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Why Students Cheat—and What to Do About It

A teacher seeks answers from researchers and psychologists. 

“Why did you cheat in high school?” I posed the question to a dozen former students.

“I wanted good grades and I didn’t want to work,” said Sonya, who graduates from college in June. [The students’ names in this article have been changed to protect their privacy.]

My current students were less candid than Sonya. To excuse her plagiarized Cannery Row essay, Erin, a ninth-grader with straight As, complained vaguely and unconvincingly of overwhelming stress. When he was caught copying a review of the documentary Hypernormalism , Jeremy, a senior, stood by his “hard work” and said my accusation hurt his feelings.

Cases like the much-publicized ( and enduring ) 2012 cheating scandal at high-achieving Stuyvesant High School in New York City confirm that academic dishonesty is rampant and touches even the most prestigious of schools. The data confirms this as well. A 2012 Josephson Institute’s Center for Youth Ethics report revealed that more than half of high school students admitted to cheating on a test, while 74 percent reported copying their friends’ homework. And a survey of 70,000 high school students across the United States between 2002 and 2015 found that 58 percent had plagiarized papers, while 95 percent admitted to cheating in some capacity.

So why do students cheat—and how do we stop them?

According to researchers and psychologists, the real reasons vary just as much as my students’ explanations. But educators can still learn to identify motivations for student cheating and think critically about solutions to keep even the most audacious cheaters in their classrooms from doing it again.

Rationalizing It


First, know that students realize cheating is wrong—they simply see themselves as moral in spite of it.

“They cheat just enough to maintain a self-concept as honest people. They make their behavior an exception to a general rule,” said Dr. David Rettinger , professor at the University of Mary Washington and executive director of the Center for Honor, Leadership, and Service, a campus organization dedicated to integrity.

According to Rettinger and other researchers, students who cheat can still see themselves as principled people by rationalizing cheating for reasons they see as legitimate.

Some do it when they don’t see the value of work they’re assigned, such as drill-and-kill homework assignments, or when they perceive an overemphasis on teaching content linked to high-stakes tests.

“There was no critical thinking, and teachers seemed pressured to squish it into their curriculum,” said Javier, a former student and recent liberal arts college graduate. “They questioned you on material that was never covered in class, and if you failed the test, it was progressively harder to pass the next time around.”

But students also rationalize cheating on assignments they see as having value.

High-achieving students who feel pressured to attain perfection (and Ivy League acceptances) may turn to cheating as a way to find an edge on the competition or to keep a single bad test score from sabotaging months of hard work. At Stuyvesant, for example, students and teachers identified the cutthroat environment as a factor in the rampant dishonesty that plagued the school.

And research has found that students who receive praise for being smart—as opposed to praise for effort and progress—are more inclined to exaggerate their performance and to cheat on assignments , likely because they are carrying the burden of lofty expectations.

A Developmental Stage

When it comes to risk management, adolescent students are bullish. Research has found that teenagers are biologically predisposed to be more tolerant of unknown outcomes and less bothered by stated risks than their older peers.

“In high school, they’re risk takers developmentally, and can’t see the consequences of immediate actions,” Rettinger says. “Even delayed consequences are remote to them.”

While cheating may not be a thrill ride, students already inclined to rebel against curfews and dabble in illicit substances have a certain comfort level with being reckless. They’re willing to gamble when they think they can keep up the ruse—and more inclined to believe they can get away with it.

Cheating also appears to be almost contagious among young people—and may even serve as a kind of social adhesive, at least in environments where it is widely accepted.  A study of military academy students from 1959 to 2002 revealed that students in communities where cheating is tolerated easily cave in to peer pressure, finding it harder not to cheat out of fear of losing social status if they don’t.

Michael, a former student, explained that while he didn’t need to help classmates cheat, he felt “unable to say no.” Once he started, he couldn’t stop.

Technology Facilitates and Normalizes It

With smartphones and Alexa at their fingertips, today’s students have easy access to quick answers and content they can reproduce for exams and papers.  Studies show that technology has made cheating in school easier, more convenient, and harder to catch than ever before.

To Liz Ruff, an English teacher at Garfield High School in Los Angeles, students’ use of social media can erode their understanding of authenticity and intellectual property. Because students are used to reposting images, repurposing memes, and watching parody videos, they “see ownership as nebulous,” she said.

As a result, while they may want to avoid penalties for plagiarism, they may not see it as wrong or even know that they’re doing it.

This confirms what Donald McCabe, a Rutgers University Business School professor,  reported in his 2012 book ; he found that more than 60 percent of surveyed students who had cheated considered digital plagiarism to be “trivial”—effectively, students believed it was not actually cheating at all.

Strategies for Reducing Cheating

Even moral students need help acting morally, said  Dr. Jason M. Stephens , who researches academic motivation and moral development in adolescents at the University of Auckland’s School of Learning, Development, and Professional Practice. According to Stephens, teachers are uniquely positioned to infuse students with a sense of responsibility and help them overcome the rationalizations that enable them to think cheating is OK.

1. Turn down the pressure cooker. Students are less likely to cheat on work in which they feel invested. A multiple-choice assessment tempts would-be cheaters, while a unique, multiphase writing project measuring competencies can make cheating much harder and less enticing. Repetitive homework assignments are also a culprit, according to research , so teachers should look at creating take-home assignments that encourage students to think critically and expand on class discussions. Teachers could also give students one free pass on a homework assignment each quarter, for example, or let them drop their lowest score on an assignment.

2. Be thoughtful about your language.   Research indicates that using the language of fixed mindsets , like praising children for being smart as opposed to praising them for effort and progress , is both demotivating and increases cheating. When delivering feedback, researchers suggest using phrases focused on effort like, “You made really great progress on this paper” or “This is excellent work, but there are still a few areas where you can grow.”

3. Create student honor councils. Give students the opportunity to enforce honor codes or write their own classroom/school bylaws through honor councils so they can develop a full understanding of how cheating affects themselves and others. At Fredericksburg Academy, high school students elect two Honor Council members per grade. These students teach the Honor Code to fifth graders, who, in turn, explain it to younger elementary school students to help establish a student-driven culture of integrity. Students also write a pledge of authenticity on every assignment. And if there is an honor code transgression, the council gathers to discuss possible consequences. 

4. Use metacognition. Research shows that metacognition, a process sometimes described as “ thinking about thinking ,” can help students process their motivations, goals, and actions. With my ninth graders, I use a centuries-old resource to discuss moral quandaries: the play Macbeth . Before they meet the infamous Thane of Glamis, they role-play as medical school applicants, soccer players, and politicians, deciding if they’d cheat, injure, or lie to achieve goals. I push students to consider the steps they take to get the outcomes they desire. Why do we tend to act in the ways we do? What will we do to get what we want? And how will doing those things change who we are? Every tragedy is about us, I say, not just, as in Macbeth’s case, about a man who succumbs to “vaulting ambition.”

5. Bring honesty right into the curriculum. Teachers can weave a discussion of ethical behavior into curriculum. Ruff and many other teachers have been inspired to teach media literacy to help students understand digital plagiarism and navigate the widespread availability of secondary sources online, using guidance from organizations like Common Sense Media .

There are complicated psychological dynamics at play when students cheat, according to experts and researchers. While enforcing rules and consequences is important, knowing what’s really motivating students to cheat can help you foster integrity in the classroom instead of just penalizing the cheating.

7 Apps That Can Do Your Homework Much Faster Than You

In the field of educational technology, some apps might be getting too smart.

More and more apps are delivering on-demand homework help to students, who can easily re-purpose the learning tools to obtain not just assistance, but also answers. Whether or not that’s cheating—and how to stop it—is one of the concerns surrounding a new app that can solve math equations with the snap of a camera . While the software has inspired teachers to create real-world homework problems that can’t be automatically solved , that strategy doesn’t hold up to other apps that tap into real-life brains for solutions.

Here’s a look at 7 apps that can do your homework for you, and what they have to say about cheating:

Price : Free Availability : iOS, Android app coming in early 2015

The new, seemingly magic app allows users to take pictures of typed equations, and then outputs a step-by-step solution. As of Wednesday, the app is the number one free app on the App Store. But the biggest issue, one teacher argues , isn’t if students will use the app to cheat, because many will. Rather, it’s about how teachers will adapt. A PhotoMath spokeswoman said educators have welcomed the app with positive reviews, but the software remains “quite controversial.”

“We didn’t develop PhotoMath as a cheating tool. We really wanted kids to learn,” said Tijana Zganec, a sales and marketing associate at tech company MicroBlink, which created PhotoMath. “If you want to cheat, you will find a way to cheat. But if you want to learn, you can use PhotoMath for that.”

Whether you’re a high schooler with eight periods of classes or a college student tackling dozens of credits, there’s one thing you’ve got for sure: a mess of assignments. iHomework can help you keep track of all your work, slicing and dicing it in a variety of ways. Sorting it by due date, week, month, or by course, the app is more organized than a Trapper Keeper. And in integrating data from Questia, you can link your reading material to your assignments so you don’t have to dig through a pile of papers to find the right information.

A scheduling feature can help you keep track of those random bi-weekly Thursday labs, and you can even mark the location of your courses on a map so you don’t end up on the wrong side of campus. And finally, with iCloud syncing, you can access all this information on whatever Apple-compatible device you’re using at the moment — no need to dig for your iPad.

Google Apps for Education

Taking the search giant’s suite of free browser-based apps and sandboxing them so they are safe for school use, Google Apps for Education is an excellent alternative to the mainstream installable productivity software, but this one has a perk that almost school board will love—it’s free. Packaging together favorites like Gmail, Hangouts, Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Google Drive with Classroom, a digital hub for organizing assignments and sending feedback, the goal of this collection is to make learning a more collaborative process.

Though Google Apps for Education is cloud-hosted, the programs can be used offline, ideal for when your student needs to escape the internet and work distraction-free. And since it works on any device, it also helps students avoid buying overly expensive hardware. That means more money for extracurricular activities.

Price: Free, but some homework services require payment Availability: iOS and Android

HwPic is a tutoring service that allows students to take send pictures of their homework to tutors, who will then respond within minutes to your questions with a step-by-step solution. There’s even an option to expedite the answers if a student is in a hurry. HwPic Co-Founder Tiklat Issa said that the app was initially rejected by Apple’s App Store, which believed it would promote cheating, but he successfully argued that just because someone uses the app in a way that it’s not meant to be used doesn’t mean the app should be punished.

Issa added that HwPic prohibits cheating in its terms and conditions. Tutors don’t solve homework that has words like “Quiz” or “Exam,” and they often know if a student is sending a photo during a test if they’ve paid for expedited answers, and if the photo is dim, blurry and taken under a desk. “We’ve minimized cheating,” said Issa. “We haven’t eliminated it. That’s kind of unrealistic.”

Wolfram Alpha

Price : $2.99 Availability : iOS and Android

Wolfram Alpha is similar to PhotoMath, only that it targets older students studying high levels of math and doesn’t support photos. The service also outputs step-by-step solutions to topics as advanced as vector calculus and differential equations, making it a popular tool for college students.

“It’s cheating not doing computer-based math, because we’re cheating students out of real conceptual understanding and an ability to drive much further forward in the math they can do, to cover much more conceptual ground. And in turn, that’s cheating our economies,” said Conrad Wolfram, Wolfram Research’s Director of Strategic Development, in a TEDx Talk . “People talk about the knowledge economy. I think we’re moving forward to what we’re calling the computational knowledge economy.”

