similar in correctness to all of the Koreans' answers. Hmm.
Can 4 students really all manage to misspell rehearsal in the exact same way? Really?
It's interesting that all the Koreans in class have all the same answers on their quiz. Unluckily for them, their answers are all wrong. HA.
How can you take notes on a lecture that I'm pretty dang sure you didn't attend and that cannot be found on the internet?
Of course, there are a few assignments on which I can easily dock points for cheating. Like when they have to do a summary of what they heard on the news, and the grammar is 100% perfect and the vocabulary is college level...and they clearly didn't write it themselves. It's also really fun to ask them what certain words from their summaries mean and watch them sqiurm. Or like when they're in the process of asking (in their native language) another student the answer to question #12 on the test and I happen to hear/see them right at that point. Blushing, anyone?
I know students cheat. Even good students might occasionally get a few answers from a friend. But I think foreign students cheat way more often than Americans. And they're dumb about it. If you're going to cheat, do it well. At least re-word your answers so it's not quite so blatantly obivous. Or you could just not cheat. Then maybe your English would actually improve.
5 comments:
The best part about cheaters, dishonest people and criminals is they are usually incredibly stupid. I saw it all summer. I think you should pick a student and shame them in front of the whole class and tell them they've dishonored their families with what they've done. Do it to one student and maybe the other students can take notes and pass them around to the students who missed class.
What's more important in an English class? Getting an A or actually learning and retaining the language? Seriously!!!
I kind of like Travis' suggestions, especially the one about how they have dishonored their families.
I bet it is frustrating that you can't catch people in the act. Not only could that stop the cheating (at least, one would hope), but it would also show students that you know what is going on.
On another note, I'm sorry that I missed your call. I won't be available the next few evenings, but hopefully we can connect soon.
I agree with M and TRav. Nothing makes me madder more than cheating and lying and stealing. Their families likely are making big sacrifices so they can be there.
Ha ha ha! Wow! I love your blunt-ness on the issue! And Trav has a good idea :) I say you do it!
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