In this episode, Rob and Jared continue their interview with Dr. Quentin Schultze.  Dr. Schultze--who has written several books, including one on servant teaching--talks about cheating and how to discourage cheating. Contact us at [email protected] with any questions. You can also visit our blog at cedarville.edu/focusblog for additional resources.

Many students will cheat without realizing that they are cheating. They could be citing sources incorrectly or asking a student about a test they just took. Other students will cheat intentionally, doing things like acquiring completed assignments. The truth is that we cannot completely monitor cheating, so how can we disincentivize it? 

Dr. Schultze spoke about the relationship between respect and cheating. He advocated for respecting students as a way to serve them, but he also noted that this often leads to students being more likely to respect teachers enough to reject cheating and instead to engage and learn. 

Cheating has a direct relationship with how we view our students. Therefore, employing servant teaching and the associated respect is vital. When students know that we respect them, they are likely to work hard in our classes.  

When you suspect that a student has cheated, ask them questions. We shouldn’t assume the worst of our students. The goal should not be to “catch” our students, but instead to care about their success. 

One of the more recent tools that students could use for cheating is ChatGPT/OpenAI. In order to disincentivize improper uses of ChatGPT, it could be helpful to use our own terminology adapted for the course – course-specific jargon or lingo that would not show up in a ChatGPT-generated response. Find ways of leveraging AI to your advantage, like having students generate a response using AI and critique the response given.  

Resources from today’s episode:  

Focus Blog - ChatGPT: The New Frontier  

Focus Blog - ChatGPT: Issues in Teaching and Learning 

Dr. Schultze's Book - Servant Teaching: Practices for Renewing Christian Higher Education 

For more information on Dr. Schultze or his works, check out his website: quentinschultze.com