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Alleviating the Pressure

Cheating is certainly not limited to large classes. Students may cheat when they feel disenfranchised for some (usually self-inflicted) reason. They may feel that others know more than they do or that they are at a disadvantage because of language barriers. Frank discussions about cheating do seem to help, especially when students hear the disparaging remarks of their peers.

It also helps to remind students about university support services. For example, at George Mason, our English Language Institute provides tutoring for students with English as a second language. We also have a Writing Center that provides proofreading and feedback on composition. Then too, there is the support provided within the class itself.

In our large classes with multiple sections, we encourage students to seek help from the instructor, TA or undergrad. assistant of any section and post office hours to provide the broadest possible coverage. (In CS 112, our CS I class, we have 3 instructors, 6 TAs, and about 6 undergraduate assistants, for about 360 students. Between labs and office hours there are over 50 hours per week when help is available.) Letting students know that help is available and that questions are not only encouraged, but expected, helps to alleviate the sort of pressures that lead to cheating. We also encourage students to visit the web pages of the different instructors and even attend the same lectures given by different instructors for extra reinforcement.

As a class exercise, I sometimes draw a chart on the board with 2 columns: "Advantages and Disadvantages of Cheating" and ask the students to help me fill it in. Quickly the Disadvantages column fills up and students can see that cheating is a bad solution to a short-term problem with long-term consequences. In classes where appropriate, allowing students to bring 1 page of notes into exams can help alleviate test anxiety, prevent cheaters from smuggling in notes, and help provide a framework for the student's preparation. Many of my colleagues and I use this approach in our programming classes and logic classes. This way, students can spend less time memorizing things that one would normally look up in a reference text and can instead focus on difficult concepts.

George Mason has an Honor Code that is widely advertised and emphasized by faculty. An "Honor Committee," run by students and overseen by our Associate Dean of Student Life, hears cases and metes out serious penalties for students found guilty of Honor Code violations. The dogged efforts of the Honor Committee and Dean Mulherin are having a positive impact and it is our hope that we have seen cheating peak and start to decline. However, after spending many hours talking to students and faculty about this topic, it seems that a University-wide dialog might be timely and healthy (before we have to resort to pillories and stonings!).

Beating Cheating

Team-Teaching and Supplemental Instruction