I need guidance, I saw one of my classmates cheating on our mid-term pharm test. We self grade so she changed about 12 answers to get a passing grade. NOT only did I see her but in the hall after grading she told me she had to change them just to barely pass. I got an 83% and passing is 78% so sure I wanted a better grade to but would never have changed my answers.
Ethicly I think I know what to do, I just don't want to be a tattle tail and she knows I know so there is my catch 22 .
I just had a quick thought about this self-grading--which in my NS would have never happened--but--maybe this is the instructors way of making sure that the majority of students make it through the class so HER numbers look good in the end. Maybe the school gets a certain amount of funding if so many students pass the class.
Kind of like grading on a curve--which helps bring up the numbers of passing students for the instructors.
I know someone told me their instructor would throw out a question if a certain percentage of students got it wrong. This may just be an easy way for the instructor to give the faltering students a break before finals. By the way--if that is what the instructor is doing then that would suck!!! for all of the students that study hard for their grades.
I remember in my A&P class the instructor asked me to tutor a minority student--I said yes, no problem but this student would on purpose miss the test and then call me that night and ask me for the questions---So I told the Professor and guess what? The Prof. didn't have any problem with it--she said we had an obligation to make sure that more minorities made it to NS. I said no way--I'm out. She tried to burn me on A&P2 but she couldn't do it--I still got an A. I say stay out of it--this girl will go down on her own--the girl I tutored (for a short time I might add) didn't make it to NS and rightfully so. Just a thought.
Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.
I just had a quick thought about this self-grading--which in my NS would have never happened--but--maybe this is the instructors way of making sure that the majority of students make it through the class so HER numbers look good in the end. Maybe the school gets a certain amount of funding if so many students pass the class.
Kind of like grading on a curve--which helps bring up the numbers of passing students for the instructors.
I know someone told me their instructor would throw out a question if a certain percentage of students got it wrong. This may just be an easy way for the instructor to give the faltering students a break before finals. By the way--if that is what the instructor is doing then that would suck!!! for all of the students that study hard for their grades.
I remember in my A&P class the instructor asked me to tutor a minority student--I said yes, no problem but this student would on purpose miss the test and then call me that night and ask me for the questions---So I told the Professor and guess what? The Prof. didn't have any problem with it--she said we had an obligation to make sure that more minorities made it to NS. I said no way--I'm out. She tried to burn me on A&P2 but she couldn't do it--I still got an A. I say stay out of it--this girl will go down on her own--the girl I tutored (for a short time I might add) didn't make it to NS and rightfully so. Just a thought.
Our instructors have thrown out a question if a % of people got it wrong, it's not to make them look good though it's because they said that their is obviously an error in the question if majority of the class didn't understand it. They have detailed reports as well as to who answered what and all these stats on it and they take all of that into consideration.
So far out of all the exams I have taken in nursing school thus far we have only had 2 questions thrown out.
What if each person that catches this student cheating chooses to look the other way and not get involved? What if she does pass and ends up taking care of patients and makes a major medical error because she doesn't understand drugs, dosages etc? Would we feel obligated then to report? Cheating is wrong and it is our obligation to uphold the integrity of our own programs. Ask to speak to your instructor in confidence and report the violation.
Sadly this sort of thing happened at our school but the students did report it and all the administration do was say she wont pass her boards so it doesnt matter I lost all faith in my department that day
Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.
Sadly this sort of thing happened at our school but the students did report it and all the administration do was say she wont pass her boards so it doesnt matter I lost all faith in my department that day
Shoot, that wouldn't fly in my school. Our instructors are very firm and strict.
Shoot, that wouldn't fly in my school. Our instructors are very firm and strict.
We thought ours were too. The teacher caught her cheating, about 15 students caught her. She should have been kicked out of the program and out of the university for what she did, and nothing happened. Nice precedence they set.
I even had someone in my class take credit for a project that I did, told the instructor all about it in our peer evals and the person still got a 100 on that project. I asked why nothing was ever done about it and she said she cant take hear say for it. Its like then what is the point of doing peer evals?
Im just in a very bad mood today. My clinical instructor is killing me right now by penalizing me for asking questions and having an opinion. I love school
I feel ya on this one! THINK of it this way! would you ever WANT someone that has to cheat their way through school to work on you?! On a pharm test at that, she could OVER DOSE a patient, in my opinion I would look at it like.... WHat if this student graduates and has to work on one of my family members or myself? IS SHE READY! NOOOOO.....I think I would go talk to the teacher and ask the teacher to KEEP YOUR NAME QUITE...or se if the teacher has an idea on how he/she can go about "CATCHING" the student. Or if you dont want your teacher to know your telling then write a note with DETAILED information and put it in the teachers mailbox (if he/she has one). I hope this helps
I don't think human nature dictates most people would cheat if they could. Some maybe, most? I don't think so.
