What this story covers:
Educators go to great lengths trying to stop students from cheating. It’s an uphill battle, as there are more and more ways for students to use online resources to cut corners. Some teachers are taking a novel approach: letting students look up whatever they want.
Why it matters:
Some education experts argue that students should be allowed — even encouraged — to look up information online for assignments and tests, because work in the digital age often involves critically analyzing online information rather than memorizing facts and concepts.
By John Lynch & Zaria Nabinett
Danielle Woody sees a lot of cheating cases. As the assistant director of student conduct and civility education at Towson University, she hears from dozens of students each year who have been accused of academic dishonesty. Students often apologize. And some try to justify their actions.
Increasingly, Woody hears students argue that they should be able look online for answers — even if it’s not allowed on a test or assignment.
“I think the ideology now is ‘why can’t I use [technology] if it’s available?'” Woody said. ‘”I should be able to use my phone and calculator. I should be able to quickly Google an answer because it’s here. In the real world, how many times will I have to think and come up with an answer without a computer at my fingertips?'”
Some education experts agree with that argument. To be clear, they aren’t justifying cheating. But they are advocating for assessments that allow students to critically evaluate online information rather than ones that require them to memorize facts.
In this podcast, we speak to educators who are trying to prevent cheating — not by penalizing students or monitoring them online, but by allowing them to look anywhere for answers.
In education circles, there has been a long-simmering debate about how to create assignments and tests that truly measure students’ learning. Often, that debate turns to the merits of testing critical thinking and memorization.
Jack Cole, a lecturer at Towson University, has a unique approach to exams. He gives students the questions on the first day of class. He doesn’t worry about students cheating, because, as he argues, there’s really no way for them to cheat.
“My exam is open – open book, open mouth, open phone, open computer. You use your notes and if you get stuck, ask me.”
Jack Cole, Towson University Lecturer
Cheating on tests and assignments is commonplace in college, according to research from the International Center for Academic Integrity.
And cheating these days is more than copying a classmate’s answers in person. Technology can be used to cut corners in a variety of ways.
While technology has changed, the reasons that students cheat remain the same — often a fear of failure or waiting until too late to begin studying.
So how can educators respond? Experts agree there are solutions other than penalizing students or using draconian ways to monitor them online.
