As the end of a semester approaches, pressures to submit assignments and prepare for final examinations are intensified. Under these conditions some students erroneously believe they are entitled to bypass standard rules of academic integrity via unashamedly blatant cheating, plagiarism, and other unethical attempts at grade (and instructor) manipulation. Yet when ultimately caught, such students do not hesitate to plead their cases to the academic gods and goddesses for mercy.

Some memorable incidents in which I have been involved, as either the instructor or as a witness to hearings for other instructors, have included the following:

Scenario 1: Student was taking a closed-book, proctored online examination. Student opened additional windows to obtain notes and other data, thereby compromising the integrity of the exam and the college’s academic codes. Student challenged the “zero” grade earned for the exam. Details of the entire online activities of the student had been recorded on course management system. Student’s defense: “I was curious about whether it would work when I tried to open other windows, but I didn’t cheat because I minimized the windows even though I didn’t close them.” Verdict: Guilty, grade of “zero” assigned to exam.

Scenario 2: Student submitted term assignment (literature review), with 80% of the assignment derived verbatim from one identified source. Software was used to help detect originality of student submissions and to document original sources used by student. Instructor offered student the opportunity to rewrite assignment in order to avoid both “zero” grade and disciplinary action. Student’s defense: “That isn’t plagiarism. I have a lot of other work to do now, and don’t know if I’ll have time to re-write it.” Additional student comment: “I don’t want to take that instructor again next semester.” Verdict: To be determined (Take a guess!).

Scenario 3: Student asked classmates for a chance to view their written, completed assignments because she “didn’t understand” the instructor’s requests. Classmates obliged, and student proceeded to submit two papers identical to those of her classmates. Uproar and hysteria ensued when classmates discovered student’s actual intentions and actions. Student’s defense: “I didn’t understand what the teacher was talking about, so I asked my friends for help.” Verdict: Guilty, failed course.

Scenario 4: Student doesn’t submit required course work; claims he is “too experienced on the subject matter and should be given credit” but is nevertheless “blocked.” Student advised that because he did not test out of the course, he is required to complete all exams and assignments or he will earn a failing grade. Student requests opportunity to complete ubiquitous “Extra Credit Assignment;” request is promptly denied as student needs to complete required work before “Extra Credit” will be considered. Student does not take final examination. Verdict: Guilty, failed course.

And we’re still a couple of weeks away from Spring Break!

It goes without saying that some of my best friends are books. I prefer to read them, to teach their content, to absorb their knowledge. I prefer not, however, to participate in the ritualistic textbook ordering processes each semester. As if I had a choice!

The first notification from the college bookstore requesting orders arrives in my inbox, sized no less than 3MB. Within the hour, I receive another two copies of this notice forwarded to me by academic administrators. A few hours later, I receive a notification from IT that my inbox has exceeded its maximum size. I assure the IT department that I have no problem deleting files.Prior to submitting textbook orders, course syllabi are reviewed and updated as necessary. This is to reflect the latest editions of textbooks, as perhaps the edition purchased two years ago is no longer in print. It is a good bet that next semester approximately half of the class will have the older edition, because the new edition is more expensive and there are no used copies available.

Textbook orders are initially submitted to the department administrative assistant. Revisions from the previous semester are clearly highlighted, but this is no guarantee that either the administrative assistant or the bookstore staff will take notice. And in a few rare cases – Surprise! – Publishers will ship new editions of a textbook without prior notification to the faculty or to the college bookstore.There is about a two-month lag from the time textbook orders are placed to their arrival at the bookstore. The accuracy of the actual textbook deliveries cannot be determined until the first week of class for the following semester, when students thank their (surprised) instructors for not requiring any textbooks for a course.

It is at this point the college bookstore is informed that not only is there a text for the course, but in the ten years the course has been offered, there always has been a textbook. Never has the course been without a textbook. The order forms specified the textbook. The course syllabus specified the textbook. Even the students believed they would need to purchase a textbook.So how could the bookstore make such an obvious error? 

Sentence Completion: 5 Points Extra CreditThe bookstore did not order the requested course textbook because ____________________________!

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I believe examination writing is an art form of all its own. Yet among students, mythologies and fallacies abound. For example, many students believe that multiple choice exams are uniformly easier than essay exams. They also believe that if they mostly select the answer choice “B”, they can pass any multiple choice test. Administrators, on the other hand, prefer the esteemed essay over the lowly multiple choice format. But it’s not quite that simple, ladies and gentlemen. 

There are several considerations regarding examination format. First, what types of learning skills are being assessed? If evidence of competency is required for skills such as drawing blood from the correct vascular sites, then this psychomotor activity that should be observed and rated by the instructor based on predetermined criteria.  

Most courses, however, will test recall of facts (which is not necessarily a bad thing) along with evaluation, deductive reasoning, and additional critical thinking skills. This brings me to the next consideration for examination format: are critical thinking skills best measured by analysis of case studies and by essays? Many faculty would agree. Based on my anecdotal, non-generalizable observations, most students who attended school in the United States overwhelmingly demonstrate distaste for anything other than short-answer exams. Multiple choice and true/false question formats tie as the clear winners, with matching coming in at second place. But because fill-in questions are considered to be the illegitimate stepchildren of essays, students prefer that instructors not opt for this format, either. 