Homework Helper

Price: Free Availability: iOS and Android

Chinese Internet search company Baidu launched an app called Homework Helper this year with which students can crowdsource help or answers to homework. Users post a picture or type their homework questions onto online forums, and those who answer the questions can win e-coins that can be used to buy electronics like iPhones and laptops.

The app has logged 5 million downloads, much to the dismay of many some parents who argue that the students spend less time thinking about challenging problems. A Homework Helper staffer admitted to Quartz , “I think this is a kind of cheating.”

Price: Free, but some homework services require payment Availability: iOS

Slader is a crowdsourcing app for high school and college students to post and answer questions in math and science. While students can post original homework for help, many questions in popular textbooks have already been answered on the app, according to Fast Company . An Illinois high school said earlier this year that it suspected students were using the service to cheat on their math homework.

Slader argues that it’s “challenging traditional ideas about math and education,” and said that the ideas behind its app “aren’t a write-off to teachers,” according to its blog . Slader told San Francisco media outlet KQED that it shouldn’t be dismissed as a cheating tool, but rather considered a way for students to access real-time help.

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• Teaching Tips

Cheating: Preventing and Dealing with Academic Dishonesty

Someday it will happen to you. A student will turn in such an excellent, well-written paper that you seriously doubt its authenticity. Or, during a test, you will look up and find a student copying from another student. The sinking feeling that immediately weighs in on you could be overwhelming as you realize you must decide how to deal with a suspected or actual case of cheating.

If it hasn’t happened to you yet, either you are new at the game, you have your head in the sand, or you have been incredibly lucky. Or, perhaps you have created a situation in which cheating is unlikely. Studies show that about 40 percent of students cheat in a given term.

An Ounce of Prevention

Communicate Policies on Cheating

My institution requests all instructors to state their policy on cheating in the syllabus. Believe it or not, students have argued that they should not be punished for cheating because they were never told they couldn’t do it. State clearly when students may cooperate and when they must work independently. Students who have been encouraged to use programmable calculators in math courses may naturally expect that they can use them in your class. (Many calculators permit considerable amounts of text to be stored in their memories. Either design the test so that calculators are not necessary, or insist that they push the erase button to delete text memory.)

Relate With Your Students: Avoid Adversarial Relationships

Students may cheat because they feel alienated from the system. Let your students know that you respect them and expect the best from them. I believe students are less likely to cheat if they feel they know and like the instructor. Learning and using students’ names in class may have a beneficial side effect of reducing cheating.

Teach Students What Plagiarism Is So They Can Avoid Doing It

The nature of cheating depends on the assignment. Written assignments run the risk of plagiarism. Some instructors may be surprised to learn that students sometimes plagiarize unintentionally because they do not know enough about what constitutes scholarship. Before giving written assignments, it is a good idea to discuss how to credit other people’s work. Some departments promulgate written guidelines on plagiarism.

We will discuss later what to do when you suspect cheating. But one technique that is particularly suited to written assignments is to ask a student whom you suspect of plagiarism to explain something in the paper in other words. More sophisticated techniques include blanking out key words and asking the student to fill in the spaces.

Structure Writing Assignments So Students Cannot Use Others’ Work

Having informed students what plagiarism is, you should structure the timing of the assignment in such a way that plagiarism becomes less likely. Several weeks before the final paper is due ask the students for a statement of their topic. Next ask for a preliminary list of references that they intend to consult. Then have them turn in a tentative outline. Any changes you may suggest at these stages will make it more difficult for them to turn in a paper previously prepared by someone else. The only clear case of plagiarism I have experienced occurred with a student who had missed several weeks of class and skipped these stages. Your guidelines should suggest that they keep all drafts of their work, notes, printouts of computer searches, etc. They should photocopy the first page of every article or book cited in their reference list. This way they can’t cite papers they haven’t at least laid eyes on. Some faculty also inform students that they keep a record of all papers written, or the papers themselves, for the preceding five years.

Take Control of the Test Situation

Arrange the classroom situation to suit the nature of the test. You may want students to sit in every other seat, take assigned seats to break up groups of would-be cheaters, or leave the front row open for latecomers, etc. Some instructors number all tests and have students leave completed tests face down on the desk. Then they may be picked up in order, and papers of suspected cheaters can be compared for similarities. (Be aware that papers can be similar if students study together. But hearing boards that review suspected cases of cheating can be skeptical of purely statistical evidence.)

I require students to reverse baseball caps because the bill makes it harder for you to monitor their gaze. (I do not ask for their removal: A student may be taking chemotherapy, or just having a bad hair day.)

You should resist their complaints to the contrary and efforts to put you on the defensive. You do not need to explain why they should follow your instructions. You may instruct a student who is behaving suspiciously to sit elsewhere without making an accusation or justifying yourself.

Opinions vary on how faculty members should dress. But) make a point to dress in a businesslike manner on test day because I believe it is important to convey to students that they should take the situation seriously and the professor’s appearance can make the point without making them uncomfortable.

How you manage the testing situation depends on factors such as the type of test, class size and whether you reuse the same test for different classes or across semesters. Because I seldom reuse tests, for example, I generally do not need to count the booklets as) pass them out, nor do I need to recover them. But once a student has left the room, I do not permit that student to reenter. In large classes, I use alternate forms of the exam (e.g., same items appear in three different orders) so that a student looking at a classmate’s answer sheet is not helped by doing so. Simply changing the order of pages is not nearly as effective as scrambling items within pages.

If your class is large enough that you don’t know all students, require them to show picture ID and sign their test (as well as print their name on the test). Be sure to have additional proctors in large classes. I try to have help in classes larger than 75, about one for every additional 100 students.

Be Prepared

After teaching for 30 years I thought) knew all the tricks students used. Then one term I was confronted by two new ones. So I sat down and compiled a list of over 40 different ways to cheat, and about the same number of ways to prevent cheating. I am sure there are more. My point is that we need to keep a very large number of variables and contingencies in mind on test day.

For example, what would you do if you entered your classroom and saw “Professor X’s test has been canceled” written on the blackboard and many of the students had left? Suppose the fire alarm goes off in the middle of the test. Suppose students go to leave the test and find the doors locked by computer. Then, when you use the emergency phone to call campus security you are advised that the only way to unlock them is to pull the fire alarm. Imagine running out of test booklets because the secretary miscounted. All of these have happened in my experience.

During the test, the student can cheat in two basic ways: refer to contraband materials or get help from another person. I have already mentioned the use of programmable calculators. Students occasionally wear earphone tape recorders to tests. I require them to give me the cassette. Less technologically sophisticated but effective is hiding written material under clothing, which is awkward to prove for obvious reasons.

A student receiving help from neighbors is probably harder to detect. Folklore tells of the “power wedge,” whereby a group of students arranges itself in the pattern of geese in flight with the one who knows the material in the lead position. Signaling methods can be ingenious; the “M&M” method indicates the correct alternative by the color of the candy. A simpler method is to point to the question with the pencil as if studying it and touching left ear for “a,” knee for “b,” etc. Be on the lookout for students who appear to be doing an impression of a third base coach.

One of the most clever methods includes a student bringing a friend who is not in the course to sit next to him or her. The friend takes an exam and works on it as if a registered student. The actual student copies the answers from the ringer. When they are done, the ringer can either walk away and leave the test at the seat or turn it in with a fake name. Alternatively, the ringer can walk out with the test, which could also wind up in a fraternity file.

When a Student Cheats

Know and Follow Your Institution’s Procedures

My institution has a written set of guidelines on dealing with cheating. Be familiar with your institution’s policies and know what steps are available to you before an incident arises. Have the student(s) read the guidelines so they become familiar with the alternatives and processes set forth.

Settling Matters Informally

Generally, you should first try to settle the matter informally. But you and the student need to know how to proceed if the student denies the charge, or refuses to accept your proposed penalty. If you are lucky enough to settle the matter informally, be sure to get the student to sign a statement admitting the offense and accepting the penalty. You should file this statement for possible future use and send a copy to the department chair or the dean. This student may be a repeat offender requiring more serious action.

Settling Matters Formally

Some cheating incidents will require resolution through formal institutional processes. Be aware of deadlines and what information must be submitted. Write memos to your file on incidents of cheating that you witness. Write down details of the case such as who sat next to the student. Have TAs or proctors write statements on what they witnessed. Get signed statements from all parties, including the student, if he or she confesses. In brief, keep a paper trail.

The Legal System and Cheating

We live in a litigious society and many situations that were once dealt with informally now wind up in court. The best way to avoid lawsuit is to know and abide by your institution’s policies and procedures. Many faculty look the other way when they see cheating because they believe that it is necessary to have evidence that would stand up in a court of law, or they believe the procedures are too bureaucratic and they do not want to deal with them.

Courts will generally not get involved in a case if the student has been accorded due process, which is a less stringent criterion that having to follow legal rules of evidence and procedure. Due process has been accorded when the student has had an adequate opportunity to be heard, established institutional rules and procedures have been followed, the student has been assumed innocent until proven guilty, and the burden of proof has been placed on the institution.

Keep a Sense of Humor

Finally, do not take yourself too seriously. One instructor was trying to get the last stragglers to turn in their final exams. He announced that he would not accept any more papers after a certain time. Still, one student kept on working. When she ignored his final ultimatum, he refused to accept her paper. She walked up to the desk, looked him in the eye, and said, “Do you know who I am?” Thinking that she might be the daughter of a trustee, he warily said, “No.” Whereupon, she slipped her paper into the middle of the pile, squared it up, and strolled out. Sometimes there is nothing we can do.

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About the Author

Donald McBurney received his PhD from Brown University in 1964 and has proctored exams and read term papers for more than 30 years, first at the University of Tennessee, and now at the University of Pittsburgh where he is professor of Psychology. He works in sensory processes and perception, specializing in psychophysical work on taste and smell. He is the author or coauthor of three textbooks, Introduction to Sensation/Perception (2nd ed.), Prentice-Hall, 1984; Research Methods (3rd ed.), Brooks/Cole, 1994, and How to Think Like a Psychologist, Prentice-Hall (forthcoming).

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Privacy Overview

1 in 10 uni students submit assignments written by someone else — and most are getting away with it

Senior Lecturer in Applied Psychology, The University of Western Australia

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Guy Curtis has previously received funding from TEQSA and contributed to TEQSA's academic integrity resources for the higher education sector..

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The worst kind of university cheating is also the hardest kind to catch, and more students do it than previously thought. Until recently, it was thought about 2-4% of Australian university students submitted assignments written by someone else. Our new research suggests the real figure is more like 8-11%.

And over 95% of students who cheat in this way are not caught .

Read more: When does getting help on an assignment turn into cheating?

University assignments, like essays and reports, allow students to demonstrate they have learned what they are supposed to have learned. If someone else writes the assignment, a student might graduate not knowing something they are supposed to know.

The consequences could be catastrophic. Would you want to receive an injection from a nurse whose assignment on how to measure doses of medicine was written by someone else?

When students arrange for someone else to write an assignment for them, we call this “ contract cheating ”. Cases of contract cheating that have hit the headlines, such as the MyMaster scandal, involved thousands of students.

But this was less than 0.2% of students even at the most affected universities. In surveys, at least ten times more students than this (2-4%) admit to contract cheating.

Psychology research , however, shows that even when people fill in a completely anonymous survey, they tend to under-report bad behaviour. Because of this, in our Australia-wide study we used methods that don’t completely rely on anonymous surveys.

There are several reasons why people will not admit to bad behaviour like cheating in anonymous surveys. For example, they might not trust that the survey is anonymous, they might not want to admit to themselves that they have done the wrong thing, and they have no incentive to be truthful.

