Monday, July 5, 2010

Colleges catching cheaters

From a New York Times article, a few details of life at the University of Central Florida:

No gum is allowed during an exam: chewing could disguise a student’s speaking into a hands-free cellphone to an accomplice outside.

The 228 computers that students use are recessed into desk tops so that anyone trying to photograph the screen — using, say, a pen with a hidden camera, in order to help a friend who will take the test later — is easy to spot.

Scratch paper is allowed — but it is stamped with the date and must be turned in later.

When a proctor sees something suspicious, he records the student’s real-time work at the computer and directs an overhead camera to zoom in, and both sets of images are burned onto a CD for evidence.

To Stop Cheats, Colleges Learn Their Trickery (New York Times)
If you click through to read the article, note that the accompanying photograph — of a man monitoring cameras at a “testing center” — suggests not “college” but “prison.”

comments: 2

Elaine said...

Yeah, those maximum-security colleges are tough to get into, I hear.

I kept thinking, wouldn't it be easier just to study for the exam?

Michael Leddy said...

Yes. I don’t want to be turned into a guard.

(I would’ve posted your comment much, much earlier, but comments were inaccessible all morning — problems at Blogger.)