Cheating?

Nursing Students General Students

Published

Hi everyone....

Just had a question for you guys....how do your instructors handle cheating? At my school the instructors are sooo strict about cheating even though we really havent given them any reason to think that we would do that.

I understand sitting every other seat and such but my school goes to the extent that they watch us like hawks and make us put our cell phones and bags in the front of the room. There are only 28 of us in the entire program.

We had a whole class on cheating and were told that if we were caught cheating we would be dismissed from the program (which I dont disagree with). They run our papers through some computer program that scans the internet for plagerims too. The school I did my undergrad in was definetly not as strict...just wondering how strict other programs were about this and what precautions/ramifications the instructors take?

Specializes in OBGYN, Neonatal.

Wow! We haven't had that going on. The most that we've had was that we are not allowed to have drinks on the table becaues of the measurements (ounces - ml etc.).

I'm pretty sure we all clear our desks but thats not been told to us we just do it.

Wow!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Operating Room.
Wow! We haven't had that going on. The most that we've had was that we are not allowed to have drinks on the table becaues of the measurements (ounces - ml etc.).

I'm pretty sure we all clear our desks but thats not been told to us we just do it.

Wow!

Exactly! You'd think these people would grow up....now we all must wonder exacly how they got through high school.....hmmmmmm

Up Vote Up Vote ×
If I'm going to fail, it's going to be because of my own merit (or lack of), and not because I copied off of someone else's papers.

Exactly how I felt when I was in school, Fun. The sad part is that the time, energy, and creativity some people have displayed in the area of cheating is wasted, all that effort could have went into learning the material.

Unfortunately because of students past, schools have to institute measures to prevent/deter cheating.

ELKMNin, where I went to school, we also had to leave the classroom upon test completion and we never were allowed to keep tests, much like you described. One reason I was told about not being given back our nursing tests was that the test questions came from a "pool" from which the instructors selected questions from, and that it was possible for the same question to be used on a future test (I hope I'm explaining this correctly).

Up Vote Up Vote ×

i agree with most here. if caught cheating then CYA your out for good. my school we have to leave and all that. however, i dont agree with trying so hard to catch cheaters, but do understand it. those that cheat might get through one or two classes but will fail by the end. what you learn in one class is expected knowledge later on. if you have no ture understanding of the material for get about school you will never make it through the boards. the reason why schools try so hard to catch cheaters is, they want their money. they get there funding partly based on there percent of grads passing the boards. also if cheaters happen to complete the program and take the boards they will fail and cause issues between the school and the BRN and or other educational boards. they can even lose there creditation if their percent of grads passing the boards is consistantly too low.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Our instructors went to a test-making seminar this summer and came back with some new test-taking rules.

-No hats. I guess people have written answers on the visors of baseball caps, plus it hides your eyes if you look down so the instructors can't see where you are looking. This would have killed me last year because our exams were @ 7am and I would wake up, put my hair in a ponytail and toss a baseball cap on and roll into the exam room with minutes to spare.

-Sleeves pushed up to the antecubital space (only in a nursing program :rolleyes: :p). So we can't write the answers on our forearms I guess??

-No pens, pencils, or calculators. Pencils and scrap paper are provided by the instructors.

-No water bottles. Same reason another poster mentioned- some people got caught writing the answers on the inside label of a water bottle.

We take our exams on laptop computers provided by the school. Only 2 windows open- the test and the caluclator. The test questions are random so even is someone is on the same number question you are, chances are it's not the same question. We are allowed to use the calculator on the computer. The instructors want us to get used to that since the NCLEX has you use the calculator on the computer.

No one in our class has cheated as far as I know- these are all just new rules that they implemented this year after going to that seminar and hearing about how other students have cheated. Good luck trying to be a decent nurse after you cheat your way through nursing school. :confused:

-Bobcat

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.

If people took the energy they use to cheat, and put it towards studying, they could pass a test legally.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Neuro, Critical Care.
Our instructors went to a test-making seminar this summer and came back with some new test-taking rules.

-No hats. I guess people have written answers on the visors of baseball caps, plus it hides your eyes if you look down so the instructors can't see where you are looking. This would have killed me last year because our exams were @ 7am and I would wake up, put my hair in a ponytail and toss a baseball cap on and roll into the exam room with minutes to spare.

-Sleeves pushed up to the antecubital space (only in a nursing program :rolleyes: :p). So we can't write the answers on our forearms I guess??

-No pens, pencils, or calculators. Pencils and scrap paper are provided by the instructors.

-No water bottles. Same reason another poster mentioned- some people got caught writing the answers on the inside label of a water bottle.

We take our exams on laptop computers provided by the school. Only 2 windows open- the test and the caluclator. The test questions are random so even is someone is on the same number question you are, chances are it's not the same question. We are allowed to use the calculator on the computer. The instructors want us to get used to that since the NCLEX has you use the calculator on the computer.

No one in our class has cheated as far as I know- these are all just new rules that they implemented this year after going to that seminar and hearing about how other students have cheated. Good luck trying to be a decent nurse after you cheat your way through nursing school. :confused:

-Bobcat

how could you possibly cheat with your pencil? lol... i understand the hat thing...our teachers dont make us roll up our sleeves....I do understand not being able to take the tests home although it sure would be nice!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.
how could you possibly cheat with your pencil? lol... i understand the hat thing...our teachers dont make us roll up our sleeves....I do understand not being able to take the tests home although it sure would be nice!

A little piece of paper can be rolled up and stuffed inside of a mechanical pencil.

As for the test-taking at home, i could see why not. It's too easy to use the book when you're at home.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

i have had open book tests in one of my nursing classes. it was so hard. no way you would have time to look up things. also had a take home test. it was more of research project than a test it turned out. those tests were very hard. i would rather take the normal test than a take home test anyday. i think a good way of prevention for cheating would be to randomly select 10-15 question where the student has to give their rationals for their answer. wrong rational=wrong answer on the test even if you guessed right. more than 5 wrong rationals of right answers leads to a complete evaluation of the test(every question) in a one on one conference with the instructor. i think this would help the student pass the boards aswell, because if forces them to think about the rationals for their answer a bit more instead of those knee jurk reactions or guessing/cheating? also it would help the teachers adjust their teaching plan to better meet the needs of the student. one of area theaching i believe has been neglected for a long time. i mean if everyone in the class is getting the same general rationals for a question they got wrong the teacher can focus more in that area. as a bounus you can evaluate the teacher, if everyone is getting the same basic rationals and getting wrong answers test after test, the teacher is not teaching and should be reviewd along with the coorifice materials and presentation. JMO

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Operating Room.
A little piece of paper can be rolled up and stuffed inside of a mechanical pencil.

As for the test-taking at home, i could see why not. It's too easy to use the book when you're at home.

These ideas are getting crazier and crazier. Where do these people come up them?

As for the at-home tests, we just got one today for chem.

However, we have to use our book because the instructor didn't even give lecture on the last two chapters.

Actully, I don't know whether it's a good thing or not, but at least this one is scan-tron. :rolleyes:

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.
These ideas are getting crazier and crazier. Where do these people come up them?

This was 10 year ago in high school that i remember people doing this.

Maybe i'm just clueless, but it never would have occured to me that this was an idea for cheating.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Add a Comment