Read more: Assessment design won’t stop cheating, but our relationships with students might

How do you get students to admit cheating?

Using a method that overcomes these problems, one US study found three times more university researchers admitted to falsifying data when they had an incentive to be truthful.

In our study, students estimated the proportion of other students who engage in contract cheating and what proportion of those who do cheat would admit to it. Because these estimates do not require students to dob themselves in, they shouldn’t worry about whether the survey is really anonymous.

In addition to the estimates of how many other students cheat and how many cheaters would admit to it, we provided half the students taking our survey with an incentive to tell the truth.

We donated money to charity for every student who took the survey . Before taking the survey, the students selected their preferred charity. We then told half of the students we would give more money to their preferred charity if their answers were more truthful. We even gave them this link showing how we would determine the truthfulness of their answers.

We distributed our survey to students at six universities and six independent higher education providers of professional courses such as management. In all, 4,098 students completed our survey.

We looked at two kinds of contract cheating:

• submitting an assignment the student paid someone else to write
• submitting an assignment downloaded from a collection of pre-written assignments.

Read more: Doing away with essays won't necessarily stop students cheating

When given the incentive to be truthful, two-and-a-half times more students admitted to buying and submitting ghost-written assignments than admitted to this without the incentive.

We combined self-admitted cheating with the estimates of how many cheaters would admit to it and of how many other students cheat. From this, we conservatively estimated 8% of students have paid someone else to write an assignment they submitted, and 11% have submitted pre-written assignments downloaded from the internet.

Next, we looked at whether particular types of students admitted to cheating more than others. The main predictor of admitting to contract cheating was not having English as a first language. Three times more students with English as a second, or subsequent, language admitted to contract cheating than students with English as a first language.

Read more: 5 tips on writing better university assignments

What needs to be done about this cheating?

Previous studies have also found students whose first language is not English admit to more contract cheating. Higher education providers need to ensure English competency standards for students they enrol. They should also provide additional language support to students who need it.

Cheating seems to have been increasing since the COVID-19 pandemic began. However, the self-reported cheating in our study, when there was no incentive to be truthful, was much the same as in pre-pandemic surveys .

Read more: Online learning has changed the way students work — we need to change definitions of ‘cheating’ too

When it was believed only about 2% of students engaged in contract cheating, the Tertiary Education Quality Standards Agency (TEQSA) acted swiftly to curb this problem. TEQSA provided information to higher education providers to help counter cheating. The federal government also acted to outlaw contract cheating providers.

Our finding that four times more students than previously thought engage in contract cheating means these efforts should be redoubled. Importantly, academics need help to get better at detecting outsourced assignments.

• Higher education
• MyMaster cheating scandal
• College assignments
• Contract cheating
• University cheating

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Identify possible reasons for the problem you have selected. To find the most effective strategies, select the reason that best describes your situation, keeping in mind there may be multiple relevant reasons.

Students cheat on assignments and exams..

Students might not understand or may have different models of what is considered appropriate help or collaboration or what comprises plagiarism.

Students might blame their cheating behavior on unfair tests and/or professors.

Some students might feel an obligation to help certain other students succeed on exams—for example, a fraternity brother, sorority sister, team- or club-mate, or a more senior student in some cultures.

Some students might cheat because they have poor study skills that prevent them from keeping up with the material.

Students are more likely to cheat or plagiarize if the assessment is very high-stakes or if they have low expectations of success due to perceived lack of ability or test anxiety.

Students might be in competition with other students for their grades.

Students might perceive a lack of consequences for cheating and plagiarizing.

Students might perceive the possibility to cheat without getting caught.

Many students are highly motivated by grades and might not see a relationship between learning and grades.

Students are more likely to cheat when they feel anonymous in class.

This site supplements our 1-on-1 teaching consultations. CONTACT US to talk with an Eberly colleague in person!

Cheat Codes: Students Search For Shortcuts as Virtual Schooling Expands

An eighth grader looks up answers on a cell phone while he is taking an online quiz at home. The pandemic has forced many Oklahoma school districts to shift to part-time or full-time online learning this year. (Whitney Bryen/Oklahoma Watch)

Computer programmer Gradyn Wursten still updates a project he created to hack his high school homework.

As a sophomore, he used an old MacBook with a cracked screen and bulging battery to write the code that adds shortcuts to Edgenuity — an online education platform used by more than   3 million students .

Once installed, his program can skip videos and automatically fill practice questions with answers — progressing straight to quizzes and tests.

Instead of watching a 30-minute history lesson on the Iroquois, students can cut right to the quiz. And those answers are often easily found on the web.

The hacks make it possible to complete a course much faster, students say.

Wursten is more computer savvy than most, but his quest for shortcuts is typical. His program, developed from his home in Heber City, Utah, has been downloaded 40,000 times by students across the country. In the past month, he gained 2,000 new users, including more than 100 in Oklahoma.

And his tool is just one of many available to savvy students.

Entire test keys and quiz answers are posted to homework help websites. Smartphone apps take a photo of a question and produce the answer. Students connect on social media or text groups to share answers. There are even tricks to fake attendance in a Zoom class — demonstrated by a teen’s viral Tik Tok video.

Schools’ large-scale shift to virtual education amid COVID-19 is challenging the system of determining what students actually know and limiting educators’ ability to ensure academic integrity.

Cheating has always been an issue in schools, but there is little getting in the way for students today. Shared answers have become even more accessible as districts have adopted or expanded their use of popular online learning programs like Edgenuity, which delivers the same content to students across the country.

Many schools adopted such virtual programs in a matter of months to adapt to the ongoing public health crisis. Seventy percent of Oklahoma districts had a virtual option at the start of this school year, and 7.5% were exclusively online, according to a state Department of Education   survey .

But when students are not inside classrooms, it becomes more difficult to ensure they are actually learning, teachers say.

“Everything my kids are doing at home is a cheatable assignment, which makes that in-class time so incredibly valuable,” said Elanna Dobbs, who teaches English at Edmond Memorial High School.

Edmond is using a blended schedule, where students attend class some days and are virtual from home the rest of the week.

Dobbs, who has been teaching 19 years, said on virtual days, she relies on class discussions or assignments that task students with providing individual thoughts on what they’ve learned. In other words, the type of assignments they can’t just Google.

Many students aren’t getting any in-person class time, though.

Virtual charter schools are experiencing a surge of enrollment, a trend underway before the pandemic. These schools don’t have classrooms and the students learn mostly from home. Epic Charter Schools says it has 61,000 students enrolled — representing about 1 in 10 Oklahoma students. Other statewide virtual charter schools are experiencing increases.

In virtual charter schools, teachers provide less direct instruction than in a traditional school, with the curriculum program delivering most of the lessons. Parents are expected to fill in the gaps and oversee the learning process.

Research shows it doesn’t work very well. Students enrolled full-time in virtual charter schools learned an equivalent of 72 days fewer in reading and 180 days fewer in math than students in brick-and-mortar schools over one academic year, according to a   2015 study   by the Center for Research on Education Outcomes, a non-partisan research center at Stanford University.

Now, those same methods are being adopted by traditional school districts with the tens of thousands of Oklahoma students attending school from home.

And yet, critics — from parents to the president — have deemed online education inadequate. “Now that we have witnessed it on a large scale basis, and firsthand, Virtual Learning has proven to be TERRIBLE compared to In School, or On Campus, Learning,” President Donald Trump   tweeted July 10.

That month, in Norman, parents railed against a plan to use Edgenuity teachers for all students enrolling in the district’s virtual program. They spoke out at board meetings, and wrote a   letter to the district,   calling it “troubling” that Edgenuity was their only virtual option within the district.

“Our children deserve to have personal interactions with local teachers and classmates as part of their virtual school experience during this pandemic,” they wrote. They urged the district to, among other requests, provide an option for students to learn from Norman teachers, not from “an out-of-state, for-profit venture.”

The district relented and quickly developed an in-house virtual program, in addition to offering Edgenuity.

Relying on Teachers to Spot Discrepancies from Afar

Technology provides some cheating protections. Edgenuity features a locking browser, which restricts students from opening other tabs and programs while the learning platform is open. Epic and Oklahoma Virtual Charter Academy say their teachers can require exams to be proctored, where the student is monitored remotely through a webcam.

Watch videos related to this reporting on Oklahoma Watch’s website.

Students can bypass these protections. Often, it’s no more difficult than pulling up answers on a smartphone. A   2018 study by Pew Research Center   found 95% of teens have a smartphone, or at least access to one. Even kindergarten students know how to ask a smart speaker their homework questions.

Yet the companies providing the lessons say it’s up to users to provide the accountability and prevent cheating.

“Edgenuity trusts the integrity of teachers, administrations, and even students themselves, to ensure that students learn and succeed fairly,” wrote Deborah Rayow, Edgenuity’s Vice President of Instructional Design & Learning Science, in response to Oklahoma Watch’s questions.

Edgenuity, an Arizona-based online curriculum company, is being used by at least some virtual students in Norman, Union, Stillwater and other school districts.

Another program, Exact Path, is being used in more than 400 Oklahoma districts. The state Education Department used CARES Act funds to enter into a $2.6 million contract with parent company, Edmentum, to offer   Exact Path free to districts . Exact Path is an online learning tool that can be used for assessment and instruction in kindergarten through 12th grade.

Districts are, in some cases, using Exact Path even when school is in-person, to make it easier to pivot to distance learning because of an outbreak or need to quarantine.

Edmentum says because Exact Path adapts to individual students, it is difficult to use online social networks to find answers. And the company works with popular homework help sites like Quizlet and Brainly to “ensure our content is not posted on their sites,” a spokesperson said.

Exact Path also alerts teachers to unusual behavior — such as answering too quickly.

LIke Edgenuity, Edmentum emphasizes teachers’ responsibility to prevent cheating.

One of the most effective things teachers can do to prevent cheating is to design their own online curriculum, or at least supplement the platform’s assignments with their own, said Derald Glover, assistant executive director of the Oklahoma Association of School Administrators.

The bare minimum schools should be doing this year is placing a student on a virtual school platform and letting them go, he said.  Additional safeguards teachers can add are class discussions via Zoom, or having students submit videos of themselves explaining their answers.

Glover said he’s encouraging educators to treat online tools as a digital textbook, and design virtual courses themselves.

But that takes time.

“We think it’s going to take most of this year to realistically build really rich teacher-developed (virtual) courses,” Glover said.

At-Home Learning Assumes Parents Can Supervise

Parents are showing little patience to wait. The fervor over inadequate education at home is growing, and the lack of teacher interaction is one of the main reasons.

Norman schools bent to parental pressure and transitioned to in-person school in late September, despite no change in the Cleveland County’s color-coded coronavirus risk designation.

A group of Stillwater parents filed a lawsuit against the district to force a return to classrooms. The district of 6,300 students uses Edgenuity for students who chose full-time virtual learning.

Parent Nicole Wisel wishes her children’s school district, Cimarron Public Schools, would return to paper, pencils and textbooks instead of using Edgenuity.

“We hate it,” said Wisel, who has children in seventh, eighth and 11th grades. “Our teachers are being paid to be proctors, and that’s it. They don’t even know what these kids are doing.”

The prerecorded video lessons are too long, she says, and one of her children, who is autistic, says the instructors in the videos are “creepy.”

Chuck Anglin, Cimarron Public Schools’ superintendent, said he likes to use Edgenuity to offer extra classes in a normal year. Choosing it for virtual learning this year was making “the best of a bad situation,” he said.

He agrees that when kids are learning from home, the onus to prevent cheating is mostly on parents.