Next, consider the needs and submission deadlines of the instructor. How much time is available to write the exams? How much time is available to grade the exams? Short answer exams typically take longer to write and less time to grade. The reverse is true of essays. If you need to submit your semester grades 15 minutes after the completion of your last class’s final exam, guess which format you will choose. 

Today, examinations are more frequently being conducted through the college’s online course management system, even if the course is being conducted onsite. The beauty of administering your examinations online is that your (scrambled) short-answer exams can be graded in an instant, along with item analyses completed documentation of every student login and submission, with time and date stamps to boot. Essays, on the other hand, require manual grading regardless of the instructional modality. You’ll still get your login and submission reports, however, no matter which type of exam you administer via your course management system. 

Textbook publisher’s electronic test bank, anyone? 

Perhaps it is a reflection of the times personified by members of a younger generation, but in this Women’s Health class, self-disclosure pertaining to the most intimate health issues and relationships appears to be the norm. Of the thirty students enrolled, three are male. Of the three males, two engage the women in conversation. The other male student, I’m afraid, is ready to run out the door at the mere mention of uteri and the corresponding etiology of PMS.

But unlike their instructor who values her privacy and seeks to minimize self-disclosure, the majority of students appear to converse freely as appropriate to topic: domestic violence and punishment for self-defense against such, sexual orientation, child-rearing practices, and sexual harassment incidents. For example, taking decided action to end the domestic violence they had endured for years resulted in prison sentences for two female students. This was due to the nature of the retaliatory punishments administered to their male offenders. One student reported to the class that she had killed her abusive partner, and the other student described in detail how she had successfully disabled her former partner for life.

Most of we middle-class faculty have never had to walk in the shoes of our inner-city, working-class students, even though abuse knows no demographic. We couldn’t imagine how experiences of domestic violence, shelter living, and incarceration could be discussed openly and matter-of-factly in a classroom. Yet here they are, back in school. Perhaps the environment of this particular Women’s Health class appears to foster empathetic, non-judgmental conversation in a safe and familiar setting.

Now, if only their instructor could self-disclose so much as a hangnail . . !

Several months ago the College’s Allied Health Student Club (for which I serve as the faculty advisor) agreed that commemorating World AIDS Day would help raise awareness of the need to be screened for HIV and reinforcement to prevent transmission of the virus. Commemorating World AIDS Day would also provide validation to the distress and grief experienced by those students who have lost loved ones to AIDS, as well as to our students presently living with the virus.

Foremost were the dual goals of prevention education along with HIV screening. The idea was to do a “tabling” event – that is, presenting materials and other media attractions at a table located in an area of high traffic within the college. Behind the table would sit student club members, representatives from the local department of health and mental hygiene, and allied health faculty. As appropriate and within legal parameters, their roles would be to distribute prevention literature, direct students to the private area within the college where HIV screening would take place, answer content questions, and provide referrals for counseling and follow-up care at health centers within the community.

As the day drew closer to December 1, the Club members developed a larger “wish list” for the day’s event. Included on this list were memorial services, a poetry contest, rental of the AIDS Quilt for the day, candle displays, a memorial signature board, condom distribution, red ribbon awareness pins, pencils with a World AIDS Day inscription, red bracelets, and tee shirts for the students working the table.

Due to cost and time factors, several of these ideas had to be ruled out. First, the poetry contest, although an excellent idea, was determined to be too labor intensive and timed too close to final exams. Second, (lit) candle displays in a high traffic area would be deemed to be a fire hazard. Third, the rental fees for the AIDS Quilt were prohibitively expensive. The red ribbon pins, pencils, and tee shirts appeared to be doable, and the red bracelets remained under consideration.

After consultation with the community health center HIV counselor, we learned he could provide red bracelets for those who completed HIV screening and tee shirts for the student volunteers. The College’s student services club advisor would be able to provide the red ribbon pins, pencils, and condoms, as well as balloons, tablecloths, and a canvas memorial board with colored markers. This memorial board would permit students, faculty, and staff to write tributes or other notes to those who have passed from complications of the virus. Finally, the IT department agreed to hook up a laptop with Wi-Fi access so students could view displays of related videos, photo stories and documentaries, and ongoing HIV/AIDS counts internationally.

HIV/AIDS no longer seems to lead the news headlines as it did decades ago. But when your community is identified as having among the highest death rates in the United States due to complications of AIDS, venturing into new territories in an academic environment to achieve objectives of awareness is the least we educators can do.

As a fitting introduction to the dynamics of higher education, it is duly noted that tougher economic times often dictate the need to reflect upon purpose and as well as pocketbook. To the student, this may result in enrollment in fewer classes, assuming increased work hours to offset tuition costs, switching to a more marketable major, or dropping out for a semester or two (or longer). To the faculty, it means reevaluating textbook expenses, increasing use of external advisory groups to update knowledge of employment opportunities for graduates, utilizing technology as a potential cost saver, and anticipating an ever-decreasing enrollment of the “typical” college student to be replaced by no-nonsense adult learners with family and job responsibilities.

We faculty are presented with the simultaneous challenges of student retention, standardized course evaluation methods, outcomes assessments, and evolving academic technologies, just to name a few. How the current economic state of the country will impact these challenges to higher education over the long term remains to be seen. In the meantime, we can continue to accomplish what we have always done best: to instill in our students the essential tools for lifelong learning regardless of today’s directional swing of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.