I completely bombed a very important test

[Rudey]

If I was the prof I'd see this as a case of a student with a low grade looking to explain away her low answers.

While they cheated, you also screwed up on the exam. Yes your score hurts, but it's not just their action that hurt you to be honest.

I would talk to the guy and ask him if he'd consider weighing another part of your grade more. It might help to offer a more balanced picture.

Don't feel too bad. As long as you don't fail, you'll be OK I think. The hardest class I ever took, I overslept for the final and only had 1/4 the time to do it. Let's just say I wasn't happy with that. Then there was the time I showed up to the midterm, thought I was fine so I didn't go to class until the final and found out that several extra credit assignments were given to the retards who hadn't done well on the midterm thus pushing me down on the curve.

-Rudey

[adpiucf]

Originally posted by Rudey
If I was the prof I'd see this as a case of a student with a low grade looking to explain away her low answers.

While they cheated, you also screwed up on the exam. Yes your score hurts, but it's not just their action that hurt you to be honest.
-Rudey

Rudey brings up a good point that you did not do well on the exam, either. However, I still think you need to talk to your professor.

If you talk to him and he does nothing, how much worse off are you than you are now by saying nothing and wondering "What if?"

[mullet81]

Originally posted by Rudey
If I was the prof I'd see this as a case of a student with a low grade looking to explain away her low answers.

While they cheated, you also screwed up on the exam. Yes your score hurts, but it's not just their action that hurt you to be honest.

I would talk to the guy and ask him if he'd consider weighing another part of your grade more. It might help to offer a more balanced picture.

I'm going to have to agree with Rudy... i think you DEFINITELY need to talk to your professor - but I wouldn't talk about the cheating. Instead I would anonomously report it.

[honeychile]

Here's a suggestion: Print out this thread for the professor to read! Then, make it clear that you'd like to talk to him about 2 things: your grade & how to improve it, and also, the Honor Code.

If he ignores the Honor Code part, I'd consider an appointment with the Chairman of the Department.

[James]

I agree with Rudey et al. I am don't think i would turn them in for cheating especially without proof.

I have definitely seen people cheat in classes however it doesn't impact your grade that much. You either know your stuff or don't. Even that kind of curve can't much effect you if you know your stuff because someone will always score very high.

I was a noted curve killer.

I can understanbd you are upset and kind of looking for someone to be angry at other than yourself .. .

[polarpi]

Originally posted by James
I can understanbd you are upset and kind of looking for someone to be angry at other than yourself .. .

I don't know if you're trying to be funny or sarcastic here, but I'm going to respectfully disagree with what you're saying.

t*p states in the very first message that she studied harder for this test that she ever had in her life for a test, and when she walked into the exam, she panicked. Maybe this is some unforseen occurrance in your life, but it does happen. Heck, it's happened to me, and I've been a "curve killer" myself in school a number of times.

Although she *may* not have seen the cheating happen for herself, that doesn't mean that (at a school with an honor code) she shouldn't report it. Another GCer has even suggested talking to the people who *did* see the cheating occur and see if they'd be willing to tell the professor what they saw. I'm sure that this cheating affected their grade as well, and someone will *likely* (I'm not saying definitely, mind you) step up and tell the professor what they saw. Otherwise, if there is a way to anonymous report the cheating, that's another way to go, and then in that case the professor can give a pop quiz/test to see who really knows their stuff, and if the cheaters can't do well on the pop test over material they *knew* perfectly well the week before, that would definitely signal that something fishy had occurred.

This is *my* personal opinion, and flame me if you want....but this is the way I see it and would advise anyone who had information about cheating occuring (especially if they had seen it themselves or know someone who had seen it occur).

[UKDaisy]

Originally posted by Rudey
If I was the prof I'd see this as a case of a student with a low grade looking to explain away her low answers.

-Rudey

Can't believe I'm going to say this...... but I agree with Rudey.

I can say this, b/c I feel if I were in the same boat - the first thing I'd want to do is say "well, at least I was honest...." But that whole situation might draw in more trouble than its worth.

I would save that option for last. Not saying I wouldn't do it, but save it for last resort.

