Stop or at least catch Students Cheating on Excel -

[jcmckeon]

Hello All,

I'm an adjunct instructor. My Excel tests and homework are "shared". Usually I can catch them when I review the formulas because I recognize the same formula error or weird spelling.

Is there anyway stop sharing files especially during a test. I just had a case where one student emailed his test to another student during the test. I found them out and...well...things didn't work out so well for them.

What ideas do you have to keep track of whether they email during a test or open the file after it was emailed to them.

I'm open to any and all suggestions to shut this sh*t down.

Thank you in advance for your help.

 

[Fluff]

Cross posted https://www.excelforum.com/excel-pr...229155-stop-student-cheating.html#post4891007

Cross-Posting
While we do not prohibit Cross-Posting on this site, we do ask that you please mention you are doing so and provide links in each of the threads pointing to the other thread (see rule 13 here along with the explanation: Forum Rules).
This way, other members can see what has already been done in regards to a question, and do not waste time working on a question that may already be answered.

 

[Alice Morland]

Hi J, I sympathize with you

I was first thinking you to turn off the wifi, but I'm pretty sure some will have a decent data subscription on their phones. If they're really poor though, this will work

Are they using their own computers or the school? If the school's, easy - monitor the internet activity and get those b******s

But how about creating a trick question? Something that requires a personalized answer, not just a simple vlookup. It's going to be like in literature class, if you see the sentence twice, they cheated.

Let us know how you decide to roll,

Alice

 

[jcmckeon]

My apologies. I was wondering if the two sites are run by the same people. Again, my apologies.

Jill

 

[wideboydixon]

If you could force them to enable macros, you could record the IP Address/Username of anyone editing the document in a hidden worksheet and password protect it to prevent users from changing it. Apart from that, not sure there's much you can do.

WBD

 

[jcmckeon]

Hi Alice, all good suggestions but... this is a university environment so the students are using their own laptops. Most have MAC but I teach Excel 2016 PC version. The MAC version is not the same interface and has bugs when using the Solver and Data Analysis tools - so I make them use a Citrix environment.

I've got a couple of ideas from the Excel Forum but am willing to listen to ALL suggestions. I just caught you students emailing their test to each other.

Sigh....

 

[jcmckeon]

Thank you WBD. I'm working on that suggestion now. Just looking for any and all ideas to "help" the students be honest.

 

[Joe4]

My apologies. I was wondering if the two sites are run by the same people.

No, they are not, but many of the users are on both sites.
If you haven't read it yet, this article explains the main concerns with Cross-Posting: https://www.excelguru.ca/content.php?184

Regarding your question, as has been mentioned in some of the posts on the other site, Excel's security is not that great, and pretty much anything you try can be beaten, one way or the other (if they are so inclined and knowledgeable). To me, the most effective method is a strong deterrent, i.e. if I catch you cheating, you will get a 0 on the assignment. If I catch you twice, you will fail the course.

Note that we also often come across people posting their homework and test questions here. Sometimes it is tough to tell if they are homework/test questions, other times it is quite obvious by how they are worded. If identified as homework/test questions, most of us refuse it to do it for them, though we may give them a hint to point them in the right direction (or critique what they have tried).

Some people ask to have their questions deleted (i.e. remove the evidence), which we refuse to do.

 

[Special-K99]

If I do one of your tests and then email the file to a buddy won't the modification date and time of the file be the same suggesting we've been colludiing?

Of course you wouldnt want to reveal this method of discovery or next time I'd get my buddy to amend the file slightly so the date and time are different on the files.

 

[jcmckeon]

I just read the cross-posting page. Thank you.