exams and cheating

fiveone

Anyone have any experience with accusations of cheating during exams, or of its consequences? I'm guessing its dealt with quite severely, but what are your chances in a marginal case?

cheers...

gilroyb

marginal case? how does one have a marginal case? hypothetically of course, what did you hypothetically do? (hypothetically)

fiveone

Well, notes in jacket on the floor. The head supervisor told me afterwards he didn't think I was cheating, and he would say as much, but had to hand them over to junior dean anyway. This was about half an hour in to the exam.

Stargal

If you have a good tutor then get on to them about it asap and they can help you out; if your tutor is crap then talk to Donal, the Education Officer.

All cases of cheating are dealt with by the Junior Dean. If you accept that you did cheat, then you are punished. A typical punishment would be something like given a 0 for all of your exams and being made to sit all of them again in the supplementals. There is a chance that you could be kicked out of college, but this rarely happens.

If you refuse to accept that you cheated however then it becomes a more serious matter. You and a legal representative have to come in to college to plead your case before a panel made up of three big and important people in college (there's a name for this but I can't remember what it is. Anybody? It's in the college calendar on the local homepage somewhere but I can't find it). These panels are rarely held but are a big deal and they cost money. You'd only really go this route if you had been accused of cheating and you definitely hadn't done it.

Good luck with it, hope it works out for you

Stargal

Ok just saw your second post there, sorry about that. That really is marginal. I'd say if you're able to argue your case strongly with the Junior Dean (especially if none of the stuff that was in the notes was in any of your answers) then you might get away with it. See my post above for worst case scenario though!

gilroyb

I've heard of times the invigilators have wanted further action to be taken and the college were willing just to let it slide. The fact that the invigilator seemed to be siding with you suggests that things will probably work out fine. Why did you have your jacket with you by the way? how did the invigilator come to fine your notes?

I'd say email your tutor, and the education officer of the SU (Myth off here, but best to contact him through official channels), and once you've taken these steps try and forget about it for whatever exams you have left. Try and do your best with whatever other exams you have, and then come back to this thing if there is any official action taken. There is no point in having your name cleared during the process, only to have failed your other exams.

If the story is as you say, you shouldn't have too much trouble, but that said your story is only one side of the issue, you'll have to wait and see what the invigilators comments say.

fiveone

I hadn't brought a bag with me, and genuinely forgot they were in my jacket. It wasn't as if they were hidden either. The invigilator was searching pockets of the others, so I suppose finding notes in the jacket was a pleasant surprise. Otherwise, thanks for the comments guys.

Stargal

Wow, that was tough luck. Hope it works out ok for you

gilroyb

The only reason I asked how exactly they found the notes is just that I would be surprised to hear they went through your belongings. If it was inside your jacket and they searched it without your consent, I think they acted outside of their allowable actions. If so I'd be surprised if they can bring it any further. If on the other hand they could obviously see your notes somehow, then it may have appeared that you were more interested in cheating.

Some of my comments may appear harsh, but it's just that I know if you weren't cheating and this has been a misunderstanding, you'll be fine. You don't need to worry too much. On the other hand I really hate people who actually do cheat on exams, so without certain knowledge of your situation I can't bring myself to be fully understanding. When it comes to the authorities dealing with the situation they will have the full story, so you'll get as much compensation as you deserve from them. Good luck, I'd say you'll be fine.

fiveone

If only to allay your fears, its nigh on impossible/useless to "cheat" in an english exam, from my perspective anyway. I had no need to either, which just makes this particularly dissapointing.

John

gilroyb wrote:

The only reason I asked how exactly they found the notes is just that I would be surprised to hear they went through your belongings. If it was inside your jacket and they searched it without your consent, I think they acted outside of their allowable actions.

Dónal posted somewhere else that you could bring your jacket to your desk in the RDS due to it being freezing but that the invigilators would have to search it. Back when you were allowed pencil cases they searched them too.

Thirdfox

What if you know of someone who has cheated? Do you inform the invigilators, say nothing, or what?

I sincerely dislike cheaters

John

You **** in their corn flakes

gilroyb

If it's before or during the exam, feel free to get the information to the invigilators.

I remember my applied math teacher telling us how in his day the teacher would just leave the room during exams. Any student who tried to cheat would get called up on it by their class mates. While this system is based on honour, apparently the blackhall place exams are the same. In this case however it is based not on honour, but on the fact that a lawyer is never the one to get screwed, and will do what they can to hurt anyone who tries it. I know someone who used do invigilation for that exam and said this self enforcement made it the easiest job around.

If you find out about the cheating after the exam, unfortunately there is nothing you can really do, other than **** in their cornflakes as suggested.

fookchooknooris

if someone is that desperate to pass an exam they feel it's nessecary to cheat, they have my sympathy. in my experience there have not been that many opportunities to cheat. in other words, i dont think id be able to bring notes into an exam and be able to use them to improve my score. mostly because i wouldnt be able to predict questions so the notes would be quite big. also i dont give a fook how other ppl do in exams tbh.

ZWEI_VIER_ZWEI

Heh, that almost happened to me, and what's more I anticipated it happening days before my exam even started...I got as far as my desk in the RDS and was laying out my pockets of calculators and pens and stuffs, and I had a crumpled note in my pocket too, that I had been looking over just before the exams..also considering the way the notes looked ( I scribbled them really quickly the night before, and they were very relevant to the actual exam ) I don't think they I would have gotten off as easy as the original poster...luckily I discovered in time and legged it back up the RDS columns ( against the constant tide of peoples walking the opposite way ;_; ) and chucked it outside before the exam started...

Crash

reading this i think you should be ok mate- i know i'm really really pedantic about checking my pockets before - i scribble notes on everything and anything so my pockets need a good clear about before, and i always **** it that its gonna go wrong! good luck with it all!

Awayindahils

Tutor, Donal etc all the advice you need is already in this thread.

as for the invilglators, they checked the pockets of the guy beside me 3 times during economics and he emptied them each time. i mean for ffs they should check off who they've checked and who they havn't. it was quite a tight exam for time as it was and 3 times was just unnescessary.

Stargal

fookchooknooris wrote:

in my experience there have not been that many opportunities to cheat.

Andrew was telling me that his little brother who is in UCD went to the bathroom during one of his exams and said he heard loads of paper rustling. He also noticed that one girl from his class went to the bathroom three times (exam had three questions) so it was very dodgy.

fookchooknooris

Well I agree Stargal. But in my case, I wouldn't be able to stuff notes down my pants for all possible questions. Maybe one of the glycoltic pathways might be an option for an exam last year. Basically a bit list of chemicals. But the time taken to write it out and the risk of cheating you'd be better off just learning it.

What's the official rule on writing on your hands?

Thirdfox

And writing in foreign languages? Lol - if you don't understand Arabic could you accuse someone of cheating? "It's a tattoo I swear!"

Nietzschean

if i was so inclined , preparing content to cheat with for my remaining exams would be quite easy as most of them are very predicable, but lots to learn off. Though the Reward/Risk measure just means it o so no worth while, imo a III would serve you better in life than the potential of being done for cheating.....

Crash

I used do up cheat notes in school, because by doing up cheat notes, it forced me to learn the stuff, so i never needed them Cheating in college is just something that i'd never even consider - not worth it.