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Show CHEATING IN THE 21ST CENTURY BY EMILY ALPIN PHOTOGRAPH BY TERESA GETTEN Cheating isn't what it used to be. The days of transcribing a test review onto your ankle and casually pulling up your pant leg to reveal the answers during the test may not be gone, but the tactics have certainly evolved. Today's students have unprecedented access to technologies that make cheating easier than ever. Fortunately, however, cheating detection technology is catching up. Profile of a Cheater: Who would do such a thing? According to research conducted in 2005 by the Center for Academic Integrity (CAI) at Duke University, nearly 70 percent of students at most campuses admit to cheating. University of Utah Writing Program instructor Kimberly Deneris said she estimates that students plagiarize in at least half of her classes, either by copying published works and claiming it as their own, or by using fellow students' papers. Communications graduate teaching fellow Samantha Senda-Cook said she believes that capitalism, more than technology, impacts student attitudes about cheating. She described some students' concepts of education as, "If I don't see this class as worthwhile, then I can plagiarize my paper and not be any worse for it." She went on to explain that the way people associate money with work may influence their justifications for cheating: "Students will say, 'Well, I paid for this paper, it's just like I did the work. I'm still sacrificing something; it's just not my time and knowledge.'" Associate professor of history Emily Michelson said that some students who plagiarize are simply overcome by panic. In her experience, students generally know when they are plagiarizing, but they do it at the last minute when they don't have time to fully evaluate their decisions. Technologically Advanced Cheating Methods According to Susan Olson, associate vice president for academic affairs, plagiarism seems to be the most prevalent form of cheating at the U. With Internet Web sites that sell papers covering thousands of topics, students are tempted to take the easy way out. More common still is the copy and paste method, in which students take pieces of multiple documents and combine them to form one cohesive paper. Students are also taking advantage of handheld devices like Blackberries and cell phones. With the prevalence of camera phones, students can subtly take pictures of exams, which they can then pass on to friends. Students are also adept at text messaging, and in large auditorium classes it can be a quick way to get answers to exams passed back and forth. Olson explained, "Test-based disciplines struggle more with cheating on tests, which would include more of the text messaging and those types of cheating." Such disciplines would include engineering and the sciences. Olson said she has spoken with instructors within those disciplines who have made it a classroom policy to completely ban handheld devices in order to avoid 14 lessons | fall 2007 |