Editor’s note: Tonya Fitzgerald’s name has been changed to protect her identity. Maura Smith’s last name was changed to protect her identity.
Using photos of a completed study guide positioned within view, an Ohio University student utilized an exam tactic not uncommon to college students: she cheated.
The photos, which were snapped the day before on her cell phone, made Tonya Fitzgerald’s option of taking a shortcut on her Marketing 101 midterm tempting and simple to execute.
Sixty-three OU students were accused of cheating during the 2011–12 academic year, an increase from the 42 cases from 2008 to 2009 and the 45 cases that plagued the 2009–2010 school year.
The 2010–2011 academic year saw the most cheating, with 71 cases reported.
“I decided to cheat because I was very busy and did not have the time or energy to fully study for the exam,” said Fitzgerald, a senior from Columbus studying psychology, in an email. “I thought cheating would save me time and energy as well as get me a good grade.”
Though the academic misconduct records are not broken down by types of cheating, copying online material comprises most of the complaints, said Chris Harris, director of the Office of Community Standards and Student Responsibility.
“I think most of what we see is plagiarism,” Harris said. “Once in a while, you have a student who cheats on an exam.”
John Stowe, a professor in the College of Business, said he thinks the motives students have to cheat are complex.
“It’s either they’re out of time, don’t think it’s wrong, you know, or can’t do it themselves,” he said. “There’s a lot of motives.”
Though Fitzgerald earned her desired midterm grade sans a trip to the Office of Community Standards and Student Responsibility, she said the conditions would have to be favorable for her to choose to cheat again.
“The circumstances made it easy to cheat in this class,” she said. “(The professor) used previous exams as our study guides, so I knew that the odds were in my favor for getting a good grade and getting away with it.”
Maura Smith, a sophomore studying business, said she has facilitated other students’ attempts to take shortcuts by saving old exams and distributing them among her peers. She has also, on occasion, utilized others’ previous exams to aid her own studying.
“I just wanted to see what the test was like so I could study,” Smith said, adding that while she does think it’s acceptable to utilize previous test material as a study guide, she would never consider writing a paper for another student or jotting down notes to use during an exam.
She said her motive to utilize shortcuts stems from a mixture of stress and lack of time to study.
“Some people are unfortunately looking for shortcuts to get the work done,” Harris said. “I don’t think there’s one specific reason.”
—Nicolien Buholzer contributed to this story.
sg409809@ohiou.edu
