Entry 4

McKeachie’s chapter on Cheating was very helpful to me in a few different ways.

The first thing that I found to be useful was the statistics about who cheats, why they cheat, and how they cheat. The book clearly stated my exact thought, “my students would never cheat.” I actually laughed when I read it because a teacher would never want to imagine their students as cheaters, only honest and hard-working students. I was shocked to find that those students who tend to cheat the most are those that are ‘above-average’, those in business or engineering majors, and those with lower GPA’s. It has led me to become more interested as to how all of these factors could correlate.

Why some students may cheat didn’t really surprise me, but I wish that McKeachie would have gone into more detail and given more examples as to why a student may do so. Some of the reason I could see a student cheating would be lack of time, the information may be too hard for them to memorize or maybe too much information, but of course there is always just pure laziness. McKeachie stated that students cheat because of the strong emphasis on grades today and that if they get high enough grades they will be rewarded, even if they didn’t ‘earn’ them.

The section about how students cheat didn’t reveal too much new information, pretty much stated the obvious forms of cheating. The one that did stand out to me was number 5 on the list: students use tapping, hand code, cell phones, instant messaging, or other communication. Reading this almost makes me paranoid that my students will be cheating on their first Comm 110 exam. The class is small, but everyone is so close and friendly with one another I may have to spread them out just to be on the safe side. I have a feeling I am going to be over cautious. With that, many of the students are having a hard time choosing a topic for their upcoming speech so I will be on the lookout for plagiarized speeches.

The second piece of information that I found to be very useful was how to prevent cheating from occurring. In the communication field, or at least in Comm. 110, the students have a class period that is designated to a review day. I am not sure how other departments or courses cover what is on the test before it is given, or if they even do, but I believe that this will help students be less prone to cheating. This review will allow them to reduce some pressure that the test may be causing by reviewing the information that has been covered thus far throughout the semester and allow them to answer questions or address concerns they might have in regards to the exam.

McKeachie states that a common form of cheating is copying a classmates’ paper. This is very likely to happen in my Comm. 110 course but with copying a speech from a previous student or online, rather than a paper. I have allowed my students many opportunities to ask questions and receive help from me personal and from their peers in relation to their speeches. I hope that by doing this they will feel more comfortable about a topic and allow themselves enough time to complete the speech in or out of class. With that, I have allowed students many chances to discuss with me previous work so they can get a clear understanding of what is expected of them and how they can reach that goal. All of this will hopefully make them more comfortable with assignments and exams by feeling prepared and knowing what is expected of them.

One thing I didn’t agree with in this section was how to handle cheating. There could be a fine-line between someone who looks like they may be cheating with a student that actually is. As a graduate student, I do not feel as though we have encountered or been in enough situations to handle this type of problem efficiency the first time. I wish McKeachie would have used more examples and explained how this situation can really be such a difficult thing to take control of.


Another topic that was of interest to me as well as helpful was the section on grading. I believe that grading systems have been a topic of concern for many for quite awhile. It was brought to my attention at the beginning of the semester in regards to the grading of Comm. 110. Past semesters used a grading system that only allowed a specific number of students to receive an ‘A’ or a ‘B’ in each class regardless of whether or not there might have been more students in the percentage category. I have been strongly against this type of grading since I can remember solely because I believe each person learns different and demonstrates their abilities of understanding and comprehension differently in which grades could be effected. Students shouldn’t be compared to their classmates and never feel obligated to ‘beat them’.

This semester the grading system has changed and I am thankful for that. It is back to the good old standardized percentage categories. As simple as this type of grading is, it can vary by the teacher. In my Comm 690 course this was demonstrated in groups as we all graded the same presentation but arrived with different grades. What one person may think is a ‘B’ grade the other may not.

Using the information I have from grading and correlating it with McKeachies perspectives as to whether or not they can provide useful information and whether or not we can trust them, is very hard. How can an employer trust the grades they receive on a transcript? Maybe the student did worse, or maybe they did better. The reason this chapter was helpful to me is because it really emphasized the importance of grades during their academic career and thereafter. It also benefited me by explaining how to deal with students who want to discuss their grade and how to keep grades consistent.

McKeachie also explains the benefits of goal orientation. I see this with students when we do group activities that require their own knowledge and being able to adapt it to the situation. They feel as though their time matters and they are learning something that will be useful to them either now or in the future.

http://tlt.suny.edu/originaldocumentation/library/cm/cheat.htm