Schools are going to drastic measures to combat on-campus cheating, according to an article posted at Assa Abloy’s Future Lab. Case in point is the testing center at Orlando-based University of Central Florida, the second largest school in the country.
The no gum allowed rule at most testing centers is in place because the chewing could potentially mask the person taking the test from speaking into a hands-free phone to someone outside the center. The computer the person uses to take the test is recessed into the top of the desk so that any attempts to photograph the screen and later pass on the information, is easy to spot.
As soon as the supervisor sees something suspicious, they record the individual’s work at the computer and directs an overhead to zoom in. Both sets of images are burned onto a CD for evidence. This is just one scene from the testing center at UCF and is designed to combat the growing incidence of cheating.
One study of 43,000 high school students in the U.S. found that 59% admitted cheating on a test during the last year, with 34% doing it more than two times. Even the UK isn’t immune. A report released this year showed that universities there recorded more than 17,000 incidents of cheating in 2010–a 50% rise in four years.
The other issue: Despite the sophistication of a school’s anti-cheating mechanisms, a student will probably figure a way around it.
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