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[gbrown]

I have had three (3!) pairs of siblings sign up for a course that I teach online. It's quite a bit of work... definitely not a blow-off class. So far:

• One "set" of brothers has dropped. Both of them.
• One "set" of brothers are both getting nearly identical grades.
• With a "set" of sisters, one seems noticeably weaker, yet they post their assignments close together and their grades to date are within a few % of one another.

I'm annoyed because I have no way of knowing who is doing the work in the class. My college has no way to set up a "check-in" point or proctored exam... so I just keep giving out the work, figuring that anyone who is having their sibling do the work is just ripping themselves off... but it steams me. I wish my college would allow me to ask for just one proctored exam a semester, but they've turned me down (as they are clearly all about "serving up" a course without causing students any sort of bother).

Anyone have experienced with family members pairing up to

[lucys]

My problem was with a boyfriend and girlfriend taking the same Technical Writing course. I found out because both turned in the exact same paper for an assignment. They claimed they thought it was a group assignment. Yeah, right! I gave them both an F for the assignment and made it clear that I expected significantly different work for my other assignments. I was steamed too. Other than coming up with assignments that require a paper or other original idea by the student, it's almost impossible to tell who is doing the work.

[zuzu_]

I currently have two sisters in my online course, and I worry about that too. Somehow it seems worse when it's online, but when you think about it logically, anyone can cheat in any kind of class if they really want to. I don't have "exams"--just essays and the like, so anyone could be having a sibling/parent/spouse write their take-home assignments all semester, and I'd have no way of knowing.

[profh]

This could be a problem in any class.  For all you know, every single essay assigned throughout an entire semester could be written by the student's friend, boyfriend, sibling, etc.  It's really difficult to prove and, in some cases, detect this type of behavior.

[kamiakin]

This is no different from having roommates or fraternity brothers in the same class. You do what you can to enforce honesty and high standards but you can't be looking over their shoulders all the time.

[fosca]

I make my students take an in-class final exam (or an officially proctored exam elsewhere), which they have to pass with at least a 60% to pass the course.  It seems to cut down on this sort of thing.

[onilne_adjunct]

I've had classes where a husband and wife are in it, along with classes with twin siblings, and older/younger siblings.  My experience to date (after over 5 years of online teaching - not sure what that's worth - wait a minute, yes, I do - I have the paystubs to show exactly how much, which is pretty sad) is that most individuals generally work individually.  You might see some colloboration, but you have to consider the purpose behind education - isn't it to educate? 

My experiences have been mostly positive in this respect (except the one time I accidentally returned one siblings paper to the wrong sibling - oops!).

The key thing to remember is that you're teaching a class for their education.  If they cheat, whom are they cheating?  Let's face it, unless your standing at the door checking IDs (something I saw as an undergraduate way back when), there's no way to tell who did the actual work (actually, checking the author properties of a digital document sometimes helps).

OA

[erikjensen]

This could be a problem in any class.  For all you know, every single essay assigned throughout an entire semester could be written by the student's friend, boyfriend, sibling, etc.  It's really difficult to prove and, in some cases, detect this type of behavior.

Detecting and proving cheating can indeed be difficult, but preventing cheating can be quite simple. The following web page will help you design your course to do so:

http://www.learningfield.org/cheat/

Also, the fact that the institution does not provide proctoring services doesn't mean that the students cannot use the services of another institution. I arrange proctored exams (ID required!) with students all over the world.

-Erik Jensen
Chemeketa Community College

[desert_rat]

My younger brothers are twins.  They are both 50ish years old now.  Back when they were undergrads at U. Texas Austin, (both Accounting majors) they were enrolled in 2 notoriously difficult classes, but in different sections.  At finals time, one spent all his time studying for one final, the other spent all his time studying for the other final.

You can see it coming, can't you? 

One twin took the one final two times, using two different names, the other twin did the same with the other class.  ID cards on the desk?  No biggie--  they are IDENTICAL twins.  And I do mean IDENTICAL....