Case Study - Week 8

Discussion Questions:

1.   If I were the teacher, I would do exactly as the teacher did, give them zeros on the exam, as a start.  Cheating is one thing, and add on top of that the deception when initially confronted about it, I think at least some further action should be taken.  At the collegiate level, the girls would face expulsion for cheating and that would be the end of it.

With all of that said, however, if I were the teacher, perhaps I would design my tests to avoid cheating.  Perhaps even design an "open resource" exam, ie- open book, cell phones, ipods, even take the exam in small groups; and set the same time limit for the exam.  Even with all of these resources at their disposal, the students would still have to know where to find information that they need, and such an exam would only be easily completed in the time allotted if the students either know the information, or know where to find it quickly.

I personally have experience with this type of open resource exam and they are challenging, rewarding, and effective.  The best part: cheating is eliminated, because everything is fair game.

2.    I would not outright ban cellphones in my classroom, rather, I would embrace them in many ways as teaching and communication between my students.  I would, however, stress the appropriateness of cell phone usage and have a zero tolerance for inappropriate usage.

3.  Laura and Jessica should receive reprimand for their actions, not just for the cheating, but for the deception and the fact that they weren't 'scared straight' after the initial confrontation.  They would be expelled in a heartbeat at the collegiate level, and the actions taken by the teacher in this case were appropriate.  However, at the high school level, I don't think they should be expelled for this particular situation.  I think this whole case could be flipped into a valuable experience not only for the two girls involved, but the teacher and her test making and the rest of the class as a whole.

4.  I disagree with the banning of cell phones in schools.  I believe we are experiencing an awkward phase in schools where we don't exactly know how to effectively incorporate such technology (except in a few emerging cases), as well as the fact that cell phone bans are notoriously difficult to enforce.  I think technology should be embraced wherever possible and a creative solution can and should be undertaken.