35 Self-help Solutions To Help You Stop Examination Malpractice As A Student
“It simply can’t be helped. There’s no way any student can sit in an examination hall without engaging in exam malpractice, even the smartest student in class does it at some point”.
That’s what you say all the time when your brain questions your reason for participating in exam malpractice, right?
Examination malpractice just like lust lures you, invades your mind, and makes you its slave just after your first attempt.
You can relate, right? After the first time you tried it out, you’ve found yourself sinking deeper into the pit called malpractice and however hard you’ve tried, you can’t seem to climb out of it.
The problem isn’t that you can’t free yourself from the clutches of exam malpractice, the main problem is that you are scared, scared of having a poor result in an exam. You lack confidence in your ability to achieve a high score on your own.
And last, of all, you are lazy 😛 . You’ll rather read an argument between two people in a comment section than take a peep at that book. Well, there’s nothing wrong with all these qualities you exhibit.
Humans are created to feel this way but understand that although humans are conditioned to be lazy and afraid, we are all expected to make changes that will build us.
Trying to help yourself stop cheating in exams isn’t because you want to become a leader or something admirable. There are lots of benefits that come with being able to overcome exam malpractice as a student.
Asides from not being a victim of the hidden effects of exam malpractice, you will also get to walk with your head high up and smile at your results like – this is my effort and it has finally paid off.
Even if it’s not a result arrayed with As or Bs, at least, you know you have put in some effort and you showed up on your exam day to attempt those questions. This article tells you how you can help yourself to stop examination malpractice as a student.
1. Read!
Hundreds if not thousands of times have you heard from your mentors, teachers, and even parents that reading is the key to achieving good results in school?
Permit me to join the trail of people in your life who’ll say reading is one of the ways to stop yourself from taking part in examination malpractice. Prepare yourself for all exams optimally to be as independent as possible.
I understand that you have probably been reading but haven’t achieved good results hence your reason for being here but you need to realize that your method of reading may have been the reason you are not achieving the best result.
Before reading, try having a thinking session about the topic, this will spur your curiosity on what the topic is all about thereby driving you to invest yourself in reading.
Reading this way will help you do better and decrease your urge to want to cheat in exams. You should make sure you are well prepared for the exam you are going to write.
2. Do not keep friends who cheat
If you are being honest with yourself, the reason you are engaging in malpractice is that it’s what your friends are doing. If they were absent in your life, the chances of doing it on your own are low.
Whenever there is an exam going on, stay far away from your acquaintances who cheat, and if possible, cut off every relationship you have with them.
Friends like that are not what you need to make changes. Having them in your life will only make you go back to your old habits. The solution you need is to keep away from those friends that keep dragging you into the path of malpractice.
There’s an online community specially created for you to get all the motivation and vibes you need to succeed as a student.
Do you want to join this great community of students from all around the world?
3. Pay Attention
This can be one of the hardest things for a student to do. It’s either a scene from a movie that keeps popping into your head or you are daydreaming about a certain life you want for yourself in class.
To fully understand when reading, paying attention in class is the key. Any student who pays attention and understands a topic will have no use for malpractice.
The art of paying attention in class doesn’t only help you understand the topic being taught but also indicates your level of maturity and self-control. Apart from learning how to focus in class to pass competitive exams, you also need to learn it for future use. Having problems concentrating in class? Follow this plan
- Make eye contact with the teacher, this will force you to listen to what he/she is saying.
- Put away your phone.
- Have enough sleep before class.
- Try participating in class discussions to get you invested in the happenings so that even when your focus tries slipping off, the discussion group can draw back your attention.
- Drink cold water from time to time in class to rejuvenate you.
4. Keep Good Friends
The power of peer pressure can’t be overlooked. To change a habit, keep company with those who see it as immoral and bad, and with time, you will see yourself frowning at the idea of cheating.
Do you want to be the best? Then walk with the best. No matter how good a particular seed is, its growth is dependent on having good soil. The environment you find yourself in is extremely important for you to overcome exam malpractice.
Your kind of friends will either encourage or discourage you, so choose well. And once you’ve got some good friends, ensure you maintain them.
