LEYTE, Philippines – Cheating during exams can be tempting, with students often devising clever ways to outsmart their teachers. It’s a teacher’s duty to keep this practice out of the exam room – by any means necessary.
In a post by an instructor at Visayas State University (VSU), he unveiled a playful solution: personalized head covers. This tactic begs the question: did it truly prevent student cheating?
Major exams, especially for general education courses, usually take place in larger venues like the university gym, allowing for a one-seat-apart arrangement. This year, however, the exams returned to classrooms, prompting Junrey Goles, an instructor from the VSU’s Department of Arts, Languages, and Literature (DALL), to come up with a solution to prevent cheating.
“In this case as the instructor, my responsibility is to help them avoid this practice, and one way of doing it is to implement something that can also help them develop their creativity,” Goles said.
Students were initially reluctant about his request to create head covers. It wasn’t mandatory. Yet, on exam day, they came with wildly creative head covers – helmets, bed covers, umbrellas, and custom cardboard boxes with unique designs. The most extreme? Some wore leaves to hide their faces, as if they came straight out of the forest. Comically impractical, these covers blocked their view from all sides.
Points plus fun
Jannah Ayuban, a freshman, shared her experience of making a head cover from scratch using a box just 30 minutes before their Purposive Communication test, guaranteeing her some extra points.
“Most of my classmates said they were tired and wouldn’t make one. I felt the same at first, but I still made one,” she chuckled.
Ayuban created the infamous Alice Guo-themed box, which garnered hundreds of reactions and shares. The design referenced an inside joke she and her classmates had in class.
She said, “The lines ‘Your Honor, hindi ko na po maalala (I don’t remember)’ and ‘Your Honor, di ko po alam (I don’t know)’ are relatable to me; they remind me of taking exams and feeling like I know the answers but then forgetting them.”
The size of her head cover greatly blocked her view of other people’s papers, which proved its effectiveness. Still, she appreciated how the class expressed their creativity, even if it was all done in the most humorous way.
Community reactions
Apart from its hysterical reception on social media, Goles’ method resonated with several students and faculty alike.
Rachel Saligo, a 4th year English Language Studies student, laughed at the head covers, saying she would have loved to participate in an exam like that.
“It’s unusual and clever…. Too bad I’m a senior now, and I probably won’t be under Sir Goles anymore,” Saligo said.
Dr. Maria Vanessa Gabunada, DALL department head, said it wasn’t the first time such an approach was used. She also said the department does not have strict rules on how instructors administer their exams.
“I don’t see any problem with it as long as students can answer comfortably and they all agree to do it. As long as the integrity of the exam isn’t sacrificed, I’m fine with it, especially since it also hones the creativity of our students,” Gabunada said.
Meanwhile, Dr. Glenn Pajares, dean of the VSU College of Arts and Sciences (CAS), expressed respect for educators like Goles, who make an effort to implement diverse methodologies in preventing cheating during exams.
Pajares said, “No two teachers are the same; they each have their own methods. It’s best to give them the freedom to explore and discover better ways. It’s difficult to say this is the only or best approach, as it may contradict the spirit of academia.”
Goles said he would reward students who complied with his request, offering extra points and a prize for the most creative cover.
Reflecting on the exams, the instructor noted a positive outcome, stating that the students appeared to have studied well due to his head cover tactic, which helped minimize cheating.
“Implementing this cannot guarantee that students will not cheat, but at least it can help them avoid depending on their seatmates when they don’t know the answer,” he said.
In the end, he emphasized that while responsibility during exams reflects each student’s moral values, it’s essential to acknowledge that everyone makes mistakes – intentional or not. For his students, perhaps an unconventional head cover can serve as a creative way to teach them about accountability. – Rappler.com
Efren Cyril Bocar is a student journalist from Llorente, Eastern Samar, enrolled in English Language Studies at the Visayas State University. A managing editor of Amaranth, Cyril is an Aries Rufo Journalism Fellow of Rappler for 2024.