Designing Web-Based Training: How to Teach Anyone Anything Anywhere Anytime

7.10. PREVENT CHEATING

Alas, some people will cheat—even highly paid professionals taking the course under their own initiative. Sometimes even people who know the answers cheat. But cheating denies learners a chance to see how well they have mastered the material.

7.10.1. Why do learners cheat?

Only when you understand why learners may be cheating can you take steps to discourage cheating. What are some of the reasons learners cheat?

• Test scores affect the learners' chances for advancement, licensing, promotion, and pay increases.

• Learners fear the embarrassment of a low test score.

• Learners are angry with the instructor, the organization offering the course, or their own organization.

• Learners find cheating more challenging and fun than taking the test.

• Some cultures do not view cheating as wrong but as a sanctioned part of the adversarial relationship with the instructor whereby learners demonstrate their cleverness.

7.10.2. How can I detect cheating?

Before you assume you have a problem with cheating-and always before you accuse anyone of cheating-check to see if there is any evidence of widespread cheating. Compare test results to other activities, such as participation in discussions. Compare results on new and old questions. Compare proctored and unproctored results.

Inconsistent results warrant closer examination. Are the differences caused by differences in the difficulty of various ways of monitoring performance? Or are they evidence of cheating?

7.10.3. How do learners ...