“We are not programmed for distance learning,” said Anglin, whose school district is located 12 miles west of Enid. “We are programmed to have the kids there, where we can see their faces, we can read their eyes, we can tell if they are still engaged. We can see if they’re looking around to see if anybody’s watching while they’ve got their phone in their lap.”

Researchers at the National Education Policy Center, a research center at the University of Colorado Boulder, found that relying on a computer program to teach and assess is one of the most detrimental aspects of online education.

The researchers found these programs actually impede and marginalize the teacher’s role. “Teachers may be unable to see how their students earned the designation of mastery of a goal because in some applications, the software, not the teacher, determines questions asked and the grades assigned,” they wrote in a   2019 report .

They also found that students would just look up answers on their computers — in a separate browser or on a smartphone — while taking assessments. The students quickly realize a computer is easy to trick compared to a human teacher.

This is at the heart of the cheating issue. Are students spending school days engaged in live lessons with a local teacher who is crafting curriculum to meet their needs? Or are they watching videos that explain content and clicking through multiple choice questions?

Katie Harris teaches senior English at Oklahoma Virtual Charter Academy, a statewide virtual school run by the national company K12, Inc. In her first year, students turned in a lot of plagiarized essays, she said. Now, she knows she has to rewrite her lessons, assignments, quizzes and tests every year.

“I say, ‘look, if I Google this exact writing prompt, I can find whole essays online. Don’t do that,’” she said.

K12 schools use their own virtual curriculum, not Edgenuity or Exact Path. A plagiarism detection service, Turnitin, automatically scans students’ work.

At Epic Charter Schools, the state’s largest virtual school, teachers can be responsible for students in all grades and subjects — and outside what they are certified to teach. Families can choose from more than a dozen learning platforms (Edgenuity and Exact Path among them), making it particularly difficult to supplement or build their own course.

To prevent cheating, Epic teachers proctor students’ benchmarking tests — in person, if possible, or via video conference, said Shelly Hickman, a spokeswoman for Epic. Teachers also can investigate if there are major discrepancies in a student’s scores on daily work compared to the proctored exams.

But Epic teachers are only   required to meet   with students face-to-face once every three weeks. Some teachers will meet more frequently, depending on the families’ needs.

Online Classes Create a ‘Psychological Distance’

Psychologists who study human behavior have found that most people will cheat — not a lot, but a little. Researcher Dan Ariely calls this the   “fudge factor.” 

Ariely, a professor at Duke University and author of the book   “The Honest Truth About Dishonesty,”   explains how and why cheating in online courses is easier than in a physical classroom.

“Gone are the quaint days of minutely lettered cheat sheets, formulas written on the underside of baseball cap bills, sweat-smeared key words on students’ palms. Now it’s just a student sitting alone at home, looking up answers online and simply filling them in,” he wrote in   this article   eight years ago, when virtual schools were still fairly new to Oklahoma.

He says the physical distance provided by online classes — distance from the teacher, the students, and the school building — creates a psychological distance that “allows people to further relax their moral standards.”

It’s also true that cheating exists on a continuum. Wursten, for instance, drew the line at automating quiz and test answers — the graded content.

Wursten, who graduated in 2019 and is now certified to work in IT, still adds features to his program — called Edgentweaks — as a “fun side project,” and because he wants to help other students avoid the drudgery he once faced.

Meanwhile, Edgenuity has patched his hacks in a virtual game of cat and mouse.

“I’ve found ways that I could automatically get the correct answers for things like tests and quizzes, but I did not actually write a tweak for it because I consider that cheating,” Wursten said. “I don’t intend to actually make a cheat tool.”

Even apps and websites created to assist students on their virtual learning path have been co-opted into cheat tools.

Brainly has a smartphone app that lets students scan homework or test questions, and answers pop up immediately. On Quizlet, another homework help website, entire test keys are posted and shared among students. Even pre-written essays are easily found, students say. Photomath, another app, produces not only the answer to a math problem, but all the steps needed for students to show their work.

Brainly and Quizlet have policies against cheating. But that’s unlikely to deter students, whether they are enrolled in a virtual school or are attending class face-to-face.

Mackenzie Snovel, who graduated from Owasso last year, said she found 90% of the answers for her senior English and history classes online — and even used Brainly to complete her final exam.

She said she didn’t see an issue with looking up answers because “they were classes I needed to graduate and none of that information I will need in my career.”

Technology is No Substitute

With students and teachers separated by distance, some of the academic integrity responsibility falls to the IT department.

They block websites known to be used for cheating. They may facilitate online exam proctoring, where students are monitored while taking a test through their webcam.

At Union Public Schools near Tulsa, the district has implemented several of these security measures but only on school-owned devices. Most students can easily access another device, though.

While Union is using Edgenuity for all middle and high school students who chose virtual this year, teachers will be adding in extra assignments to supplement the online tool, said Gart Morris, the district’s executive director of instructional technology.

“The curriculum in Edgenuity is limited,” he said. “Our own teachers are beefing up the curriculum to meet our standards.”

The district has about 2,700 middle and high school students who chose virtual learning this year. He believes the best tool to combat cheating is cementing the student to teacher relationships.

“It’s always a challenge to get one step ahead. There’s thousands of them and there’s not thousands of us,” Morris said. “You can look at technology in a way to try to prevent cheating but nothing works as well as a good solid relationship between students and an adult.”

Oklahoma Watch reporter Whitney Bryen contributed to this report.

This story is part of a collaboration with  Oklahoma Watch  through FRONTLINE’s Local Journalism Initiative, which is funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Jennifer Palmer , Oklahoma Watch

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ULPT: How to Cheat on Programming Assignments and Get Away With It

Table of Contents

What is cheating, why do folks cheat, how do folks get caught, how do i get away with cheating, you lied to me.

The line for cheating is blurry as it’s context and culture dependent. For example, in a class I teach, it’s not considered cheating to work together on programming projects. However, it is cheating to copy code from a peer or some other source. Depending on the course and the professor, it might be cheating to even talk about code. But then again, how would you know?

With that said, I think folks generally think about cheating as a spectrum of activities. On one end, we have original work. In my opinion, original work does not exist as all work is derivative in some respect. Though, I think we generally define original work as anything that was created from an individual’s own effort, mind, and perspective.

On the other end of the spectrum is outright copying. In other words, an individual would have to take the work of someone else and present it as their own. Very rarely do folks go this far to cheat, but it does happen (I have a story about that; I should write about it sometime).

As a field, developers would probably find themselves further toward cheating on this spectrum than folks of other disciplines. After all, we routinely borrow from online sources such as StackOverflow or this very website. Not to mention that there are hundreds of tools that format, fix, and optimize code for us automatically. Hell, even IDEs suggest code, and with tools like GitHub Copilot available for use, cheating is practically the name of the game. Though, I’m certain that the law is going to step in sooner or later to protect capital and thereby eliminate the beauty of open-source coding.

Regardless, in a classroom, we have to be a bit more strict about our definitions of cheating because we want students to actually understand the code they borrow. As a result, we usually want students to write code on their own without access to other students or online resources.

Therefore, the line is typically: don’t copy code . In other words, it’s okay if a couple students get together to draw some diagrams, but they can never exchange lines of code. After all, we want students to collaborate, but we don’t want them to cheat.

For example, if all educators care about are grades, grades will take precedent over the actual learning. As a result, it doesn’t surprise me that students will do whatever it takes to get a good grade.

Unfortunately, under a system obsessed with grading, we can’t shift away from it as individual educators. Otherwise, our classes will be less important to your students. Collectively, we’ll have to move toward other systems.

Until then, we’re stuck putting on the pressure by including tough assignments with tight deadlines. The average student then has to make a decision: sacrifice other obligations or cheat. In my opinion, both options are bad, but we don’t seem to care if students sacrifice their own time. We only care if they cheat.

Now other educators will be mad at me for giving away the “secret” of how to cheat. But here’s the reality: by telling you what resources you can use to cheat, I’m telling you that educators know about these resources already. You’re not being clever by using them, and you will likely get caught .

With that said, let’s revisit this idea of a spectrum and start by talking about copying. As mentioned already, copying comes in many forms. Students may copy each other’s work and/or the work of someone on StackOverflow or GitHub. Regardless of how the copying occurs, it is perhaps the easiest form of cheating to detect. Ignoring the plethora of automated plagiarism detection tools, copying is usually caught because it triggers a form of deja vu in the grader.

There are a handful of reasons for this feeling of deja vu. For example, folks who copy from online sources usually end up with code that differs significantly from the style of code taught in class. As a result, it’s not only peculiar because it shows up more than once in class, but because it also takes slightly longer to read and grade.

Moving slightly up the spectrum, we find folks who copy and refactor the code. Obviously, this approach is a bit more sophisticated because it involves taking existing code and making changes like swapping out variable names. Unfortunately for the student, this approach is just as easily detected as direct copying for the same reasons. As someone who reads a lot of code, I’m going to notice code structure and problem solving strategies over variables names. Not to mention, the refactor strategy is usually lazy enough to leave in important details like unique comments or another student’s name.

If the main issue with copied code is that it’s structurally too similar to a peer, then the solution is obvious: copy, refactor, and restructure the code. Very rarely have I seen students who have gone this far to cheat, though perhaps that’s because they’ve never been caught. More than likely though, the folks cheating are not skilled enough to take this next step. And if they manage to work this hard to get away with it, then they probably could have just done the assignment.

If you absolutely have to cheat, here’s my advice.

Start by collecting copies of the solution for the particular problem you’re trying to solve from a variety of sources (e.g., GitHub, peers, etc.). The more solutions you can reference, the better.

Next, take some time to reason about each of the solutions . Get a feel for how the individual got their solution to work (or not work). Remember, not everything you see is going to be worth full credit. Just because there was a solution online, does not mean it works. Ultimately, the purpose of reading through each solution is to build up your mental model about how to solve the problem.

If possible, test the solutions for a variety of cases . If you surface any bugs, try to figure out why the code doesn’t work as expected. What did the author do that doesn’t quite work? The purpose of this step is to flex your analysis skills. Knowing good test cases shows a deep understanding of the problem you’re trying to solve.

Finally, now that you fully understand the problem and have a feel for a few ways of solving it, write your own solution from scratch .

“But wait, I thought you were going to tell me how to cheat!” I did. I taught you how to implement a solution to a problem without actually having to come up with the solution yourself. You’ve replaced a good portion of the thinking process with a reverse engineering process. I don’t think there is any shame in that, if you’re in a pinch.

That does mean, however, that I’m not going to tell you how to copy someone else’s work and get away with it. Even going the route I mentioned above would be considered cheating in my eyes, but it’s definitely more admirable than copying existing code. After all, you learn nothing by copying, but you learn many valuable skills through reverse engineering .

The first question you should ask yourself is why you would ever trust an educator to tell you how to get away with cheating on an assignment. The real purpose of this article was to reiterate the problem with cheating, why you most certainly will get caught, and how to go about treading the line if you’re in a pinch.

In general, however, my advice for folks who feel the need to cheat would actually be the following:

• Ask your instructor for an extension.
• Consider dropping other obligations to free up some time.
• Discuss the assignment with a peer (if permitted).
• Take advantage of office hours and labs.
• Get a tutor (if permitted).
• Start assignments earlier.

With all that said, I am also aware that not all of the options above are practical. Many, many instructors are jerks, so extensions and office hours might not be helpful. Likewise, dropping other obligations can be expensive if it results in graduation delays. Meanwhile, starting assignments sooner may not be practical or even helpful given the various constraints of the college environment.

