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Strategies To Shift Student' Perspectives And Prevent Cheating In A Classroom

22nd February 2023

Most of the time you will find yourself telling the students, 'if you are cheating, you are only cheating yourself' While this is true, students don't always cheat because they want to. There is a deeper underlying issue that teachers often fail to consider. To eradicate the temptation of cheating, you need to adopt methodologies that reduce exam anxieties and increase learning clarity. Additionally, you should be understanding of your student's needs and demonstrate their current skills and knowledge.

Why Do Students Cheat?

Students are prone to cheating for a variety of reasons. If they are old enough to cheat they are probably cheating regardless of how great they are at an academic level.

Here are some of the most common reasons why students cheat:
 

• They simply come underprepared for their exams or tests.
• They feel pressurized to be perfect always and obtain the highest score.
• The fear of failure and disappointing their families is often a struggle.
• They cannot comprehend the assignment and require more clarity.

6 Ways To Combat Cheating In A Classroom

Here are 6 ways to reduce the environment of cheating in a classroom:

1. Clarify Expectations

Unclear assignments often lead to cheating, thus if you want to deter cheating, you need to create clear expectations on assessments. Ensure that all your students understand the task and offer verbal and written instructions to make them know what is expected of them. Provide a breakdown of the rubrics and give them a clear purpose about why should they do the assignment.

Create designated office hours to answer essential questions and clarify doubts. Promptly respond to questions related to the assignments or projects as this will give them more confidence to complete the tasks. Quizzes or having students be present during a virtual meeting to answer questions in real life can help reduce cheating.

2. Offer Specific Feedback

Providing specific instruction and feedback regarding assignments can foster a greater understanding of the task. Also, conducting frequent low stake assessments can reduce anxiety about major tests or exams. Furthermore, check homework and be diligent to offer just-in-time support to better prepare them for their big day.

This will not only boost self-confidence but also counteract any thoughts of cheating. When you offer consistent feedback you can address individual academic needs that allow you to understand and fulfill their requirements accordingly.

3. Constructive Alignment

Constructive alignment is a blend of constructivism of instruction, assessment, and learning objectives that are critical to minimize cheating. Constructivism is when learners can figure out what they learn and align it with the learning objectives. When you as teachers offer clear learning objectives students do not feel anxious about the unknown.

You as teachers need to create an exciting and constructive learning environment that will demonstrate your passion for education. Students then will better prepare for their assignments and tend to allocate more meaning to their learning and simultaneously take ownership of their academic goals.

4. Monitor Work

Monitoring students’ tasks and progress is essential especially when you are giving assignments online, it is essential to scan through them and not skim them. When students know that you are really checking their projects, they are likely to put more thought and effort into it to impress you.

Moreover, when students know that you really check their work they will not try to cut corners with it and refrain from cheating altogether as they will be embarrassed to get caught for plagiarism.

5. Diagnostic Tests

Arranging for a diagnostic test before a large unit test will allow students to have a feel of what the real tests look like. Moreover, when you are conducting tests virtually, instead of having multiple choice questions incorporate more open-ended questions to boost critical thinking as this will make it harder to cheat.

To make things more challenging you can have different versions of the same test. You need not have to make separate questions every time but you can just switch up the order of the questions.  Allow your students to brainstorm strategies so that each time they learn something new and look forward to it.

6. Metacognitive Check-Ins

After the exam concludes, ask your students to answer four major questions. Firstly, ask them to identify their strengths in the course. Next, ask them to note their improvement areas. Thirdly allow them to describe actions for change or improvement.

Lastly, empower them to think about how they can empower themselves to seek help and advocate for themselves. Discussing these four questions will reduce the anxiety of not knowing how to approach a teacher or what to talk about.

Help Your Students Become The Better Version Of Themselves

You cannot eradicate cheating altogether, but there is definitely a way to decrease the student's ability to do so. To help your students succeed you need to understand their needs and emphasize growth while allowing them to know that it is okay to make mistakes. Once they understand you are supportive of them they will develop confidence and learn to work through their struggles. If you are wondering how to reach out to struggling students and comprehend why they take refuge in dishonest means, consider pursuing Counselling Courses for Teachers in Malaysia to help them cope with disappointment and learn future life lessons.