The type of friends you keep has a way of influencing your lifestyle. If you work with people that are constantly unserious, you too may be negatively influenced; despite your efforts to change.
Therefore it is advisable to break away from such interactions and make friends with people that share the same goal as you. It might be difficult to break away from longstanding friendships, but consider telling them about your desire to stop the malpractice. If they refuse, then make the revolution yourself.
5. Don’t see an exam as a do-or-die affair
See preparations as a do-or-die before you start exams, not the exam itself. See exams as a preparation for life beyond school.
Life after the four walls of the classroom is another turbulent stage. You need to be as firm and decisive as possible before you begin to face real-life challenges.
How you use your 4 or 5 years in school matters. This will tell if you’ll struggle with time management and other skills required for you to be successful out there.
6. Know that values & good conscience are more precious than grades
While you are feeling the need to cut out the habit of cheating in exams, you need to rethink the reason why you want to take this righteous path in life.
You know the countless times you have decided to change for the better but ended up with statements like “This week is gone, let me pursue this goal next week”.
Having solutions to your academic problem is one thing, having an interest in solving it is another. You can only be eager to resist partaking in exam malpractice when you know the harms it does to you.
If you have a solid reason, this article will do a lot of good to you as you will eventually heed the solutions but if you are still holding on to your fears, this writeup will be like every other manual you read through but don’t follow.
Overcoming the temptation of malpractice will make you become an outstanding personality. You will be able to believe in yourself better, defend your result anywhere and also get access to scholarships abroad. This video below will also give you some insights.
7. Sit in the first row always
If you know you don’t want anyone to ask you questions or distract you, you should sit in the first row to deter anyone from speaking to you. This could even motivate you to study every day.
There’s no doubt you will have all the time to yourself in this section of the hall. Although students sitting in the front row might still communicate but the distraction is always less in front.
Whatever sitting position you have always used while writing exams or tests, I advise that you change it now to a seat in the front row. How can you think of quitting when you are in a safe zone where no one can catch you cheating?
8. It is more honourable to be an honest average student
Yes, it is better to be an original average student than to be a fake excellent student. What gives you the assurance that what you’re copying from another student is even the right thing? 😛
Think about having to some time in prison for something that could have been avoided. So, try to do the very best you can in avoiding malpractices.
In whatever capacity where you’re faced with an examination, makeup your mind never to succeed through unhealthy means. There’s always a right way to achieve your academic goals.
9. You need great discipline
Self-discipline entails preparing yourself adequately. Read your notes, textbooks, solve past questions, mingle with the best students in your class, and get close to your teachers.
Make sure you have all the materials you will need to write the exam before the due date.
Some people might say that it’s possible to live a comfortable life after school even with a poor result especially if your job needs your experience than mental work.
While this might be true in a few cases, the attitude you gave to your studies will probably reflect in other aspects of your life.
If you cannot pay the price of discipline now, I doubt you will be able to write those codes for hours without giving up.
10. Think about the efforts of your sponsors
A very important reason to desist from examination malpractice is the shame you bring to yourself and your sponsors if caught.
Think about how you would speak to them when you’re called upon to explain why you have been expelled from school.
They must have spent a lot trying to keep you in school and getting you educated. Don’t shatter their plans for you by becoming a school dropout due to expulsion.
11. Think about the consequences of malpractice
Ever heard the saying “the fear of God is the beginning of Wisdom?”, let’s paraphrase it to “The fear of being caught cheating in exams is the beginning of wisdom”.
Fear is a natural human emotion that programs your nervous system to make an impulsive decision that can keep you safe.
Although to many, fear can be harmful, it can be used to your advantage since you want to stop participating in malpractice. To develop a fear of being caught while cheating, know the punishment imposed on people who do it.
You would likely be asked to repeat the exams under tight security or you could be suspended or even expelled. The fear of being expelled from school should serve as a deterrent to your habit of cheating.
Besides, you can learn to be mentally strong and fearless, so that you won’t have to cheat before you pass.
12. Think about the long-term effect
You are on this page because you are trying to seek solutions that will stop you from participating in examination malpractice, right? If you have ever thought of your ability to defend your result, you would never cheat in exams.