That’s why, at the end of the day, I don’t see any shame in treading the line of cheating. There are so many structural challenges in universities today that can get in the way of you getting that diploma. Therefore, you need to do what’s best for you to earn your degree . Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

Ultimately, we could debate ethics all day and night. For example, I believe that an institution that charges you five figures a year should be doing everything in its power to ensure you succeed. That means following research backed teaching practices, teaching modern development practices, and hiring enough faculty and staff to actually support students in need. Instead, our hyper-individualistic society puts the burden of success on individual students, so I don’t really blame students when they feel helpless. In the end, cheating is wrong , but institutions could be doing a lot more to incentivize learning than to punish cheating.

At any rate, that’s all I have for you right now. If you like this article and would like to read more like it, check some of these out:

• Lessons Learned From Two Years of College Teaching
• How to Get Better at Programming: Lessons From Music
• Why I Urge My Students to Use DrJava

Likewise, you can show even more support by heading to my list of ways to grow the site . Otherwise, take care! Happy coding!

As a lifelong learner and aspiring teacher, I find that not all subjects carry the same weight. As a result, some topics can fall through the cracks due to time constraints or other commitments. Personally, I find these lost artifacts to be quite fun to discuss. That’s why I’ve decided to launch a whole series to do just that. Welcome to Coding Tangents, a collection of articles that tackle the edge case topics of software development.

In this series, I’ll be tackling topics that I feel many of my own students have been curious about but never really got the chance to explore. In many cases, these are subjects that I think deserve more exposure in the classroom. For instance, did you ever receive a formal explanation of access modifiers? How about package management? Version control?

In some cases, students are forced to learn these subjects on their own. Naturally, this forms a breeding ground for misconceptions which are made popular in online forums like Stack Overflow and Reddit. With this series, I’m hoping to get back to the basics where these subjects can be tackled in their entirety.

Jeremy Grifski

Jeremy grew up in a small town where he enjoyed playing soccer and video games, practicing taekwondo, and trading Pokémon cards. Once out of the nest, he pursued a Bachelors in Computer Engineering with a minor in Game Design. After college, he spent about two years writing software for a major engineering company. Then, he earned a master's in Computer Science and Engineering. Today, he pursues a PhD in Engineering Education in order to ultimately land a teaching gig. In his spare time, Jeremy enjoys spending time with his wife, playing Overwatch and Phantasy Star Online 2, practicing trombone, watching Penguins hockey, and traveling the world.

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How Students Cheat

About this site:.

This site was a collaborative one-time project completed in 2017. Content was last updated in 2018 and many of the original content creators are no longer at RIT. For up to date support reach out to the appropriate department for your specific need: Academic Success Center , Center for Teaching & Learning , Faculty Career Development Team , RIT Libraries , University Writing Program .

Cheating comes in many forms. According to RIT's Student Academic Integrity Policy :

Cheating is any form of fraudulent or deceptive academic act, including falsification of data, possessing, providing, or using unapproved materials, sources, or tools for a project, exam, or body of work submitted for faculty evaluation. [1]

Methods students use to cheat can range from low-tech solutions such as copying from a neighbor's test to more high-tech methods involving innovative uses of available technologies. For instance, a student might try to store notes on a calculator, lookup answers on a smartphone, or listen to prerecorded solutions on an MP3 player. As new technologies become available (e.g. smartwatches) so do the potential tools students can manipulate to their advantage.

A quick internet search for methods of cheating will reveal a wide range of resources, how-to guides, and demonstrational videos that show students how to cheat on exams and class assignments. Being aware of some of the tools and techniques that exist is important for faculty when designing and evaluating class assignments.

RIT Libraries offers a workshop for faculty on High Tech Cheating . For more information, please email [email protected] .

Article Spinning

Originally designed as a technique for Search Engine Optimization (SEO), article spinning involves changing the writing of an article just enough to hide the fact that the content was copied from another work. This is usually accomplished by replacing words with synonyms or related terms. Another form of article spinning involves piecing together an article from multiple articles on the same topic.

While article spinning can be done manually, there are also many online tools that will "spin" an article on the writer's behalf. The result is typically a poorly written document that still needs to be edited by the paper's author.

Essay Banks and Paper Mills

Essay banks and paper mills give students the option of purchasing completed papers for class assignments. The exact service provided can vary. Essay banks typically resell prewritten papers on specific topics. In contrast, paper mills give students the option of having a unique paper crafted based on individual assignment criteria. Customers need to provide the site with general information such as a topic, due date, and article length so that a new, original work can be created. The higher the quality of the fraudulent work (and thus less likelihood of being caught), the more expensive the service.

Further Reading

• Five Sneaky Plagiarist Tricks That Don't Work , Plagiarism Today , Jonathan Bailey, 2012
• How Students Use Technology to Cheat and What Faculty Can Do About It , Information Systems Educators Conference, Lisa Z. Bain, 2014
• The Shadow Scholar , Chronicle of Higher Education , Ed Dante, 2010
• Plagiarism and the Web: Myths and Realities , Turnitin, 2011(free download)

[1] Rochester Institute of Technology. (2013, March 16). Student academic integrity policy . Retrieved from University Policies website: https://www.rit.edu/academicaffairs/policiesmanual/d080

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Professors want to 'ChatGPT-proof' assignments, and are returning to paper exams and requesting editing history to curb AI cheating

• College professors are looking to "ChatGPT-proof" assignments to curb cheating.
• Some professors suggest returning to paper exams and asking students to show editing histories. 
• Changes to assignments come as teachers debate the usage of generative AI in the classroom. 

Since OpenAI's ChatGPT came out last November, a number of teachers have caught their students using the chatbot to cheat and plagiarize on their assignments.

Now, professors at colleges across the US and beyond are trying out ways to "ChatGPT-proof" their assignments, as concerns grow that students may be missing out on learning by using AI cut corners and tools that detect AI-generated text have been found to be prone to errors.

Bonnie MacKellar, a computer science professor at St. Johns University in New York, said that she is making students in her intro courses take paper exams instead of digital ones and having them handwrite their code. Paper exams will be a bigger portion of her students' grades this fall, she said, compared to previous semesters. In turn, students will be disincentivized to outsource their logical thinking to AI, which she said could stunt their learning and leave them unprepared for more advanced computer science classes down the line.

"I hear colleagues in humanities courses saying the same thing: It's back to the blue books," MacKellar said.

Other professors seek to curb AI cheating by reframing assignment questions so students are required to "show their work," William Hart-Davidson, an associate dean at Michigan State University who leads AI workshops for faculty members, told Insider over email.

Assignment questions, Hart-Davidson said, "should include a request for students to be explicit and reflective about the moves they are making."

"We don't just want them to reproduce a fact or a rote response, but to learn to account for their reasoning in a deliberate way," he said.

Related stories

For instance, ChatGPT can easily answer a straight-forward question like "Tell me in three sentences what is the Krebs cycle in chemistry?" he said.

To avoid this, Hart-Davidson told Insider that teachers should reframe the question to something like "revise an existing passage" on the Krebs cycle, which would require students to point out errors, identify writing for clarity and accuracy, and explain how the writing could be improved.

That way, students are forced to think through their answers, rather than regurgitate what a chatbot tells them, which Hart-Davidson said could help improve their writing.

Some professors suggest students show their work by including their editing history and drafts along with their completed assignments. A document that logs all the typos corrected and the sentences rephrased in an essay can prove that a human wrote it, Dave Sayers, a professor at the University of Jyväskylä in Finland, wrote for the Times Higher Education , an education blog.

A guide from Butler University in Indianapolis on how to chatbot-proof assignments suggests that teachers could eliminate the essay, issue impromptu oral exams, and foster classroom discussions around how to best use the chatbot's responses.

The changes to school assignments come as teachers grapple with how to best integrate AI tools like ChatGPT into their classrooms. While some professors require their students to use ChatGPT to generate project ideas , some schools have outright banned the usage of AI to avoid cases of academic dishonesty.

Despite the controversy, some teachers are using AI chatbots themselves to streamline their workflows. Shannon Ahern, a high school math and science teacher in Dublin, Ireland, previously told Insider she used ChatGPT Plus to write lesson plans , generate exercise worksheets, and come up with quiz questions, which she claimed saved her hours of time.

As far as cheating goes, some teachers don't see that changing — with or without AI.

"I worried that my students would use it to cheat and plagiarize," Ahern said. "But then I remembered that students have always been cheating — whether that's copying a classmate's homework or getting a sibling to write an essay — and I don't think ChatGPT will change that."

Are you a student that secretly uses AI for your school work? Reach out to Insider's Aaron Mok at [email protected], or by encrypted messaging app Signal at 718-710-8200. Your identity will remain anonymous.

Watch: What is ChatGPT, and should we be afraid of AI chatbots?

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Why Students Cheat on Homework and How to Prevent It

One of the most frustrating aspects of teaching in today’s world is the cheating epidemic. There’s nothing more irritating than getting halfway through grading a large stack of papers only to realize some students cheated on the assignment. There’s really not much point in teachers grading work that has a high likelihood of having been copied or otherwise unethically completed. So. What is a teacher to do? We need to be able to assess students. Why do students cheat on homework, and how can we address it?

Like most new teachers, I learned the hard way over the course of many years of teaching that it is possible to reduce cheating on homework, if not completely prevent it. Here are six suggestions to keep your students honest and to keep yourself sane.

ASSIGN LESS HOMEWORK

One of the reasons students cheat on homework is because they are overwhelmed. I remember vividly what it felt like to be a high school student in honors classes with multiple extracurricular activities on my plate. Other teens have after school jobs to help support their families, and some don’t have a home environment that is conducive to studying.

While cheating is  never excusable under any circumstances, it does help to walk a mile in our students’ shoes. If they are consistently making the decision to cheat, it might be time to reduce the amount of homework we are assigning.

I used to give homework every night – especially to my advanced students. I wanted to push them. Instead, I stressed them out. They wanted so badly to be in the Top 10 at graduation that they would do whatever they needed to do in order to complete their assignments on time – even if that meant cheating.

When assigning homework, consider the at-home support, maturity, and outside-of-school commitments involved. Think about the kind of school and home balance you would want for your own children. Go with that.

PROVIDE CLASS TIME

Allowing students time in class to get started on their assignments seems to curb cheating to some extent. When students have class time, they are able to knock out part of the assignment, which leaves less to fret over later. Additionally, it gives them an opportunity to ask questions.

When students are confused while completing assignments at home, they often seek “help” from a friend instead of going in early the next morning to request guidance from the teacher. Often, completing a portion of a homework assignment in class gives students the confidence that they can do it successfully on their own. Plus, it provides the social aspect of learning that many students crave. Instead of fighting cheating outside of class , we can allow students to work in pairs or small groups  in class to learn from each other.

Plus, to prevent students from wanting to cheat on homework, we can extend the time we allow them to complete it. Maybe students would work better if they have multiple nights to choose among options on a choice board. Home schedules can be busy, so building in some flexibility to the timeline can help reduce pressure to finish work in a hurry.

GIVE MEANINGFUL WORK

If you find students cheat on homework, they probably lack the vision for how the work is beneficial. It’s important to consider the meaningfulness and valuable of the assignment from students’ perspectives. They need to see how it is relevant to them.

In my class, I’ve learned to assign work that cannot be copied. I’ve never had luck assigning worksheets as homework because even though worksheets have value, it’s generally not obvious to teenagers. It’s nearly impossible to catch cheating on worksheets that have “right or wrong” answers. That’s not to say I don’t use worksheets. I do! But. I use them as in-class station, competition, and practice activities, not homework.