My first option would be to talk to him, show him examples of how you studied. I.E - examples, notes, note cards, highlighted points of study, etc. If he looks at you and says he's sorry he can not help you....then I would look into your other options. Just make sure and keep your cool!

My class that I'm having trouble in is a class of 400 students + , so when I had trouble on a test and needed a "how did i do bad on this test?" talk I had to first go through one TA, then another, and next week is my Prof. So I'm glad you only have to go through one person, instead of 4.

But I wish you luck!!!! And hopefully everything will work out okay. Its very easy for some people, me included, to completely know the material and then blank once you see that test paper. Especially since you had soooo much going on that week!! But keep a positive attitude and know that you are not alone!!

[PsychTau]

I see her poor test performance and the cheating as two seperate things.

Even without the cheaters, she fully admits she bombed the test. She was already leaning toward talking to the prof anyway, then the cheaters came into the picture.

If you don't want to report the cheaters anonymously (and I would definitely report them...stuff like that ticks me off.) then I'd immediately tell the prof that you have 2 things to discuss. You can fully admit that you blanked on the test and you know you answered the questions poorly, etc. Talk through that entire situation and come to a conclusion on it. Then when that conversation is over and resolved and the prof asks what the second thing was...mention the cheaters. Now, only you know how to bring this up. In one of your posts you said

I guess it would be pretty easy to cheat on those tests, because the way one of the cheaters explained to me, the prof doesn't check our stack of paper that we bring in to write on.. so he hid notes in his stack.

To me that isn't heresay...if someone admitted to you that they cheated, that's all you need in order to report it. You can discuss what others told you as well, but that is heresay (I guess). I wouldn't say a word about how the cheaters messed up the curve for you and everyone else, etc. Focus on their action and how it is a violation of the honor code. By doing that, you have less of a chance looking like you're trying to use excuses for your poor performance.

Of course, you have no control over how the prof reacts, or whether he thinks you're using the cheaters as an excuse. But it's your conscience you have to live with, so do what you want to do in order to be comfortable with yourself.

Let us know what happens.
PsychTau

[skerbow]

I think I agree. But I would do it in reverse order. I'd discuss the cheating, then my poor performance, not linking the two.

[LouisaMay]

texas*princess...

I teach English at a large University. I hear excuses for poor grades ALL the time, and I know that I, unfortunately, have developed an automatic BAD reaction to these excuses...no matter how valid they may be. My advice is simply to allow Tuesday's appointment to be strictly about you, your grade, your commitment to preparing for the exam, and your understanding of the course material. Afterall, you made the appointment before you knew about the cheating. The professor should be made aware of the cheating, so I strongly recommend an anonymous report to the professor or to the appropriate dean. An anonymous report only has the potential to HELP YOU. A direct accusation in the midst of your meeting has a strong potential to HURT YOU.

However...here is another perspective. I asked my husband (who teaches English at the same school) what he would do in this situation. He said that he would consider your accusation, and if there was real evidence of the academic dishonesty that you described, he would give those students who cheated a failing grade. Your grade might improve slightly, but there is always the possibility that the cheaters did not have the very best grades on the exam. You grade might not be affected at all. My hubby said that he would not feel that you were making excuses.

Two sides of the issue...take them for what they're worth

Good luck!

LM

[Rudey]

You know what the biggest lesson of life college teaches you? Personal responsibility.

You can study and study and know everything, and still fail. You can say it's unfair and whatnot, but you still failed. But instead of failing and learning from that, you're failing and not taking responsibility if you say it's not fair and that it's someone else's fault.

Life is fair. That test was there and it wasn't created with the sole intention of failing you. The fact that you studied a lot more for this is NOT an indication that you were prepared. For some exams I would not study and do better than my friends that had. For some it was the opposite. The point is you failed. Try and say a word or two to the prof to see if he/she will consider weighing things differently for you. If that happens know that is an act of kindness and quite actually unfair. You are getting a grade for something you did not do. If you'd ask me, in some ways it's similar to cheating.

Now for reporting the cheating. You really think a couple kids can destroy a curve? You realise you want to report this because you did bad and not because they cheated (Nietzche might have something to say about that)?