I said tempting. Don't read so much into things.
The world wouldn't be a very nice place if everyone ran around cheating. But having students grade their own papers is not right and it would be tempting to change your answer. Human nature. I saw it all the time when I taught!
Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.
I said tempting. Don't read so much into things.
The world wouldn't be a very nice place if everyone ran around cheating. But having students grade their own papers is not right and it would be tempting to change your answer. Human nature. I saw it all the time when I taught!
Ok let me rephrase, I don't think MOST would be TEMPTED to cheat, better? You would have to have the ability to see into people's thoughts to know that most were tempted to cheat wouldn't you say?
While I don't agree with students self grading on college exams, nursing or not, I do not think that majority would be tempted to cheat if they did.
Seriously I think the instructor needs to get a grip. Self-marking of exams is just bloody lazy and an invitation for exactly what is going on.
Personally I would either drop a note anonymously or drop the matter completely. Also, if you do report him/her what result are you expecting? I suspect, unless there is corroboration, they can't expel her. So it would be your word against the other student's.
My experience with these things is you never know when it will backfire on you, the person doing the reporting. I know what he/she is doing is wrong. I know they deserve to be kicked out completely. I know it is not remotely fair for the people who studied hard. Stay well away from the person concerned. If they try to talk to you about it simply tell them you disagree with what they are doing, that it is wrong and ask them not to discuss it with you because you don't want to be involved. Let their reaction be their problem.
Everyone is assuming that 1)the instructor doesn't already know and that 2)she cares. If she doesn't care and already knows you could come out looking like a nosy snitch and make yourself a target. Report it anonymously to the instructor and her superior. You have reported the situation without putting yourself in jeopardy. You are in nursing school to GRADUATE and PASS THE NCLEX. Not win the nobel prize for academic honesty enforcement. People do reap what they sow and she will pay for everything that she does wrong. Nurses currently working in the profession know that it is riddled with lousy nurses. Your reporting this girl openly is just a can of worms distracting you from your goal. It is the instructors job to monitor this type of mess. Keep your head down and get through school. How would you feel if you found out on Monday that this girl was related to your instructor? Would you go to her in person then?
A month ago I would've said stay out of it; her behavior will catch up to her. But, then I started nursing school.
We were told in no uncertain terms that not only is cheating a huge offense, but actually failing to report someone for cheating is violating our school's code of ethics. Our instructors told us that if someone is willing to cheat while in school, what else are they willing to cheat on? Documenting/taking vital signs? Turning patients? Drug administration? Someone's behavior in school shows the way they approach their life.
If you're confident this woman cheated, turn her in. Her future patients may depend on your actions.
Send an anonymous email to your instructor. If she cheated once, shes bound to cheat again and the instructor will keep a better eye out on her.
I think its the responsibility of our profession to police ourselves and others for the good of the public. I wouldn't want someone who passed nursing school by cheating to treat me or anyone else. Think of what kind of other unethical things they will do when they are in practice.
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I lost all faith in my department that day
kittykatty
113 Posts
I just had a quick thought about this self-grading--which in my NS would have never happened--but--maybe this is the instructors way of making sure that the majority of students make it through the class so HER numbers look good in the end. Maybe the school gets a certain amount of funding if so many students pass the class.
Kind of like grading on a curve--which helps bring up the numbers of passing students for the instructors.
I know someone told me their instructor would throw out a question if a certain percentage of students got it wrong. This may just be an easy way for the instructor to give the faltering students a break before finals. By the way--if that is what the instructor is doing then that would suck!!! for all of the students that study hard for their grades.
I remember in my A&P class the instructor asked me to tutor a minority student--I said yes, no problem but this student would on purpose miss the test and then call me that night and ask me for the questions---So I told the Professor and guess what? The Prof. didn't have any problem with it--she said we had an obligation to make sure that more minorities made it to NS. I said no way--I'm out. She tried to burn me on A&P2 but she couldn't do it--I still got an A. I say stay out of it--this girl will go down on her own--the girl I tutored (for a short time I might add) didn't make it to NS and rightfully so. Just a thought.