So what are examples of more effective and meaningful types of homework to assign?

• Ask students to complete a reading assignment and respond in writing .
• Have students watch a video clip and answer an oral entrance question.
• Require that students contribute to an online discussion post.
• Assign them a reflection on the day’s lesson in the form of a short project, like a one-pager or a mind map.

As you can see, these options require unique, valuable responses, thereby reducing the opportunity for students to cheat on them. The more open-ended an assignment is, the more invested students need to be to complete it well.

DIFFERENTIATE

Part of giving meaningful work involves accounting for readiness levels. Whenever we can tier assignments or build in choice, the better. A huge cause of cheating is when work is either too easy (and students are bored) or too hard (and they are frustrated). Getting to know our students as learners can help us to provide meaningful differentiation options. Plus, we can ask them!

This is what you need to be able to demonstrate the ability to do. How would you like to show me you can do it?

REDUCE THE POINT VALUE

If you’re sincerely concerned about students cheating on assignments, consider reducing the point value. Reflect on your grading system.

Are homework grades carrying so much weight that students feel the need to cheat in order to maintain an A? In a standards-based system, will the assignment be a key determining factor in whether or not students are proficient with a skill?

Each teacher has to do what works for him or her. In my classroom, homework is worth the least amount out of any category. If I assign something for which I plan on giving completion credit, the point value is even less than it typically would be. Projects, essays, and formal assessments count for much more.

CREATE AN ETHICAL CULTURE

To some extent, this part is out of educators’ hands. Much of the ethical and moral training a student receives comes from home. Still, we can do our best to create a classroom culture in which we continually talk about integrity, responsibility, honor, and the benefits of working hard. What are some specific ways can we do this?

Building Community and Honestly

• Talk to students about what it means to cheat on homework. Explain to them that there are different kinds. Many students are unaware, for instance, that the “divide and conquer (you do the first half, I’ll do the second half, and then we will trade answers)” is cheating.
• As a class, develop expectations and consequences for students who decide to take short cuts.
• Decorate your room with motivational quotes that relate to honesty and doing the right thing.
• Discuss how making a poor decision doesn’t make you a bad person. It is an opportunity to grow.
• Share with students that you care about them and their futures. The assignments you give them are intended to prepare them for success.
• Offer them many different ways to seek help from you if and when they are confused.
• Provide revision opportunities for homework assignments.
• Explain that you partner with their parents and that guardians will be notified if cheating occurs.
• Explore hypothetical situations.  What if you have a late night? Let’s pretend you don’t get home until after orchestra and Lego practices. You have three hours of homework to do. You know you can call your friend, Bob, who always has his homework done. How do you handle this situation?

EDUCATE ABOUT PLAGIARISM

Many students don’t realize that plagiarism applies to more than just essays. At the beginning of the school year, teachers have an energized group of students, fresh off of summer break. I’ve always found it’s easiest to motivate my students at this time. I capitalize on this opportunity by beginning with a plagiarism mini unit .

While much of the information we discuss is about writing, I always make sure my students know that homework can be plagiarized. Speeches can be plagiarized. Videos can be plagiarized. Anything can be plagiarized, and the repercussions for stealing someone else’s ideas (even in the form of a simple worksheet) are never worth the time saved by doing so.

In an ideal world, no one would cheat. However, teaching and learning in the 21st century is much different than it was fifty years ago. Cheating? It’s increased. Maybe because of the digital age… the differences in morals and values of our culture…  people are busier. Maybe because students don’t see how the school work they are completing relates to their lives.

No matter what the root cause, teachers need to be proactive. We need to know why students feel compelled to cheat on homework and what we can do to help them make learning for beneficial. Personally, I don’t advocate for completely eliminating homework with older students. To me, it has the potential to teach students many lessons both related to school and life. Still, the “right” answer to this issue will be different for each teacher, depending on her community, students, and culture.

STRATEGIES FOR ADDRESSING CHALLENGING BEHAVIORS IN SECONDARY

You are so right about communicating the purpose of the assignment and giving students time in class to do homework. I also use an article of the week on plagiarism. I give students points for the learning – not the doing. It makes all the difference. I tell my students why they need to learn how to do “—” for high school or college or even in life experiences. Since, they get an A or F for the effort, my students are more motivated to give it a try. No effort and they sit in my class to work with me on the assignment. Showing me the effort to learn it — asking me questions about the assignment, getting help from a peer or me, helping a peer are all ways to get full credit for the homework- even if it’s not complete. I also choose one thing from each assignment for the test which is a motivator for learning the material – not just “doing it.” Also, no one is permitted to earn a D or F on a test. Any student earning an F or D on a test is then required to do a project over the weekend or at lunch or after school with me. All of this reinforces the idea – learning is what is the goal. Giving students options to show their learning is also important. Cheating is greatly reduced when the goal is to learn and not simply earn the grade.

Thanks for sharing your unique approaches, Sandra! Learning is definitely the goal, and getting students to own their learning is key.

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9 Proven Essay Hacks: Cheat Sheet and Tips to cheat on essays

In this comprehensive guide, we show you proven essay hacks to use as an essay cheat sheet and tips on how to cheat on essays. Earn the grades legally. If you effectively apply these 9 tips and tricks, you will significantly save your time in writing essays, and the efforts you put on your homework and earn high grades easily.

In many essays and assignments, students get stranded due to the lack of knowledge on how to navigate from one step to another in the writing process. Sometimes, there are easy ways to write essays, but they only work when you know the tips. Let us now discuss each in detail.

Easy navigation table

Proven Essay Hacks to legally Cheat on Essays

1. hire a professional essay writer.

This is one of the most convenient and easiest ways through which a student can cheat on essays, homework, and other assignments. The student hires a professional essay writer.

Professional essay writers can be accessed through professional writing websites. Grade Bees essay writing is one of the best ones. Several writing websites have experienced and competent writers who can handle different types of essays or any other assignment 24/7.

When you hire a professional essay writer, you can be assured that your paper will be of high quality and it will be delivered on time as your work.

However, there are some things you should consider before hiring a professional essay writer online. You should conduct a thorough research concerning the credibility of your selected writing services provider.

Make your Order

Give Instructions

Your writer completes the task

Download your File

The credibility can be gauged based on how long the website has provided witting services to students, the consistency of the website regarding the delivery of quality essays to students, and most importantly the support system within the site.

Once you are satisfied with the website offering professional writing services, you will be assigned a verified essay writer to complete your assignment.

The assigned professional write will deliver your essay, homework, or any other assignment according to the instructions you provided and the deadline you gave.

Of course, those services are not free. You will have to pay. The price may differ from one service provider to another.

2. Plagiarize wisely without getting caught

This is also an ingenious method of cheating on your essays, homework, and more.

While plagiarizing is academic dishonesty that is punishable by law, plagiarizing wisely without getting caught can help you cheat on essays if you believe it is morally right.

The first method of plagiarizing wisely is to add adverbs and adjectives into original sentences to make them sound and appear different or unique.

Also, you should note that plagiarism detecting tools look for overlapping text between your essay and other works from other writers.

If you add adverbs and adjectives, the similarity or overlapping text will disappear and you will be good.

You can also change the order of text within the original sentences. This is an easy method of plagiarizing because plagiarism detecting tools such as SafeAssign and Turnitin will be incapable of detecting any overlaps between your essay and the original work.

Changing the word order can also be achieved by Article Rewriting tools. Those tools are several on Google.

What they do is to take the original text and jumble it in such a way that it maintains meaning and coherence while becoming different from the original work.

Finally, you can utilize several quotes within your essay. However, this will depend on whether your instructor accepts them or not.

If you use quotes, be sure to quote (“…”) the original text and add an in-text citation at the end of the quote to avoid detection.

Check our our guide how to plagiarize wisely without getting caught especially when dealing with Turnitin or SafeAssign.

 3. Paraphrase your essay well

Paraphrasing is when a student takes the original text and mixes the words in such a way that they look original while retaining the same meaning with the original text.

You should note that even though you have paraphrased, you should correctly cite the source in the right format.

Below are some of the tips that can be used to help you paraphrase your work well:

• Use a Dissimilar first sentence
• Use relevant synonyms
• Change sentence structure
• Break long sentences

We can explain these points in detail below;

1. Use a Dissimilar first sentence

First, you should begin your essay, or the first sentence of your essay, at a dissimilar point from that of the original.

This means that you will not follow the structure of the source. You will have to find the structure through which you will rewrite the source’s text.

2. Use relevant synonyms

Secondly, you should use synonyms. This is a clever way of paraphrasing because you will exchange the original words with their synonyms.

This can easily fool plagiarism detecting tools. The Saurus Tool can help you if you are stuck.

3. Change sentence structure

Thirdly, you can change the sentence structure. If the original sentence has been written in the active form, you can change it into a passive form.

4. Break long sentences

Finally, you can break long sentences or information into smaller and separate sentences. This will make your essay original while maintaining the original or intended information.

Read our guide on the Dos and Don’ts of paraphrasing – and learn how to paraphrase well.

4. Submit late assignments wisely

It is a requirement that all assignments should be submitted before the deadline.

Any late submissions are not accepted by most instructors because the students have not followed the instructions and they may have used that opportunity to cheat on their essays.

Depending on the institution you are studying in, your instructors have different preferences when it comes to submitting assignments.

Most will require you to submit the assignments via plagiarism detecting tools such as Turnitin or SafeAssign while others may require you to physically hand in your work.

Either way, late submissions are unacceptable. This is because they can be used as a loophole to cheat.

Read our guide on how to submit late assignments and escape with it.

To ensure that you turn in your late assignments, be sure to upload a corrupted file before the deadline. The instructor will struggle to open the file without success.

During that time, take the opportunity to complete the assignment. You can also seek help from your smart classmates because they will assume that you have also uploaded the file and their help will not have any impact on your paper.

By the time your instructor requests you to re-upload your assignment, you will have completed your paper. Voila!

5. Work with homework help tutor

This method cannot be considered as an unethical approach to cheating on essays. This is because a homework help tutor is just like your teacher or instructor who wants to make you better understand the course and the homework.

Again, parents who think that their children are not at par with their peers at school will most likely hire extra help from such tutors. Those tutors can also help you while completing your homework.

Well, homework help tutors can be actual physical people who you interact with or someone/something that you interact within a virtual space (online).

In either case, both can provide valuable information that can help you complete your homework.

Their experience as tutors and the academic information they possess guarantees that you will complete your homework and expect the best results. 

For example, if you have been given Chemistry homework and you feel that it is difficult to complete because you do not understand the concepts, you can seek homework help tutor

Maybe the grade you will get from the assignment will impact your final grade. Though you will have cheated, seeking help will save your grade.

Look out for our homework help services and see if you can get someone to walk your academic journey with you

This is one of the most effective and successful methods of cheating on essays, homework, and more without getting caught. You have legally or morally done nothing wrong.

6. Re-use previous papers from you or others

This method of cheating on essays, homework, and more can be very risky if not done wisely. As we have noted, some tools are used by institutions to check for plagiarism.

Tools such as SafeAssign and Turnitin can detect any overlaps between your submitted papers and other papers, essays, or works that are available within their databases.

If they detect any overlaps, then your paper has a degree of plagiarism that is dictated by the similarity index.

If the previous papers from you or others to be reused have been previously submitted through either of plagiarism checking tools, then your paper will be detected and rejected because of a high similarity index.

However, it should be noted that the two plagiarism checking tools use different databases and they do not check the other’s databases.

