BZZZZZ! There goes the vibration of a cell phone. BZZZZZ! There goes another student that has eluded the attention of a professor and received answers to an exam via a text message. With the increasing movement in cellular technology and the increasing number of students owning cell phones, the ability to cheat on an exam has started to become very easy to do. Cell phones aren’t the only technological means of cheating on an exam. Other examples are the TI Graphing Calculator series that is capable of holding hundreds of lines of text, and don’t forget the increasingly popular PDA organizers.
In extreme cases, students with camera phones can actually photograph an exam and excuse themselves to the restroom to take a quick peek at their study guide. One professor discussed how a student was busted for shrinking an entire study guide to the size of their palm and retrieving answers from it. Professor Michael Nojeim offered his take on the subject.
“There is a considerable amount of cheating going on and I don’t think it is just unique to Prairie View. When I say cheating, I don’t mean just on tests, but research papers as well. Some students aren’t aware of the rules on plagiarism and it can hurt them. These observations are based on me being a teacher for so long and also because there are instances when students come forth and admit that cheating is going on,” said Nojeim.
Yes, there are students who actually get by the teacher’s attention, but what about the students that aren’t so fortunate?
“The students that get caught will receive an ‘F’ on that assignment and in one case they received an ‘F’ for the entire course. My policy is the same as the university’s,” said Professor Nojeim.
Students know that it is tough for professors to keep an eye on everyone during an exam, especially in a class that has a large number of people. This creates a moral dilemma for some. Do you take a peek at that incoming text message while the professor is on the other side of the room? Or do you take your exam with the knowledge that you already have? The majority of the Panthers on campus know the correct answer, but it’s the ones who want to play with fire who could end up getting burned.