vecturist

I finished grading lab assignments over the weekend and found another pair of students had cheated. Everybody's involved is getting zeroes. Lab's quick today and most of my students come in. I tell one of the girls involved I need to talk to her after class. She immediately freaks and asks if I can talk to her in the hall. I tell her what the situation is - and she starts crying. She doesn't know the other student, has taken the class before (and flunked), and is afraid she won't make the dean's list. I tell her we'll talk when S, the other student involved with this pair, shows up. Both of them can't explain why their lab reports are identical and are a little upset. I feel like a bitch, but explain the circumstances. I'm sure I'm going to hear from the prof.

In the other case, I talk to one of the guys involved. He admits giving a copy of his reports to the other student. I explain that the student then submitted the lab, unchanged (except for his name). Student mutter, 'what an idiot' and accepts that he's getting zeroes (I may give him some points for honesty). I don't discourage students from working together, but they are juniors and seniors in college - they should know better!