Therefore, it may be possible to reuse a paper that has been previously submitted using Turnitin by submitting it through SafeAssign and vice versa.

Turnitin stores all the papers that have been submitted through it to its database. In the case of SafeAssign, students and instructors can choose to donate those papers as resources.

The key thing to note is that most of the tools used to check for plagiarism have a mechanism of detecting papers that have been previously submitted through them.

Read our guide how to re-use previous papers without self-plagiarism and apply this crazy hack.

However, if your paper or another person’s paper has not been submitted through such tools, you can confidently reuse them.

 7. Smartly cheat your online tests

Some smart methods can be used by students to cheat during their online tests. One of the most commonly used methods is screen mirroring or sharing.

Since online tests are given to students from remote locations, you have the freedom to use more than one monitor.

Those monitors are used to simultaneously mirror the test questions to your smart friends who can provide answers.

The second method you can use to cheat during online tests is by using devices to cheat. Some Bluetooth devices are very tiny and undetectable.

You can place them strategically into your ear and use them to receive voiced answers from your smart friends or any other person you have hired to help you during the online test.

Another device you can use to cheat during online tests is your smartphone. They can store valuable information and answers. They are connected to the internet and you can search your answers on cheating websites like Sparknotes or more.

Another method that can be used to cheat during online tests is impersonation. Here, the candidate hires or uses another person to do the test on their behalf.

You can read our full guide how to cheat online tests and get some easy hacks that may help you escape being caught.

Administering online tests remotely allows the candidates to use impersonators who are more knowledgeable and are likely to attain good grades for the candidates. However, we give a disclaimer that such cheating in school is wrong , and you should try it at your own peril.

Though this is the case, most institutions are now administering online exams though proctored programs like web browsers and tools to avoid cheating incidences. 

8. Use free model essays to write your essays

Copying or using model essays/papers to write your essays/papers is also an effective method of cheating on essays, homework, and more. Model essays have been created by individuals who are well versed in the course content and its requirements.

Most likely, those individuals create those model essays/papers to guide or provide an actual example of how students should do their papers or essays. In most cases, the model essays or papers have been written or approved by the instructor. Therefore, they can be valuable assets when writing your paper or essay.

What you should note is that not all model essays or papers will completely match the assignment requirements given by your instructor.

Read our post on how to use completely free sample essays as models for your paper.

You should carefully check the contents and the context of the model essay or papers before copying or using them to write your essays or papers.

If by chance the model paper is similar to your assignment, you can proceed to copy the points in your paper or essay. However, do not copy-paste. Read our guide on paraphrasing hack 3 above.

If you decide to completely copy the model paper or essay, be sure to check for similarity through plagiarism checking tools such as Turnitin Self-Check, Grammarly, or any other tool. This will ensure that the paper does not exist within the databases of those tools. If they do exist, you can plagiarize or paraphrase wisely to avoid getting caught. If they do not exist, then you can copy and upload the paper as your own.

9. Have someone take your class online

As aforementioned, online classes and courses are administered remotely. Therefore, students and tutors do not physically interact. This gives students a lot of freedom to cheat. One of the methods is to have someone take your online class from the start to end. Due to proctoring tools and online authentication through biometrics and student IDs that are taken

during the start of the online course, having someone take the online class from the start will ensure that they will have assumed your identity. They will also do online proctored tests and exams without any problem.

Essay Cheat Sheet and Tips to improve your writing

1. use proofreading tools to polish your work.

Proofreading tools like Grammarly and writecheck can be very helpful when completing your essays.

They are easy to use and they make your work to be significantly easier.

At the same time, they will take lesser time and save you on the deadline.

When you are done writing your essay or research paper and you need to proofread your work to correct any grammatical errors, punctuation, and so on, you can just copy-paste or upload the file directly to the tool.

Some of the proofreading tools are free while others require a subscription fee.

Read our hacks on how to use Grammarly Premium version for free and see how it works.

Once uploaded, the tool will automatically detect any errors or issues within your paper. You can correct them as required.

2. Format your paper well – cite referencing, etc.

Formatting your paper well will guarantee more points. After you are done writing your paper, it is important to format it following the academic guidelines provided by your instructor.

The format will dictate the arrangement of your paper in terms of paragraphs, the in-text citations, presence or absence of endnotes or footnotes, and the placement of the bibliography/works cited/reference page.

Read our guide how to format papers in APA or MLA and get a quick lesson or essay hack on the same.

The common and acceptable formats include APA, MLA, Chicago, and Harvard. Be sure to follow the format dictated by your instructor to be graded.

Some instructors will not grade papers that do not follow the correct format that is well done.

You can hire one of our cheap essay writers from our website to proofread your work professionally.

3. Self-check your papers for plagiarism

This is also a very important step to do before submitting your paper. As we have noted earlier, most instructors will require you to submit your papers and essays through plagiarism checking tools such as SafeAssign and Turnitin.

However, some submissions can only be done once because they are taken as final copies rather than drafts. It is therefore important to perform a self-check through tools.

Read our guide on Turnitin Self-check alternatives and learn more.

Some of the tools discussed in that article include Turnitin’s Feedback Studio, Grammarly, PlagScan, DupliChecker, and so on before submitting your drafts as final copies.

4. Keep your plagiarism score within the acceptable range

Different institutions and instructors have different standards when it comes to plagiarism scores.

Some will be strict while others will be lenient depending on the course discipline and the writing prowess of the students.

Check out our post on the acceptable plagiarism score on Turnitin and know how not to surpass that level.

As a student, you should take note of the accepted range and try as much as possible to keep your plagiarism score within the acceptable range.

You will not be penalized due to plagiarized content if you keep your score within the acceptable range.

5. Follow online guides on how to write essays and papers

If you google or search the web for topics on how to write different types of papers, you will find several results.

Read our comprehensive guides how to write an essay and how to write research papers for detailed lessons.

Some many websites and blogs provide free guides on how to write different papers. You should however check the credibility of the online sources because some of them may misguide you.

Different papers will take different forms. The most credible sites will give you guidelines in terms of structure, outline, format, tone, and how to effectively cite sources.

6. Know the allowed plagiarism – easy essay cheat sheet

Different institutions and instructors have different standards when it comes to how much plagiarism is allowed. Some institutions or instructors will not allow students’ papers with a plagiarism score of more than 5%. Watch the video below to learn how to reduce your plagiarism.

Others can allow a score of below 25% while others can allow as much as 30% depending on the course’s discipline and the writing proficiency of the students.

If your instructor or institution allows or tolerates a plagiarism score of 30%, then you can plagiarize to that extent.

However, if they do not tolerate that (5% and below), then avoid plagiarism by using the aforementioned methods.

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100 Last-Day-of-School Activities Your Students Will Love!

How Do I Stop Students From Copying Each Other’s Homework Assignments?

Five steps that worked for me.

My students, like students everywhere, are smart and funny and creative and wonderful in so many ways. Also like students everywhere, they constantly seem to be looking for shortcuts on their homework. One of the bus drivers told me last year that the kids openly ask her to turn the interior lights on so they can finish copying homework before they get to school! Sigh. At least they’re motivated enough to copy, right?

This year, I made it a major goal to stop students from cheating. I put this five-step process in place, and it really cut down on the homework copying in my classroom. Here it is. 

Step 1: Check the quality of your assignments.

First of all, it’s worth taking a close look at the kind of homework you assign. If you do a lot of worksheets, you might find those work better for in-class activities. Instead, try focusing homework on in-depth writing assignments and individual written responses.

If you’re a math teacher, having kids respond in writing about how they solved a problem always works, as does having them write their own problems or exemplars for what they’ve been learning. Anything that requires student-generated content is automatically going to be harder to copy.

Step 2: Check the quantity.

Of course, this creates a lot more grading than worksheets, which led me to reflect on the amount of homework I assigned. At first, I found myself overwhelmed. I had to wonder if this was how my students felt when they looked at a night’s homework load. If there had been someone whose grading I could have copied, I probably would have done it!

The result? I assigned a lot less homework as the year went on. Put your homework to this test: If it’s not worth your time to grade carefully, it’s not worth the students’ time to do it.

Step 3: Explain the changes.

Once you’ve started assigning less homework, you’ll want to make your reasons explicit to your students. “I’m assigning less homework because I don’t want to waste your time. That means that anything I do assign is really important, and it’s important for you to actually do it on your own.” This speech went a long way with many of my students, but I had another trick up my sleeve.

Step 4: Allow time to learn and make mistakes.

You might also want to try a few get-out-of-jail-free cards when it comes to homework. My middle schoolers are still in the process of learning how to budget their time and stay organized, and sometimes they make mistakes. I gave each kid three one-day extensions that they could use over the course of the year to avoid a penalty for late homework.

There were certain assignments on which these could not be used, like rough drafts we needed to edit or group projects. It lowered the general stress level and set a culture of respect and accountability that encouraged my kids to plan ahead. For the naysayers who say, “The real world won’t give them extensions,” I would respectfully offer my disagreement. What? You’ve never posted your grades after the deadline?

Step 5: Bring the pain.

Although this cut down on copying substantially, kids will always test your limits. That’s when you move on to the final step. It works like this: Read every word of every assignment. Make sure you grade an entire class at once so you’ll know if a phrase or a creatively spelled word seems familiar, and then hunt back through 35 other papers until you find the one it’s copied from. It is important that you identify when students cheat and that your justice is swift and merciless.

I had an escalating system of consequences for cheating. First time, you split the grade. If the assignment gets a 90, each person gets a 45. Second time, each person gets a zero and a lunch detention. Third time, it’s a phone call home in addition to a zero and an after-school detention. Not a single kid made it to the third offense. They have to believe that you’re documenting this and you’ll follow through. Let them see you putting their names in your file so they know you know what offense they’re on. It is a logistical pain, but it’s effective.

So did my kids ace the standardized test because they had done their homework all year? Not to brag, but their writing scores were pretty high. And I don’t think they missed out on many valuable educational experiences when I stopped assigning worksheets. After all, they’d have just copied them anyway!

How do you stop students from cheating? Come and share  in our WeAreTeachers HELPLINE group  on Facebook. 

Plus, check out  how to give meaningful homework, even when it’s not graded ..

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How to Give Meaningful Homework, Even When It’s Not Graded

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8 Ways to Prevent Students From Cheating With AI

Academic integrity has been a fundamental aspect of higher education for years, but with the rise of AI tools comes new barriers for instructors to maintain it. The temptation for students to cheat using AI has grown, making it essential for educators to adopt innovative strategies to combat it effectively. In this article, we’ll explore various methods to prevent students from cheating with AI, with help from Cengage online learning platforms such as WebAssign , MindTap , CNOWv2 , OWLv2 and SAM .

Educate students on your school’s definition of cheating

Do your students understand exactly what is considered “cheating”? Rather than assume students fully understand what cheating entails, reinforce your school’s honor code including the acceptable use of AI technology. This can be achieved through your syllabus, workshops, orientation sessions or online modules. By promoting awareness and understanding, your students are more likely to uphold academic integrity.

Tip: If you’re using WebAssign , you can assign the Academic Integrity assignment found in the  Math Success toolkit to help students understand and reflect on the definition of academic integrity.

Remind students of your academic integrity policy with an honor code pledge

Before your exam begins, or within your exam, add a question requiring students to confirm that they will not cheat or commit academic dishonesty throughout the exam. Within this question, you may choose to include examples of cheating—including the use of AI—and reminders of the consequences of committing academic dishonesty. This will serve as a real-time reminder of how serious academic integrity is to your course, and the implications of using outside resources.

