Poll: School - Is This Cheating?

[Gmans uncle]

Yeah that's defiantly cheating, but hey I've cheated on my fair share of things, sometimes it's necessary, the situation you described seems justified enough.
Buuuuuuuuuuuuut, only cheat if it's an absolute last resort, at lest ATTEMPT to study for test and TRY to answer the questions on your own before you cheat.

 

[Wintermoot]

it,s cheating also with WiFi you pretty much have Wikipedia at your finger tips.

 

[DracoSuave]

Yes it is, but why does it matter? If there aren't any repercussions (and there won't be because it's the teacher's fault) then it's not bad. I suggest you get off your high horse and join the unscrupulous plebeian masses.

Cause the point of taking a class is to learn, not to get the best marks. If he knows the material well enough that it's not going to bite him in the ass later, he doesn't have to cheat. If he does have to cheat, it'll bite him in the ass when he has to use that knowledge to learn other things with less... exploitable... teachers.

It's not a good idea.

I'm not telling him to cheat in lieu of learning the course material. It's clear from the original post that he has been studying. If he looks at the questions now and works through them himself, albeit ahead of time, what exactly does he lose in terms of acquiring skills? Do you think that doing something under pressure in an environment where you can't ask questions is particularly beneficial to learning? Taking the moral highground and not peeking despite practically every other student having done so is about as foolish as not studying at all and hedging your hopes on it being the same test again this year. There is a perfectly logical way of going about this which maximises both learning opportunities as well as chances of success.

If he's only getting a 78, it's clear that he's not got as much of a grasp on the course material as you claim. It's a mark, such that, cheating has become a recourse that he's tempted to enact out of desperation.

Now the fact is, just because someone can scan a previous copy of the test, doesn't mean that they're ALLOWED to. That can be cheating.

That said, there is the possibility of classroom bias--if you're taking the same lesson from the same teacher, you should be allowed the same advantages and disadvantages in learning as everyone else. You could probably talk to the principal and ask 'Why the disparity? Why is their class allowed to do this and ours not? It's the same class!'

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

Who cares? If it's cheating, and you can get away with it, go ahead. Educational system is fucked up all around the world. Getting away with doing forbidden things is probably the best education you can get. So go educate yourself.
The way I see it, you're just using all the means that are available to you. It's not your fault the authorities are so damn stupid to make it so easy to pass without studying. You'd be an fool not to try. The most intelligent thing you can do is accomplish a lot by doing as little as possible.

 

[stygN]

It's the teachers own fault that he/she doesn't change the test! We always use old tests to study for tests and exams, but they are always different then the ones we get. So, in our case it's actually studying, in your case it's a no-brainer. Just go for it!

 

[lacktheknack]

Its highschool and your teacher clearly does not give a shit if his students actually know how to do the work or not. Using the same test every year is simply him being lazy.

From the sounds of it this teacher is giving you an open book test. This means that if you are getting less then 100% on any test you are being an idiot. The answers are already provided to you you just have to look at them.

Yes. Under what's stopping you from memorizing the previous test? Try pulling this in university and see what they do.

(Hint... It involves being thrown out and academically disgraced for the rest of your life.)

EDIT: People, read the OP... it says that the previous test is EXACTLY THE SAME and the upcoming one.

The teacher being an idiot does not mean that it is cheating. No intelligent university professor will ever use the same test more then once. Hell when I was in school if you missed a test for a medical reason they would make up a brand new one for you to write. They would not give you the same test as the rest of the class.

Just because the fruit is hanging low doesn't mean you should take it...

 

[zehydra]

Yeah go for it, don't worry about whether or not its cheating. Just do it.

Very bad policy.

If you're allowed to do it by the rules, then it's not cheating, but I'll be damned if you learn anything useful from that class.

 

[Furioso]

Needs an option for "Yes it's cheating, but blame the idiocy of the teacher"

 

[rednose1]

You know deep down that it's cheating. I will admit though, that it is a fairly tough issue, as it can affect you getting into college or not, which is pretty important. I know you're not supposed to do something simply because everyone is doing it, but since other people are taking advantage of it, and you may end up competeing against them for scholarships or college acceptance, you might as well do it. Sure, it is wrong, but hard to enjoy being morally superior when it causes you to miss out on going to college. Just gotta be careful you don't lose morals completely in these small step situations.

 

[Pearwood]

Past papers are the single best way to study I've ever found. It's not cheating either, the teachers are expected to come up with new tests. If they decide to recycle one that you've seen before then that's them basically handing you free marks. The only way it would be cheating is if you had to get the past paper illicitly rather than downloaded from the school website or something.

 

[hutchy27]

Yeah it's cheating. It basically looking at the answer sheet.

You could look at it however if you marks sky rockets then either two thing will happen:
1. your teacher will congratulate you of your success
2. your teacher will accuse you of cheating and you'll have to deal with that along with possible being excluded from final exam so you'll be unable to get a grade at all.

