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There was about 30 mins left of the exam, everything had been going well so far, I got nervous as there was 1 question I hadn't answered that was worth a few marks, so I made the irresponsible decision to check my phone, the moment I pulled it out is when I got caught, the TA took my student ID and allowed me to continue with the exam. With the guilt of knowing what I had just attempted to do, I submitted my paper instantly after my ID was taken. I just received an email saying there will be a meeting. What should I expect? (Never done anything like this before)

anon
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    Learn form this : You don't need to take your phone into an exam... – Solar Mike May 19 '19 at 15:29
  • What country are you in? – Bex May 19 '19 at 17:39
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    @SolarMike, or at least turn it off and keep it in your backpack (where it is inaccessible). – PersonX May 19 '19 at 18:16
  • @PersonX why not have the phone in one pocket and some notes in the other? then some notes written on your hand "just in case"... – Solar Mike May 19 '19 at 18:16
  • The other side of this: if you have reason to believe you really could need your cell phone and therefore do bring your phone, inform the proctor(s) and put your phone at the front of the room. You can sit near the front as well to listen for it. – Clayton May 19 '19 at 18:50
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    I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because you want to know what to expect in this case, but this will depend entirely on the procedures and people at your institute, not to mention what you say and how you behave to them, and is not something that can be answered here. – StephenG - Help Ukraine May 20 '19 at 01:46
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    @StephenG Why are people on this site so obsessed with voting to close. The question was made in good faith and generated high quality responses. – Keatinge May 20 '19 at 01:53
  • @Keatinge I can only tell you that in this specific case I explained my reason for VTCing. Your personal perception of an overall pattern of "obsessive" VTCing on the site is not one I share. I'd suggest you try the Meta site to ask about that kind of thing. – StephenG - Help Ukraine May 20 '19 at 01:58
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    @SolarMike Because a phone is an important tool of communication for emergencies, family and other kinds, and is a valuable piece of hardware. Turning it off only delays a response until the exam ends. Leaving it elsewhere means being disconnected from your family and loved ones for a much longer period of time, not being able to call for emergency aid, and increases the chance of it being stolen (and other potential collateral damage like your car being broken into when the thief sees it inside). Having it in your pocket and off is perfectly reasonable. – jpmc26 May 20 '19 at 03:45
  • @jpmc26 I am capable of leaving my phone in my bag and not touching it for 8 hours... but some can’t manage 5 minutes... – Solar Mike May 20 '19 at 03:59
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    @SolarMike That is irrelevant to your original comment, and it's even more irrelevant to your follow up. A person having a problem staying off their phone does not preclude bringing it to the exam. There are other solutions. Leaving it at home may be a good option for some people, but saying that there's never a reason to bring it is just wrong. – jpmc26 May 20 '19 at 04:25
  • @jpmc26 IF you read my original comment I said « you don’t need to take it into an exam »... I did not say leave it at home - that was clearly your assumption, relevant though it may be... there are other possible solutions that you may, or may not, be able to think of... – Solar Mike May 20 '19 at 04:48
  • @SolarMike A good acquaintance's school had a memo go out specifically stipulating that phone use in class, such as during lectures or labs, is not to be punished in any way because of the need for parents to stay in touch with their kids or other family. Administration was aware that such an action would adversely and potentially disproportionately affect these nontraditional students. Instructors need to be acutely aware of issues like this today. – user71659 May 20 '19 at 05:08
  • @user71659 I believe, but am not sure, that lectures or labs are not the same as exams... – Solar Mike May 20 '19 at 05:09
  • @SolarMike I am not saying it is, but you need to think carefully of all situations, like jpmc26 did, before saying something like "don't take your phone into an exam". And applying such a rule as an instructor could lead to grievances and administrative action against you. – user71659 May 20 '19 at 05:10
  • @user71659 first you need to make sure of the policy in force at the institution and consider that the original question is about an exam situation and I have kept to that situation... Both you and jpmc26 should consider asking your own new questions about a different situation... – Solar Mike May 20 '19 at 05:16
  • @SolarMike We don't have a question. We are informing you of a situation with cell phones in respect to classes and certain types of students. You seem to be unaware of these issues, perhaps due to a different country, but they are a factor in, at least, public US schools due to government policy. – user71659 May 20 '19 at 05:30
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    @user71659 have you noticed that EXAMINATIONS are not the same as lectures or labs? – Solar Mike May 20 '19 at 05:51
  • @SolarMike You're missing the point again. I didn't say everybody should use a phone in an exam. I'm saying not taking a phone to an exam is an unreasonable hardship for certain students. These students may even require concessions for use in the exam if an emergency arises. While you seem think that is absurd, it is a real situation in many universities with students who do not have the luxury of going to college without children or other dependents. – user71659 May 20 '19 at 05:55
  • @user71659 You are missing the point - this question is about an exam situation and not where-ever you wish to drag it. – Solar Mike May 20 '19 at 05:56
  • @SolarMike I was a day student in college. I drove there every day and didn't have a locker or anything. The only place to leave it would be my car, but I wouldn't do that because 1. If something happened to the car, I would also lose my main method of communication which I would gravely need, and 2. I often spoke with my family as I was going to the car because I felt safer having someone on the phone in case something happened. There simply was no practical place to leave it. I turned it off during exams. Having it there was never a problem, and not having it there was just impractical. – jpmc26 May 20 '19 at 08:53
  • @jpmc26 I have also been to college, full-time, day release from work, block release (weeks) and evening classes (6 to 9pm - very popular)... – Solar Mike May 20 '19 at 08:59
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    @SolarMike , jpmc26, user71659 (cant @ all of u), to those arguing about me having my phone on me, Yes, the instructor does say to leave your phone in your bag. However, they are OK with you leaving your phone on the ground next to you within their sight, as many other students do. Regardless, I made a mistake. Simple. – anon May 21 '19 at 10:01