Tip: In WebAssign , you can access an Honor Code question template by searching question ID: 4625294 to use as a starting point.

Rethink how you assess learning

One of the key strategies to combat cheating with AI tools is to rethink how you assess student learning. Instead of relying solely on multiple-choice questions and easily searchable answers, consider alternative assessment methods that truly gauge a student’s understanding.

Incorporate questions with visual or interactive elements

Rather than assigning a multiple-choice question, utilize questions that have a visual or interactive component. Incorporating visual elements, such as images, graphs, videos or diagrams, into assessments can deter cheating as students can’t copy these elements into AI tools. These elements require students to analyze, interpret, visualize and sometimes interact with a concept. This is not easily replicable by AI tools. Visual questions also add depth to the assessment process.

Assign projects

In courses like Statistics, Physics and Chemistry, among others, projects can be an excellent assessment tool. These real-world, hands-on assignments require students to apply their knowledge in a practical context, making it harder for AI to provide answers. Encouraging critical thinking and problem-solving skills through projects ensures students truly grasp the concepts.

“I use projects that we complete in steps, so I see their work piece by piece.” – Angela Nino, Dallas College

Leverage open-ended questions

Use a mix of question types, including open-ended, scenario-based, and critical thinking or problem-solving questions. Open-ended questions, in particular, force students to demonstrate their true understanding, as they cannot rely on AI-generated responses.

Assigning tasks that are tailored to each student’s unique experiences, interests, or background can significantly reduce cheating through AI tools. For example, ask them to correlate the concept to an experience in their real life. When assignments are personalized, it becomes challenging for students to find pre-generated content online.

Ask students to upload their work

If your course requires students to complete multiple steps, or think independently to get the answer, this strategy is for you. You can assign file upload questions in MindTap , WebAssign , CNOWv2 and SAM. These questions prompt students to upload pictures or documents containing their work from the exam. You’ll want to inform students that they will be required to submit their work at the end of the exam by mentioning it in class or in the instructions of your assignment.

Tip: If you’re delivering a timed test or LockDown browser for your exam, you should create a follow-up assignment that doesn’t contain these restrictions and ask your students to submit their work there. This will ensure they can upload a file and won’t use up any of their test time.

Consider new ways to deliver assignments to students

In addition to the types of content you provide to students, you should also reconsider how you’re delivering your assignments.

Use timed assignments

Setting reasonable time limits for exams and assignments is an effective way to thwart cheating with AI tools. When students have limited time, it becomes more challenging to rely on AI models for all their answers. Timed assignments encourage them to focus on understanding and applying the material rather than seeking shortcuts.

Tip: All Cengage platforms such as WebAssign, MindTap, CNOWv2, OWLv2 and SAM offer timed tests.

Schedule frequent assessments

Frequent assessments throughout the course can reduce the temptation to cheat with AI tools. By breaking the course into smaller, regular assessments, students are less likely to procrastinate and resort to cheating to cope with the pressure of one big final exam.

The great thing about using Cengage online learning platforms is you don’t have to create all these additional assignments on your own! You can use pre-built assignments or questions to easily create additional assessments for students.

In the age of AI tools, combating cheating in higher education requires creative and proactive strategies. By rethinking assessment methods, emphasizing the honor code pledge and implementing personalized, time-bound and visual assessments, you can reduce the allure of cheating with AI tools. Plus, you can save time in doing so, with the help of Cengage online learning platforms.

Download the Cheating and Academic Dishonesty eBook to learn more about how to stop cheating in your course.

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How to Admit to a Teacher That You've Cheated

Last Updated: May 19, 2024 References

This article was co-authored by Alicia Oglesby . Alicia Oglesby is a Professional School Counselor and the Director of School and College Counseling at Bishop McNamara High School outside of Washington DC. With over ten years of experience in counseling, Alicia specializes in academic advising, social-emotional skills, and career counseling. Alicia holds a BS in Psychology from Howard University and a Master’s in Clinical Counseling and Applied Psychology from Chestnut Hill College. She also studied Race and Mental Health at Virginia Tech. Alicia holds Professional School Counseling Certifications in both Washington DC and Pennsylvania. She has created a college counseling program in its entirety and developed five programs focused on application workshops, parent information workshops, essay writing collaborative, peer-reviewed application activities, and financial aid literacy events. This article has been viewed 117,397 times.

Cheating may have long-lasting effects on your education. Getting caught cheating can have dramatic academic consequences, including potential expulsion. If you cheated on an assignment or test and feel guilty about it, coming clean to your teacher may be a better alternative than waiting to get caught.

Preparing to Admit to Cheating

• Cheating is usually defined as copying or sharing answers, using concealed information during an exam, or submitting the same assignment for multiple classes. [1] X Research source
• Plagiarism is generally considered to be using materials created by another a person without permission or citation. Some schools take a harder stance on plagiarism and may even define it as paraphrasing another person’s viewpoint as your own. [2] X Research source

Confessing to Cheating

• Be clear about which assignment or test you cheated on. If it was just on one assignment, you will want to clarify that you did not cheat on other assignments. Be aware that your teacher will probably want to review your previous work or keep a closer eye on your future work to make sure cheating is truly a one-time incident.
• Try to put yourself in a humble perspective as you apologize.

• You could say: "I am not sure I understand how to measure the surface area. This was one of the reasons why I cheated on the test. Do you know of any tutors who might be able to help me understand this topic?"

• You could say: "I am very sorry that I cheated on last week's test. I understand that this was a wrongdoing and that my actions have consequences that I will need to face. At the same time I also want to reassure you that this was a one-time incident and it will not happen again."

Dealing with the Consequences

• Don’t argue. Trying to talk your way out of the punishment likely won’t make a difference and your teacher may add on. Arguing will detract from showing remorse for your actions.
• Stay positive. Keep your head up while serving your punishment. Treat it as a learning experience and move forward. It will also show your teachers you are serious about recovering from the incident and you don’t plan to cheat in the future.

• Produce quality work. Whatever the extra assignment is, study and focus to turn in a quality assignment. Work on it as soon as possible. This can help salvage your grade in the class.

Community Q&A

• Be strong. Everyone makes mistakes and you're attempting to correct yours. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Your teacher might think less of you for cheating, but you may be able to gain their trust back if you are a good student. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Make sure you accept the consequences. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

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• ↑ http://sa.berkeley.edu/conduct/integrity/definition
• ↑ http://www.plagiarism.org/plagiarism-101/what-is-plagiarism/
• ↑ http://drkennethshore.nprinc.com/for-teachers/responding-cheating-incidents/
• ↑ http://www.aclu-or.org/content/your-right-fair-treatment-aka-due-process
• ↑ https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-time-cure/201311/true-remorse

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How to cheat on assignments

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Central Florida schools looking to restrict artificial intelligence use by students

Seminole county is the latest school district looking at a new policy.

Catherine Silver , Reporter

SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. – The School Board in Seminole County is set to sign off on the Code of Conduct and Honor Code for the 2024-2025 school year, and it includes consequences for students who submit Artificial Intelligence-generated work without credit or consent.

Submitting assignments or completing exams or tests with the use of AI will be prohibited unless explicitly permitted by the teacher. Also, the use of AI with permission must be cited within the assignment.

If students submit AI-generated work without following those guidelines, it will be considered plagiarism.

News 6 met with Shawn Gard-Harrold, the assistant superintendent for ePathways at SCPS, to discuss how the district is approaching AI technology.

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“When we saw the evolution of ChatGPT coming about we immediately blocked it from the system. And so, students just turned on the hotspot on their phone and they started accessing ChatGPT from their hotspot,” said Gard-Harrold. “So, as soon as we started realizing trying to block this stuff is never going to be the answer, then we have to start having conversations with students about how do we lean into this?”

Gard-Harrold says the district recognizes how AI is being used in almost every industry, every single day.

“When I meet with healthcare professionals, when I meet with advanced manufacturing folks when I meet with folks from finance, AI is in all of those industries,” said Gard-Harrold. “And if our students don’t understand that it is going to impact whatever field they choose to enter, then they are going to be behind the times. So, it’s our job to make sure that they know how to use artificial intelligence when to use artificial intelligence, and then how to validate their source and also how to apply it in a way that is meaningful and also representative of their own values.”

Students in Seminole County are already studying Artificial Intelligence. There are two Career & Technical Education programs for artificial intelligence at Hagerty High School and Crooms Academy.

“We are not saying let’s hide from AI, let’s run from AI,” said Gard-Harrold. “We’re really working on helping our students and our teachers to understand we live in a world where AI is also going to live.”

As students, teachers, and districts work to find AI’s place in the classroom, there are questions about whether it will do more harm than good.

A survey conducted by Pew Research Center in fall 2023 found the majority of teachers are uncertain or concerned about the downsides of AI in K-12 education.

About a third (32%) said there is about an equal mix of benefit and harm. Only 6% said it does more good than harm, and 35% said they are not sure.

News 6 asked our school districts in Central Florida about how they are addressing the use of AI. You can read the responses we received below.

Brevard County

District leaders at the Brevard County School District say they are currently gathering information from stakeholders on the use of AI in schools, the concerns that using AI represents, and the benefits that may come with it. They will consider the responses they have received and the information they gather as they consider any policy or code of conduct changes that need to be made.

Marion County

Marion County Public Schools approved a student progression plan on June 11 which states:

Willful or deliberate unauthorized use of the work of another person for academic purposes and/or inappropriate use of notes/materials in the completion of an academic assignment or test and/or inappropriately providing information is not permitted. This includes the submission of any work produced by artificial intelligence in the place of original student work. Marion County Public Schools policy

Orange County

Access to AI is blocked for all students on the school network. Staff regularly monitors district devices for unauthorized programs or usage and responds accordingly. The Code of Student Conduct addresses cheating and the consequences that are in place for any violation.

Osceola County

Students’ Responsible Use of AI A. When using AI programs, students need to be aware that they may be sharing personal data with AI bots. Further, information they upload may also affect their own privacy and their peers’ privacy. B. AI programs can have implicit bias and may even present incorrect information. Students should acknowledge that AI is not always factually accurate or a credible source, and students should be able to provide evidence from official sources to support any AI claims. All users must also be aware of the potential for bias and discrimination in AI tools and applications. C. If a student is using an AI tool or application, then the student must think critically and be sure to fact-check using primary sources. D. Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), and Dual Enrollment (DE) college and university courses may have additional restrictions and limitations regarding the use of AI tools and applications E. Academic integrity means that if the student uses AI in any capacity, then the student must acknowledge the use of AI related to their schoolwork, including, but not limited to, attributing AI text, image, multimedia, etc., when using these items in schoolwork and assignments. The use of AI shall also be subject to other School District policies (e.g., Code of Student Conduct) where applicable. F. Students may not use AI tools or applications to avoid doing their own original work. G. Students may not use AI tools or applications when the student’s assigned teacher has expressly forbidden such use. H. Student access to certain websites using AI may be granted, however privacy guidelines and age restrictions must be considered prior to allowing such use I. Any misuse of AI tools and applications, such as hacking or altering data, is strictly prohibited. J. Students using AI software with a personal device and/ or personal credentials should be aware that the AI platforms to which they are uploading information collect various forms of data that may affect their own privacy and their peers’ privacy. Osceola County Schools policy

Volusia County

The School Board adopted a policy in May. It outlines the use of AI for students and staff, and the consequences. You can read it in full below.

Volusia Schools Policy 428 - Staff and Student Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) by Christie Zizo on Scribd

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About the Author

Catherine silver.

Catherine, born and raised in Central Florida, joined News 6 in April 2022.

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