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Betrayal

I caught a student cheating on a final exam this morning. I had a line of sight on them and watched for ten minutes as they took their cellphone out of their pocket, kept it below their table, typed into it, read it, put it away, then wrote on the exam, repeating this cycle over and over again.  I was a bit surprised as the exam was open notes but this student had not attended many of our classes, just stopping by for exams, and I conjecture that they had no notes to open.

I confronted the student who admitted that they had done wrong in an inarticulate non-confessional way. By the afternoon they had signed off on the honor code violation report to avoid further investigation and possible sanctions beyond failing the exam. 

Is anger the right emotion to feel now? I had a working relationship with the student, although they had not contributed much to it. They had deceived me in order to gain unwarranted advantage over their peers in the class and that is not right.

I don't want to burn the student at the stake, although I could pleasantly go for many years without seeing them again. Ideally there should be a path for them back to honor but our system of reporting exists because we individual instructors only see one perspective of the student; if they cheat in many classes then redemption does not seem to be on their minds without some kind of punishment to encourage it.

As always, I feel anger that the one student made me less friendly to the other students, in this case as they turned in their exams. It is too easy to focus on the small number of students who misbehave and this particular anger is at myself.

Comments

  1. AnonymousDecember 19, 2024 at 10:09 PM

    I definitely understand your anger on the matter as the student had not taken the time or effort to prepare for the exam showed no respect or effort in class; and when faced with the consequences of being unprepared, chose to take an unfair route of advantage. Having known students like this, I have witnessed firsthand how this same behavior seeps into multiple courses, and when confronted they unfortunately care more about getting caught and consequences thereof instead of honorable academic behavior. I wish there was a better way that an Educational institution could rehabilitate students out of a mindset of selfish unpreparedness and disrespect, but this behavior translates across the professional and academic life of the student and I am afraid that these types of students will only focus more on avoiding being caught than actually being a respectful, honorable, and competent student. Sadly, I have seen a fair share of this type of student and as harsh as it sounds, they are unfair to their peers and lack any sort of accountability. Their spot in a course is often a waste of instructor energy, and the opportunity of more deserving students.

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