It can be hard to secure a job after graduation because employers are looking for talents and not just an attractive certificate. If you understand that cheating to pass instead of reading to understand will harm you in the long run, you will drop that immoral habit naturally.
If you are not knowledgeable on how examination malpractice can harm you in the long run, then let me make it clear to you that not only will it be difficult for you to get a good job, it will be almost impossible to improve your positive thinking, self-esteem and critical thinking ability.
13. Revise, revise and revise
Some students read and forget part of the information during exams. This is why you have to keep revising till the day or morning of the exam. This is one of the study habits of highly successful students.
Once you have become so conversant with your revisions, little effort or a slight pause will only be required for you to recollect the appropriate information.
Hints like jottings and scribbling might seem helpful too. The only way you can get something stuck in your head is if you constantly go back to look at it.
Students read for exams but end up taking cheating materials to the hall for fear of forgetting what they read. Hence, when you review your notes consistently, the knowledge will be glued to your brain and there would be no need to cheat.
14. Think about an imaginary CCTV watching you
If your cheating habits still can’t be helped, then try sitting within the view of the invigilator to increase your chances of being caught 😀 . You have only been able to succeed in your cheating game because of your ability to evade the eyes of the invigilator.
To put an end to this cankerworm that is currently eating deep, I’ll advise you to sit where you can easily be noticed by both students and teachers. If this decision will give you anxiety, then you should read some tips to overcome anxiety and depression in college.
With the awareness that you could be caught, you can repress that habit of cheating. This may sound harsh on yourself, but it is the way forward, just try it! 😆
15. Get all the help you can before exams
If you have read, revised, and done your part but you still don’t understand, get help as soon as possible. Not during exams when what you have learnt is being tested.
For every academic session, there is a syllabus that guides your teacher’s teaching manner. Every question that will make it out in exams must be from the syllabus taught.
To eliminate the tendency of taking part in malpractice, check out your school’s syllabus as they’ll help you identify topics to read and ones you could understand by reaching out to others.
You could also reach out to your teacher to clarify sections of your courses you do not understand clearly. There are tactics to ask questions the smart way.
The basis of examination success is reading and understanding.
Your ability to retain is also important. Most times, in the course of your study, you may discover grey areas where you don’t understand. In such situation, it is your duty to begin to find either a teacher or a fellow student that would explain those areas to your understanding.
Sadly, most students keep procrastinating, and the little portion you may not have understood, could make you really jittery during exams.
16. Do Away With Any incriminating material
You must have done a great job convincing yourself to bring that tiny piece of material to the exam hall. “Just this once, I won’t try it again after math exams”, you might have said to yourself.
Well, that’s you deceiving yourself because there is no way you won’t be tempted to cheat again. Look, cheating in exams is addictive so you had better do away with that harmful drug now! 😯
If you find yourself with a material before entering an exam environment or even while you are already seated for exams, find the closest waste bin and trash it. This act will make you prepare adequately next time.
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17. Attend Classes Regularly
Are you skipping lectures and expecting to achieve success without cheating? It’s simply impossible for that to happen.
It’s true that reading from a textbook can be done, but it is essential that you attend classes to gain basic knowledge of a topic.
When you don’t miss a class, you acquire an understanding of topics which makes it easier to comprehend when reading for exams. With such understanding, cheating will become a big NO for you.
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18. Understand that Cheating Isn’t Worth It
If you have read to this point, it means you know that cheating in exams is an immoral practice that any reasonable student wouldn’t want to take part in.
To possess a strong mindset against examination malpractice you need to realize that its practice isn’t worth it.
No one engages in what they deem worthless, so you have to build a decisive mind that rivals the temptation to cheat. To cultivate a mindset that forcefully believes that cheating is worthless, here are some things to do.
Firstly, embrace the feeling that trying to pass without deception is normal and possible. Secondly, set a goal that helps you to achieve a good GPA. When you plan out the things you want to achieve in life, you will come to the realization that cheating won’t help you achieve much.
Then, you will see how worthless it is, and eventually stop it.
19. Have The Mentality That Failing Will Help You Do Better
Learning to ride a bicycle is a gradual process and so is learning to quit engaging in malpractice.
