final exam season, I want to circulate my annual generic message about measures one should take to guard against cheating. This is especially problematic in our MA classes, where quarters can be tight. There are several strategies that one can employ to reduce the opportunities to cheat. I have listed some of these in order from simplest to hardest to implement. I typically adopt 1-3.
Assigned seating—it is easy to make a seating chart (row number, seat number) that is randomized. This has worked well for me.
Use multiple proctors for the final (have 2 on duty at all times).
Find a larger room or use multiple rooms (Dood and Anthony can help out with this).
Use multiple exams—this is more work intensive and probably should only be used as a last resort or change the order of problems on different versions of the exam.
If you need extra people to help proctor your final, please let Dood know the number of additional proctors needed and the time/date of your exam. You might also consider taking a photo of the entire class during the exam (the panoramic feature on the iPhone is particularly good for this) so that you can positively identify who was present/not present. You should also double check that the number of exams handed in equals the number of students in the room!
If you have any concerns, please contact Dood or me.