One of the biggest frustrations of being a teacher is catching students cheating on exams. You might patrol the isles and keep a close eye on your students but that might not prevent a desperate student from taking a peak at a cheat sheet. This article will discuss a variety of ways to keep your students' eyes on their own test.

Teach Students Good Morals

The first way to stop people from potentially cheating is to teach your students good morals. Discuss the importance of honesty and working hard to earn good grades. You can explain what is considered cheating. Sometimes students may not realize their behavior could be considered bad or against the rules. If you teach students their boundaries from the beginning, this should let them know what lines they shouldn't cross and how to behave properly.

You Get A Zero My Friend

One way to deter students from cheating is to make it known that anyone caught breaking this rule will get a zero in the grade book. The prospect of earning a failing grade may look scary and could deter someone tempted to cheat to think again. If students get caught cheating on one exam they get a failing grade. If the same student is caught cheating a second time then harsher punishment can be taken.

Leave Bags and Belongings In A Designated Safe Space

Having a backpack, purse, coat, or other belonging might allow students to conceal tools to aid in cheating like sheets of paper with answers on them. On exam days, ask your students to leave their belongings in an area where they will be safe. In certain classrooms, like college classrooms, students may be reluctant about being separated from their bags and coats out of fear someone may steal something. Cell phones, money, and other items may be kept in their bags/coats. Teachers can have them place their things near the area where their teacher will be stationed during the exam. That way the teacher can keep an eye on the belongings so students will feel safe being separated.

Remember that cheaters can be tricky when bringing in objects:

• The water bottle method: students print off answers and attach them to the label of a water bottle. The water bottle is left on top of the desk so students can glance at the answers.
• Long sleeved shirts and jackets: students can hide cheat sheets under their sleeves or in pockets.
• Calculators can be used to save math formulas or cheat sheets can be hidden under the calculator cover.
• Cell phones can be used to look up answers on the internet or can have answers saved on them.

Move Desks To Make It Hard To See Other Peoples' Answers

On test days you can move desks around to make looking at other peoples papers harder. You can angle desks or space them out so students aren't sitting to close to one another. If you can't move desks, if you have empty desks you can ask your students to sit spaced out. In auditorium classes for example, there are often enough seats to house around 100 students or more. If you have empty seats you can have students sit with an empty desk between each student to space them out.

Watch For Strange Behaviors

People who cheat on exams may act strangely. You can watch out for students who fidget and shift a lot in their seats. Student may appear nervous. Someone cheating may glance around the room or at other peoples papers. It you see someone moving around in their seat a lot this could be an indication of cheating. Typically during an exam students will be quiet and concentrated on their work. If you see a student who isn't concentrating and is shifting their body around then this might be a sign you should pay attention to that student as they finish their exam in case they are behaving strangely because they are cheating.

Avoid Using Test Banks

It is common for teachers to use test bank questions already created by the manufacturers of textbooks. Students can sometimes find test bank questions online or can buy teachers edition versions of textbooks that have test bank questions in them. If a teacher creates their own questions and designs a test from scratch, students won't be able to look up the questions prior to the exam.

Use Two Different Versions of The Same Test

One technique I use when teaching large college classes is to have two different tests for the same exam. They have the same questions but in a different order. You pass out tests so that people sitting next to one another have different exams. This will prevent people from looking at someone else's paper. This method is great for auditorium classes with no spare seats where students sit very close together.

Humorous Teacher Catches Extreme Cheating

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