When you took up the idea of learning to ride a bicycle, you had the mentality that falling and having bruises while learning were normal.
With that mentality, you will get to the stage where riding a bike seems easier than ABC.
Are you trying to cut off that cheating habit of yours? Start with the mindset that there will be a couple of average results which will eventually build your hunger for more success.
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20. Have a study routine
To effectively study, and take examinations without malpractice does not necessarily mean you should spend all the time studying. It is dependent on your ability to be disciplined and effectively balance all your activities.
Doing this is important because education may not be the only concern of a student. Therefore, creating a study routine helps you figure out the best time to study.
Also, it’s one thing to create a routine, and it’s also a greater task to abide by the routine. Abiding by your routine is where focus and discipline is required.
21. Examine yourself
You need to examine yourself and understand what makes your efficiency and productivity greater. Will creating a better study environment at home help you?
Sometimes, people are more productive when they carry out their task alongside eating something or while listening to music.
Others could be more productive when they study while sharing ideas with a colleague. Some may be more productive when they are left alone.
Being able to determine your maximum productivity activity is key in enabling you carry out your studies.
22. Know your weakness
You need to examine yourself to know the activities you can comfortably combine with your schooling career. Your personal assessment will enable you know how to set your priorities.
As I stated earlier, some students may be able to carry out they are school work and business. Some might enjoy a social life, and still able to create optimum time to study and excel in examinations.
Therefore, you need to understand yourself. After careful self evaluation, if you know you can’t combine other activities with your academics, do well to drop them and focus on your education.
23. Approach examinations confidently
A student could have studied enough for an examination, but the fear instilled either by a lecturer or senior colleague could make the student seek unnecessary support.
Also, the examination conditions could be intimidating; thereby making students partake in what they never intended doing.
Therefore, as a student, be confident in yourself that you can make it through legitimate means. In some cases, the examination questions may make you shiver. Hence, in every examination, it is always advisable to start with all questions you can answer, and do well to answer them correctly.
This strategy has been shown to build confidence in students until they are able to attempt the ones they initially couldn’t.
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24. Study what you’re comfortable with
It has become commonplace for parents to dictate the course their kids should study in the university. You should try your best to convince your parents not to force you into an undesired course.
One of the interesting things about studying your desired course is the fact that you are more committed to fulfilling your dreams.
That is; the stress, the pain, and the problems accompanied with academic work don’t mean anything to you, because you’re determined to make it.
The reverse is the case when you are being compelled to study what you don’t love. As such, since you can’t study, you seek shortcuts.
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25. Pray to God
This is a question of how far you’ve come to understand that God is interested in the seemingly minor things in your life.
He hears your prayers and can strengthen you to prepare adequately and overcome exam malpractice.
You can also speak to him to help you get a good result.
26. Build self confidence
Believe in your own capacity to succeed. One key element in examination malpractice is the lack of self confidence.
27. Value your worth
If you want to be respected, then cheating in an exam is one easy short cut to lose all you self worth. You might never experience the inward delight of true success if your results were wrongly acquired.
28. Work Hard
There is just no available short cut for hard work. No matter what you are told, hard work pays. Reading and preparing for an examination is like preparing a field and sowing a mind seed. Examination and results is like harvest. If you truly prepared, you will reap a harvest.
29. Choose a mentor
In school, there is always a teacher/lecturer we admire and can trust for diligence and hard work. Pick one of them as a mentor and seek help and advice whenever you get stuck. You can also join Explicit Success Scholars.
30. Look at The big Picture
Looking at the big picture is seeing where you want be be in the next 5 to 10 years and asking yourself the valuable question of how you want to get there.
Would it be integrity, diligence and hard work? Or would it be by cheating and taking short cuts?
31. Get a counselor
Growing up is not an an easy task. We all had fears, cares, worries and things that pulls us back. Having a counselor helps you learn skills on how to deal with issues that burdens you so that you can focus on your studies even if there are challenges around you.
32. Love yourself positively
Positive self love will force your to see yourself for who you truly are and pushes you to become a better version of you each day.
33. Build positive peer relationships
There are always those students we admire in school for good behaviour and diligence. It is not a weakness to acknowledge the fact that some else is better than you in something. Get close and learn from such a person.