Seriously learn from this. In the future don't take on more than you can handle. Be prepared to stumble because while life is fair, it isn't perfect.

-Rudey

[polarpi]

Originally posted by Rudey
You can study and study and know everything, and still fail. You can say it's unfair and whatnot, but you still failed. But instead of failing and learning from that, you're failing and not taking responsibility if you say it's not fair and that it's someone else's fault.

Forgive me for asking, but did you and I read the same post? I couldn't find anywhere in t*p's two posts that said she thought this was unfair. She stated what happened and what she learned, and was asking for people's advice. She's already going to be talking to the professor about her personal performance on the exam, which is a *separate* issue from the cheating that took place on the exam.

While in most cases a number of cheaters may not destroy a curve, it depends on the number of students in a classroom total and how many of them were cheating. As I said in my first post, at *my* university, 8 people in a class cheating would be about half the entire class....which therefore would DEFINITELY destroy a curve.

Maybe I'm naive, but the cheaters need to be reported. In the work force, what would happen if they had stolen an idea from another person and passed it off as their own, and it was later determined that it was someone else's idea? People really don't get ahead in life by taking shortcuts....eventually, we all wind up in the same place, and if you push ahead to the front of the line, you may get there just a fraction of time earlier than the rest of us

[James]

Actually, this kind of stuff happens all the time, whether in the workplace or social situations.

Most of the time there is no higher authority to go to settle matters.

Originally posted by polarpi


Maybe I'm naive, but the cheaters need to be reported. In the work force, what would happen if they had stolen an idea from another person and passed it off as their own, and it was later determined that it was someone else's idea? People really don't get ahead in life by taking shortcuts....eventually, we all wind up in the same place, and if you push ahead to the front of the line, you may get there just a fraction of time earlier than the rest of us

[Rudey]

To me it seemed as if it was unfair to her. She said she knew the material and studied so hard. The fact is that if you know your material you don't panic.

The cheating is being tied into her performance. You even try to do it by saying how the curve, and her score, is affected by it. Her motivation is fueled by her personal performance (not the immorality of the act) and that's how it comes across to me, and might come across to a professor.

And I personally don't see too much of a difference between a prof changing someone's score and someone "cheating". My advice is to get ahead any way possible and to learn a lesson from this. If you don't agree with my advice to her, that's fine but it is my advice.

-Rudey

Originally posted by polarpi
Forgive me for asking, but did you and I read the same post? I couldn't find anywhere in t*p's two posts that said she thought this was unfair. She stated what happened and what she learned, and was asking for people's advice. She's already going to be talking to the professor about her personal performance on the exam, which is a *separate* issue from the cheating that took place on the exam.

While in most cases a number of cheaters may not destroy a curve, it depends on the number of students in a classroom total and how many of them were cheating. As I said in my first post, at *my* university, 8 people in a class cheating would be about half the entire class....which therefore would DEFINITELY destroy a curve.

Maybe I'm naive, but the cheaters need to be reported. In the work force, what would happen if they had stolen an idea from another person and passed it off as their own, and it was later determined that it was someone else's idea? People really don't get ahead in life by taking shortcuts....eventually, we all wind up in the same place, and if you push ahead to the front of the line, you may get there just a fraction of time earlier than the rest of us

[texas*princess]

first off I want to say thanks for everyone who has replied.

For the record, the whole cheaters thing is not my primary concern here. I started this whole thread b/c I felt like I felt I was prepared for the test, paniced and ended up doing terrible. From what some of my friends tell me, it happens. And this is honestly the very first time it's happened to me, so I didn't know how to react. I *KNOW* that bombing the test was my fault.. so I'm not trying to point the blame of my poor preformance on someone else.

When I was discussing the exam with some people in my project group for that class and one of them openly admitted to me that he cheated it did make me angry.

I believe at our school nothing can really happen about cheating unless you are caught (although I haven't read the University Code of Conduct in awhile, so I could be wrong)

I basically want to make sure the cheating doesn't happen again. If it means we have to go to the bookstore and buy those blue books for test taking, then so be it.. In my eyes spending a buck or two is a pretty good investment if it means cheaters can't hide their notes in them.

Thanks so much for everyone's posts