Cheating in Pre-Reqs

[xxyyzz]

I've been a "lurker" for quiteeeeeee some time now, and I have a sort of ethical dilemma on my hands. I'm in a 4.5 week A&P I class for the summer. The girl sitting next to me has used her cell phone to cheat on every exam so far (3 total). Everyone else in the class is busting their asses to pull C's (somehow our tests never have anything to do with our lectures/notes)... Part of me says to just mind my own business and let it be, but the other part of me is enraged that I spend countless hours studying to "earn" my Bs and Cs! I know there are cheaters everywhere and I can't stop them all, but in a way she is my "competition" as we are both going for the same program. I know how upset I would be if her cheated A beat out my earned B and she got into the program. Any suggestions on what to do?

[xxyyzz]

I've decided tomorrow I'll go speak with my professor. Perhaps she could have been a little more pro-active this entire time by walking around during exams, but she just sits at her desk and can't see under the girl's table from the angle she's at!I have worked ENTIRELY too hard to let her take a spot from someone that TRULY deserves it

[Saysfaa]

Ah, that does make a difference. The grades in my A & P classes were predominately exam scores... overwhelmingly so for the anatomy.

[xxyyzz]

The exam grades definitely do not reflect my (or anyone else's) knowledge of the material! This woman's test are just plain ridiculous and you'd swear we are all horrible students (which is NOT the case, we have a girl starting med school next month and she got straight As in college and she's sitting with a B right now ) I really wish this summer term was a better experience, and since I'm self pay I do not feel as if I got my $700+ worth, lol.

[steffuturelpn]

i would tell on her,plain and simple whether i got A's or C's because im busting my butt to get them and she think she can take the easy way out, but i would do it anonymously, its not fair, life isnt fair but this is one of those times we can even the playing field

[BuckyBadgerRN, ASN, RN]

How can the instructor not realize what's going on? Either a cell phone is out, or she's glancing down an awful lot. Instructor sounds pretty clueless....

[PRNketamine7, BSN, RN]

I had this happen in one of my courses. I told. I would recommend you do as well. If this is what these people do in school, what will they do as nurses?

[Tragically Hip]

How can the instructor not realize what's going on? Either a cell phone is out, or she's glancing down an awful lot. Instructor sounds pretty clueless....

I had a class with an excellent instructor who hardly proctored his exams. He was in and out of the class, in the hallway on the phone, a lot of the time during tests.

There was one student who was and egregious (and vocal) cheater. I told the professor what was going on when he was outside, and he was concerned. He told me about two people who were being very obvious right in front of him, whom he failed. He said, though, that anyone who tried to get through simply by cheating would fail the class — it was a hard class. In the case in question, I know the student got an A, though she certainly did study. She knew the material fairly well. The question is, did she gain a letter grade by cheating?

I suggest to the instructor that he proctor his tests more carefully, and he reminded me of our school's honor code, and that it was incumbent upon me to report cheating if I knew of a specific case. He was right, though I never did report the person. I still debate how I should have handled the situation, but I'm sure cheating continues in his class.

[Stephalump]

I had a similar problem with a class. No cheating, but the class was just impossible! Our professor would spend the majority of class time talking about unrelated things and then give us essay exams. She was always looking for very specific info, but never let on to US what that info was. Normally if a professor wants 5 reasons for something, the question would mention wanting 5 reasons, right? Not her. We'd find out after she deducted points because we only listed 4.

The vast majority of the class failed. I ended up with the 2nd highest grade - a 78. And I got lucky. She TRIED to fail me for cheating because my lab notebook was all written in one color and she accused me of writing it all the night before class.

I admit I'm a bit OCD, but I can't be the only one who is very particular about pens. I use one brand of black gel pens and that's it.

Anyway, I know it stinks when you're stuck in a situation where you're working your tail off to make subpar grades. It's frustrating because there are not footnotes on your transcript. "This C was from a difficult, terrible professor" "This A was won by cheating."

Good luck to you!

[EMT89]

A girl cheated in my A&P1 class during my first summer session. Professor was unable to catch her in action. The professor has to catch him/her in action. Even once the teacher pretty much knew, the girl continued to cheat in lab. People surprise me, you can't cheat through the medical field. Needless to say she was in our A&P2 class for two days then dropped. The professor had been informed of her cheating (both lab and lecture instructor). Sad part she made the cheating semi obvious (written words on her). We had assigned seats, which was annoying. Karma came to her at the end :).

[Twinkle007, LVN, RN]

I would mind my own business, if you have problem with that talk to her ! This is what I would do , I would tell her "listen I saw you on the phone during the test I think its unfair"

anyweys I think she won't be able to go far with this bc nursing school is not easy and sooner or later she'll be dropped !!!

All the best to you

[DisneyNurseGal, BSN, RN]

I reported someone who cheated in Physiology and come to find out, I was not the only one to report him, but since I was also a witness the case against him became indisputable. I know that you can't have your nose in everyone's business; however, you willing to give up your spot in a nursing program to someone you know who has cheated??

[nursegirl75]

You could write or type an anonymous note to your professor about your classmate's cheating, thus protecting your own identity and doing the right thing. In the end, she won't last long in nursing school because its tough and cheaters get kick to the curb.