I think I'm just Going to Triple Down on the Cheating...

Cheating in Korean Universities

This incident happened a couple months ago at the beginning of the semester, but it's been in the back of my mind since then and I'm reminded of it every single time I see this girl in my writing class.

Here's what happened:

Students had to write an essay for their first homework. A couple students cheated by copying from the Internet--it was very easy to catch them using an advanced Google search for exact phrases.

This specific girl submitted an essay that was better than the stuff you find on the Internet or even that you'd pay someone to write for you. It was like something a professional journalist had done, but I couldn't find it on the Internet. I can't even emphasize how good it was-like itwas three times better than any essay ever submitted to me during 8 years teaching in Korean universities.

I compared her essay to the little "get to know me" essay she'd done in class on the first day (the ultimate way to catch cheaters, btw!) and they were worlds apart. Like she's an okay writer but had basic spelling mistakes, overused vocabulary, no structure and quite simple grammatical constructions. In short, the 2 essays were nothing alike.

I gave her no score on her paper and asked her to come talk to me after class. I said that I knew she didn't write it, but I had no proof because I couldn't find it on the Internet. She doubles down and tells me she stayed up all night working on it. I asked if she had a native English speaker proofread it and she said no, that she did it all by herself, which made it all the more unbelievable.

She starts crying. I tell her that I'm going to wait until she does her in-class essay for the midterm exam and make a decision then.

Midterm exams come. Her essay is average--she got a "B-." It was obvious that she didn't write the homework essay. I give her a zero and she again tells me that she really did write it. I tell her I'm not changing my mind, but Teacher X and Teacher Y from USA and Australia (the other teachers in my department) could read all her stuff, give me their opinions and I would follow it. She declines.

Now, this is where it gets even crazier. The next class, she triples down and hands me a note. I was expecting something like, "Teacher, I'm sorry that I lied. Please forgive me." Instead, it basically says that she's not a liar and she doesn't want me to think badly of her.

How would you have handled it? Have you ever had a student triple down like this?

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Cheating in Korean Universities

Cheating in South Korean Universities

Cheating is rampant in Korean universities because there just isn't the stigma surrounding it like there is any university in a western country, nor are there any real consequences when you get caught. Certainly, you'll never get expelled.

Students will wholesale plagiarize an essay, or come to a test with answers written all the way up their arm and once they get caught, they'll expect the teacher to give them a second chance. It's so ridiculous and it's part of the reason why Korean university degrees aren't worth the paper that they're written on. Any serious Korean academic, or even those who actually want to get a job once they're done their PhD would never consider doing it in Korea and instead head to the USA or England.

(Join the Facebook group: Foreign Teachers in Korean Universities)

Anyway, that's a whole rant for another day. Here's what happened today. I was grading essays and I found a perfect one. Like a flawless 5 paragraph academic essay. The thing is, it was from the worst student in the class- the one who actually refuses to join with a partner to do a brief comparing of ideas, or the one who came to me on the first day of my conversation class last semester and told me that she's bad at English and doesn't want to actually have to talk to anybody in the class.

Off to Google and after about 10 seconds of searching (using the "exact" phrase feature of Google advanced search), I found it.

How do I deal with it?  I'd love to give her an F in the class, and for her to get expelled from the university. Instead, I gave her a 0/10 and I'll say no when she inevitably begs for another chance. Sigh. To do any more would be met with baffled looks from the admins and higher ups at my uni when they wondered why I'd possibly be making a big deal out of this and they'd think that I was actually being too harsh and tell me to let her do it again.

Want my job when I roll on outta here?  How to Get a University Job in South Korea: The English Teaching Job of Your Dreams.

Same test, different versions

So yesterday, I was talking to a guy who used to work at my university.  He was trash-talking the students saying they were all cheaters, etc, etc.   And yes, students in Korean universities will cheat on tests simply because there isn't the social expectation that they won't.  Nor is there any real punishment if they get caught.  Not really their fault, it's just the system that they're in.  Anyway, he asked me if my students cheated.  I said, "No, never."  His response was that I just simply didn't notice.  Yes, perhaps one or two have slipped by me, but I really don't think so because I do the following things:

1. For conversation/speaking classes, I will only do 1-1 type interview tests.  It's just me and the student.  I will give them a list of 8-10 possible topics or questions and then randomly choose three or four.  How you could cheat when you are having a 1-1 conversation with the teacher, including follow-up questions that are "off-list" is beyond me. 

2. For written tests, I will ALWAYS make 3-4 versions.  It takes like 10 minutes to do in Google Docs.  Just cut and paste and then change the numbers.  For a few questions, I'll change some of the vocab too. For example: "Write 2 sentences comparing a desktop computer (living at home) (Seoul) and a smartphone (living in the dormitory) (Busan)."  I very clearly write "TEST VERSION A(B) (C)," at the top.

Then, I make a big show about handing out the papers from various folders depending on seating arrangements and tell the students that it truly is futile to even try to cheat. 

3. I NEVER do multiple choice questions.  It's simply too easy to cheat (by sending answers to friends via text) or by looking at someone else's paper.  It's almost impossible to catch cheaters this way as well.  But, by expecting students to actually write out a sentence, it's much harder for them to copy it and it's much easier to catch them (ie: the same 10 sentences, complete with the same mistakes on 2 student's papers means that there certainly is a problem of some kind). 

4. For my advanced writing class, 50% of their final grade is the 2 tests that they physically do in class.  10% is attendance and then the other 40%: I guess they could cheat, but the majority of their grade is cheat-proof so the curve should reflect who can actually write and who can't.  I plan on giving the students a list of 30 or so possible essay topics.  To start the test, I will hand out of a piece of paper with their essay topic on it, so each student will be writing something different from their classmate.  How could you possibly cheat on this?