sophisticated cheaters

[toothache]

man, some of my friends (dental students at a different school) told me that there are some sophisticated cheaters and they are the ones rocking the class. this is what happened, a electrician was doing some kind of work in a lecture hall and found some hidden cameras in several parts of the room. i guess there is a middle man who can look off everyones exams and the student has a small wireless ear plug which is not noticable and gets the answer. these cameras are so small that they can be placed anywhere on a person. the middle man has all the sources for the test so he or she can actually answer some questions or double check. i heard some of them pay the janitors and security with lots of money and get exam answers etc..etc.. i didn't know that there is this kind of networking and they are getting away... do you guys have any cheaters in your class?

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[Bickle]

Wow, with those kinds of skills, that guy should be spending his time trying to hunt bin laden.

 

[UBTom]

Sounds like an urban legend to me.

Most consumer-grade camcorders or video cameras do NOT have the resolution or zoom capabilities to focus in on itty-bitty little answer bubbles on scantrons or chickenscratches on long-answer exams beyond a range of 5 feet, nevermind those teeny little spycams which produce images about as clear as a frosted-glass shower door.

And cheating off a classmate might not be a good idea either-- You don't know if their answers are right or wrong!

It's easier to just sit down for a night and study, rather than going to such ridiculous lengths to cheat, end up with nothing useable and still fail the test! 😛

You just got BSed big time..

 

[ItsGavinC]

Originally posted by UBTom
Sounds like an urban legend to me.

Most consumer-grade camcorders or video cameras do NOT have the resolution or zoom capabilities to focus in on itty-bitty little answer bubbles on scantrons or chickenscratches on long-answer exams beyond a range of 5 feet

Actually, camera phones have resolution and capabilities that are perfect for doing that.

 

[UBTom]

Hey Gavin,

I've seen the camera phones my classmates have in action... I doubt they can take clear photos of something with details as small as 3mm at more than 5 feet distance. That's about the size of a bubble on a Scantron sheet.

Then one has to factor in shadows and angle of view... If the camera is held full-on, maybe... But from a sitting position one can get only a slanted view at a test sheet 5 feet away. Then there are the inherent problems with long answers-- The chicken scratches that are supposedly handwriting. 😀 😀 😀

If anyone has ever seen my chickenscratches, one would know I am a cheater's worst nightmare!

The funny thing is, I think most my classmates were about as clueless as I was on certain tough questions on exams-- Trying to cheat off them would be like the blind leading the blind! 😀

 

[Supernumerary]

Are you sure didn't drunkenly wander into that new "Perfect Score" movie and wake up the next morning thinking a friend told you this? It sounds too bizarre to be true. I just don't see anybody getting away with this. For one thing, the other gunners would narc 'em out faster than you can blink. I chalk it up to legend. 🙂

 

[gryffindor]

I don't know about the elaborate scheme toothache posted for cheating, it sounds really involved.

Cheating DOES go on in dental schools. I've seen it happen in my class, my friends in other classes at my school have seen it go on as well. By cheating I don't just mean looking over at the paper of the guy next to you and copying the answers down. Grading opportunities in dental school include exams, practicals, and patient procedures in clinic. We're talking having other people do your projects for you. Example: I was very confused as a sophomore when I saw a senior doing a molar endo project on an extracted tooth in his hand (not in the typodont). I said "Cool, I'm doing the same right now in my endo class too!" Naive me, turns out he was doing the project for a student in my class while I spent 7+ hrs of my own time doing my project in my typodont, only to get a barely passing grade.

How about blatant disregard for the rules everyone has to follow for a practical? Like the teacher says you can't take the typodont off the post and survey it during a removable partial denture exam, but the student goes ahead and does it anyways? Or the rules say you can't adjust occlusion with the typodont off the post, but the student figures that rule doesn't apply to him and freely takes the typodont off to fix the occlusion off the post.

Consequences of getting caught can be bad at our school. However, I've read articles that many students today think there is nothing wrong with cheating, it's part of playing the game. Sad. But it's hard for faculty to watch 90 students at the same time, so unless classmates bring these cheaters up to the judicial group, they will be getting away with it.

 

[River13]

When I've seen that stuff happen I'd turn'em in. I'd rather be labeled a rat then let someone else take my OMS spot!

 

[ItsGavinC]

Originally posted by UBTom
Hey Gavin,

I've seen the camera phones my classmates have in action... I doubt they can take clear photos of something with details as small as 3mm at more than 5 feet distance. That's about the size of a bubble on a Scantron sheet.

Sorry, but I didn't expound upon what I meant.

One person takes a picture of their answer and then sends it to several friends in the class, etc., etc. Of course this goes back to the old question: do you trust your friend's answers better than yours? And, if your friend is willing to help you cheat, does he really have the correct answers anyway?

It wouldn't be of much use for taking photos of OTHER people's exams.

 

[gryffindor]

Originally posted by River13
When I've seen that stuff happen I'd turn'em in. I'd rather be labeled a rat then let someone else take my OMS spot!

River, I wish I could have turned one in, but I didn't realize that the cheating had occured till it was months too late. And now I am sitting here without an ortho spot while a probable cheater may have taken it away from me.

 

[UBTom]

to Gavin:

Yep, one can indeed take photos of one's own exams and shoot it over the cell phone, but those are definitely useless for taking photos of other people's exams. That's why I find Toothache's story of someone wiring up a lecture hall with hidden cameras ludicrous. 😛

Most instructors I think are cottoning up to gadgets like camera phones and PDAs anyway, and keep an active lookout for these things during exams. And the National Board exams bans all items outright from the testing halls, except a pencil, an eraser, a magnifying glass, and your IDs. You are asked to put all non-sanctioned items away with your jacket and bag at the back of the room.

 

[toothache]

ubtom,
please do some research before you say my story is ludicrous

 

[UBTom]

LOL, why don't YOU do some research into how cameras work before coming up with such a ludicrous story, amigo?

Only someone who knew nothing about cameras would dream up (or believe) such a ludicrous story as wiring up a lecture hall with hidden cameras.

Hint: You might want to pick a less tech-savvy crowd than dental students if you want someone to believe your story. 😛

 

[sxr71]

It's not even a question of beyond 5 feet either. To effectively focus on small detail at close range you need a lens with macro capabilities. So even if you have camera situated within 5 feet, you still need a really good lens (usually quite large lens) in order to focus on that kind of detail. I have heard of some kind of handheld scanner pen that you have run on the paper itself and it communicates with a nearby PC (laptop) which runs text recognition on the scanned image. I don't know much about this, but I know such devices are available. I don't know how well such devices work though.

 

[UBTom]

Heh, there is no such thing as text recognition software that will recognize my chickenscratch. 😀 😀 😀

 

[sxr71]

Originally posted by UBTom
Heh, there is no such thing as text recognition software that will recognize my chickenscratch. 😀 😀 😀

I know. 🙂 I meant more along the lines of reading a scantron sheet.

Just out of curiousity do a lot of dental school exams involve written responses?