34. Create or Join a study group
In a study group, you learn together with other classmates and challenge each other to succeed.
35. Visualize your success
When you do all the above listed things, there’s no way you will fail an exam. Therefore, you can start seeing yourself at the top!
Extracted from Explicit Success Scholars.
Question 1:
“What’s your opinion about talking in the examination hall?”
Opinions
1. “Sometimes I see it as the other person is in need” 😳
2. “Talking in exam hall is cheating! What you do with this information is your decision.” 😐
3. “I have this issue though, just that I am not disciplined to not talk in the exam hall as much as I don’t want to.”😩
4. A student once thought that helping someone by talking to him in the exam hall is an act of kindness because he thinks that the other student might have read all he ought to but doesn’t still understand.
My point is, what was the student doing to ensure he understands before he is being tested? Don’t fall into that trap.
Question 2:
Do you know that in the process of helping a friend, you could get yourself in trouble?
Opinions
1. “Yes, I’d like to paint three scenarios that further informed my decision to not talk to anyone till I was done writing. One, in the process of helping two friends, my paper was seized. I knelt down for over five minutes begging an invigilator.
Meanwhile, these friends suddenly had things upstairs to write within that time frame. Secondly, in the second exam, one person was trying to help another, then an examiner deducted 5marks from the helper’s work.
In the third scenario, a good samaritan assisted his guys during the test after clear warnings from the lecturer. At the end of the day, Mr lecturer reduced their marks to 3/30 after telling us the initial owner of the work would have scored 16/30.”
2. “I can relate. I recently opened my work for some guys behind me. The lecturer asked that we come to her office. I’ve been going there daily and I am yet to see her because of her tight schedules.
My only solace is that I wrote the test well. Also, in another test I was writing, one guy had the guts to take my paper away. I was hell afraid and didn’t want to get implicated, not in a course I’ve not even written very well.”
3. “Once you are caught, you might be asked to stand for 30mins to an hour”
4. “I can explain to them whatever I know prior to tests and exams, but once we begin, I become mute. That’s one of the things they know about me. I don’t want lecturers’ problems.”
Other responses:
5. “I nearly got sent off from an exam because of this issue some days ago, it can implicate one and even distract you. Just like someone already said, you should avoid sitting close to those you’re acquainted with.”
6. “Heard of a student whose script was seized and marks were deducted. Could you believe the person she was helping just went to submit without even glancing at her?”
7. “There was this issue that happened to me in the exam hall some time ago. One of my friends sat close to me despite sitting in the front row. He was there calling and I have to adjust the way I was sitting, then after he was done copying, I submitted.
After we finished the exam, the guy came out chatting and gisting with friends and he’s a type that likes verifying answers to all the exam questions.
So, he was told that what I answered in one of the questions was wrong and he was emotionally down, telling people about how he didn’t solve alternative questions because I was the one that instructed him to do so.
I felt very embarrassed and disappointed. After I got home and verified the answer was correct, I had to screenshot and send the answers to him and he was there begging me. That was how I cut off all ties with him. It’s not ethical to discuss in the exam hall, detest it.”
Conclusion
To really get over the temptation and struggles of exam malpractice as a student, you need to be able to imbibe some daily success tips for exceptional students right after you resume school and as soon as possible.
You don’t have to put yourself under unnecessary pressure when it’s few weeks to exam. Discuss a topic after reading to improve your brain’s ability to remember when in an exam hall. Things argued over are not easily forgotten.
When reading, take a break to think about the words you have read. The reason why you remember the scenes of movies watched years ago but can’t recollect the books you have read is because you don’t take time to understand what you read.
Try Visualizing what you read to better understand them. Answer questions at the end of the topic to help you understand your level of comprehension
You won’t feel less prepared when you do the right thing at the right time.
There it is! Solutions that will stop you from engaging in malpractice as a student. If you have gone through this list of solutions, you must have found some solutions that help you overcome malpractice.
Don’t procrastinate, abide by them now to achieve good results. I wish you success as you rise above exam malpractice. Be the model the world needs.
Thank you
You’re welcome.