Friday, February 22, 2008
A cheating story
Students in Tanzania cheat on tests. Well, actually students everywhere cheat on tests. But in Tanzania, you’re more likely to have two students sitting at one desk, which makes it very easy to cheat. And with high-stakes national tests that determine whether you continue in school, the pressure to succeed is very high.
So, cheating on tests, not a surprise. How about cheating on review games?
One of my streams of Form II chemistry is extremely on top of things; about half the students consistently raise their hands and answer my questions. This same stream is extremely competitive. So, when we play a review game, they want to win.
Game 1: students have to match elements with their symbols. I carefully explain that if they look at their notebooks, the game will last all of one minute and we’ll have to return to the boring process of taking notes. Nevertheless, I catch students opening their desks to peer at the notebooks I had made them put away.
Game 2: students have to match properties such as mass, charge, or location with the three sub-atomic particles. First I walk around the class collecting all the notebooks and piling them at the opposite end of the room. Then I erase the notes I had written on the board, to groans from the students. Finally we begin. Three teams. Each team gets nine cards. Whichever team sorts all nine cards correctly first wins.
Moja, mbili, tatu . . . start! The teams lean over clusters of desks, discussing their cards. Then team 1 tells me, “Madame, we are finished.” They hand me their cards. I count them. Seven cards. “I gave you nine cards,” I say. “Where are the other two?” A student pulls them out from inside a desk, looking disappointed.
“Tell me which particles those two cards go with, then you’ll be finished,” I say. They return to organizing cards.
Now team 3 tells me, “Madame, we are finished.” Again, seven cards. Again, the same two cards hidden inside a desk. “Sort those two cards and then tell me you’re finished,” I say.
Finally, team 2. Nine cards. All correctly sorted. Team 2 wins.
Maybe now the students know that cheating doesn’t pay?
So, cheating on tests, not a surprise. How about cheating on review games?
One of my streams of Form II chemistry is extremely on top of things; about half the students consistently raise their hands and answer my questions. This same stream is extremely competitive. So, when we play a review game, they want to win.
Game 1: students have to match elements with their symbols. I carefully explain that if they look at their notebooks, the game will last all of one minute and we’ll have to return to the boring process of taking notes. Nevertheless, I catch students opening their desks to peer at the notebooks I had made them put away.
Game 2: students have to match properties such as mass, charge, or location with the three sub-atomic particles. First I walk around the class collecting all the notebooks and piling them at the opposite end of the room. Then I erase the notes I had written on the board, to groans from the students. Finally we begin. Three teams. Each team gets nine cards. Whichever team sorts all nine cards correctly first wins.
Moja, mbili, tatu . . . start! The teams lean over clusters of desks, discussing their cards. Then team 1 tells me, “Madame, we are finished.” They hand me their cards. I count them. Seven cards. “I gave you nine cards,” I say. “Where are the other two?” A student pulls them out from inside a desk, looking disappointed.
“Tell me which particles those two cards go with, then you’ll be finished,” I say. They return to organizing cards.
Now team 3 tells me, “Madame, we are finished.” Again, seven cards. Again, the same two cards hidden inside a desk. “Sort those two cards and then tell me you’re finished,” I say.
Finally, team 2. Nine cards. All correctly sorted. Team 2 wins.
Maybe now the students know that cheating doesn’t pay?
# posted by Kristen @ 11:27 PM 
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