I say just do it to the best of your ability.
At least if you do that you'll feel good about your score and will know where you are at a academic level. If your worried about failing ask your teacher to give you some revision sheets to take home, most don't take more then 5minutes but help.

 

[Whispering Cynic]

It's not like you *know* that the test will be the same as the last year's. If it is, it's the teacher's fault for not altering it, not yours. Especially the teacher knows the students can get their mitts on last year's tests.

Yeah, it's not cheating.

 

[YawningAngel]

I'm in a bit of a predicament. My math teacher teaches 2 Gr. 12 Adv. Functions classes at the moment; one is a regular textbook class, the other is an iOS class. The iOS class has a pdf version of the textbook and can use any app they like during a test, quiz or exam. He also set up WiFi in that room. He also doesn't change his tests from year to year.

What this means is that the iOS class can scan tests from last year and then cheat during a test. Or if they didn't do that, they can use http://www.wolframalpha.com/ (I don't know how to hyperlink text) to look up what a function should look like or the answer to a specific problem.

What's above isn't the problem; their marks are. The lowest mark in that class is a 90. With all 3 Adv. Functions classes, the course median is 89. I'm not in the iOS class, I'm in the other class and I have a 78. I have friends who still have their tests from last year and offer them to me to look at so I know the answers/questions beforehand to boost my mark, which is kind of important because this is my last year of highschool but I refuse because I don't want to cheat.

So my big question is, is it cheating to look at old tests that are the exact same as this year's tests?

EDIT: I haven't been accepted/rejected by any universities yet, so marks are really important right now.

EDIT 2: Wow, pretty much split down the middle.
[sub]Some people's ethics are maybe too flexible.[/sub]

EDIT 3: I should clarify; it's not reviewing old tests in general, that's a great way to study. It's "reviewing" tests that are the exact same so I just memorize it and get 100% on it when I have to write it.

If something isn't against the rules and improves your chances in an actual for-real exam, do it. You don't get into uni for having ethics, you get into uni for doing well. Cheat when nobody is getting hurt if you do and save the ethics for when you make decisions that can adversely affect other people. Otherwise, people without the morals to care for others will end up making those decisions.

 

[walrusaurus]

What kind of high school are you going to that they teach classes on iPads? Shit. My high school couldn't even afford new textbooks more than once a decade.

 

[Dastardly]

I'm in a bit of a predicament. My math teacher teaches 2 Gr. 12 Adv. Functions classes at the moment; one is a regular textbook class, the other is an iOS class. The iOS class has a pdf version of the textbook and can use any app they like during a test, quiz or exam. He also set up WiFi in that room. He also doesn't change his tests from year to year.

...

So my big question is, is it cheating to look at old tests that are the exact same as this year's tests?

Yes, it's cheating. And the teacher knows you're doing it.

See, he uses the same test from year to year, and he allows people to use tech during the test. He knows full well plenty of folks are using it to cheat. But you're in grade 12, and he shouldn't need to bother telling you that now. After all, the world is about to do it for you.

If you cheat, it's because you didn't learn what you needed to learn when you needed to. And let's say this score does get you into whatever your next step may be -- what then? You're either ready for it or you're not. If you're not ready, best to be honest before blowing time and money. Because cheat there, and they'll end you.

The teacher is setting you free into the world of consequence, rather than shielding you from bad decisions (and their outcomes) by imposing harsh rules. Or maybe you figure you're not going to be using this sort of math where you're going, so it doesn't matter. Okay, it's a calculated risk, and the teacher feels maybe that you all are qualified to decide if it's worth it.

But beware the work ethic this can lead to -- cheating on stuff that you feel "doesn't matter" can have unintended consequences. Be very careful if you ever stop asking whether it's cheating, too. That's when you know you're gone.

 

[ShindoL Shill]

well my school sells the past papers for the last 10 years... and our NABs are all the same questions with different numbers/words.
but if they're all the same, fair enough.
If you get to see them in the test, then i call WITCH! or cheater.

 

[Get_A_Grip_]

In my college we're encouraged to look at previous years exam papers so we have a knowledge of the complexity of the questions and the structure of the paper's marking scheme.
Granted the paper is different every year and different topics are used each year, so it's not really cheating.
Also the questions are great for revision of a particular topic.

 

[cynicalsaint1]

Yes - but only because they didn't change the tests.
Otherwise it'd be a perfectly legit manner of study.

Now I'm not going to say that it isn't lazy and a terrible practice for your teacher to keep using the same tests, but the fact of the matter is that the test is supposed to make sure that you're actually learning the material you're being taught. Memorizing the exact set of information that just happens to be on the test really isn't helping you with that.

And really you're doing yourself a disservice if you cheat. Sooner or later in life someone is going to expect you to know what your college degree says you know - and once you're out of high school and college - no one is going to be grading you anymore - you're just going to get your ass fired.