4 Answers4

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My advice would be to be honest, not argumentative, and explain exactly what happened.

  1. I pulled the phone out with the intention to cheat.

  2. I did not complete the cheat as I was caught in the attempt.

  3. I turned the paper in immediately after being caught.

  4. I have not habitually cheated.

  5. I will accept whatever disciplinary outcome is assigned.

Maybe write this down and hand it in at the beginning of the meeting.

Accept the sanctions--not with a "crucify me" attitude, but phlegmatically. Then, go and sin no more.

guest
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    Accepting whatever disciplinary outcome is assigned is certainly the right thing to do. In practice, there's going to be some discussion and uncertainty about what discipline to assign. Expect the discussion to start with taking a 0% on the exam (which may mean re-taking the entire class, IDK). I think it would be fine for you to speak against anything harsher than that. Merely being asked to retake (a new version of) the test might seem reasonable (and you should take the option if offered), but understand that it creates a lot of extra (voluntary) work for your professor. – ShapeOfMatter May 19 '19 at 18:56
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    I mis-read one sentence of this answer as "write this down on your hand" ;) Guess I have to accept I'm too tired to make a contribution right now... – jvb May 19 '19 at 20:02
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    @ShapeOfMatter Would a teacher accept to prepare a whole new exam that would essentially give an advantage (because more time to study between the cheating attempt and the re-take) to someone who cheated? I can't imagine any of my teachers doing that. A 0 on the exam would be the best case scenario in my university. –  May 19 '19 at 20:19
  • @Arno The mark may be capped on the repeat, to avoid giving OP an advantage. – Captain Emacs May 19 '19 at 21:40
  • Good advice. Cheating creates a lot of trouble to everybody involved, but lecturers even dislike more if they are blatantly lied at. You tried, you failed. Accept this and do not try to wiggle out. – Captain Emacs May 19 '19 at 21:42
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    Good advice, but this does not answer the question. The asker wants to know what to expect in the meeting - not what to do. – Evorlor May 19 '19 at 22:56
  • +1 for the advice, but also for the use of phlegmatically – Scott Odle May 20 '19 at 01:28
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What you can expect depends on personalities, so is impossible to say with accuracy. But, at a minimum you will be asked to explain and justify yourself, which sounds like it will be pretty hard to do. Probably the best you can hope for is to admit you intended an infraction, but that it had no effect on what is written on the exam paper.

I was once caught in a different kind of ethical transgression and the faculty response varied from "expulsion" to "boys will be boys". I know this to be literally true, actually. The two of us admitted error and that we had learned something from it and so the only sanction was a stern talking to. But it might have been much worse. In some ways the worst aspect for us was that the decision took a week to come to fruition with the cloud hanging over us. The college and the faculty were small so our deed was widely known. In some ways the best outcome was that a variety of viewpoints were held by the sanctions committee and so they had to work through to some consensus position.

Hopefully you've learned that your fear of failure could be made worse by improper actions to try to avoid it. But some, you hope, of the faculty are also sensitive to the fact that we aren't perfect and that students need to learn a lot of things.

Buffy
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In a US school, you would probably be told you stand accused of using an unauthorized resource on an exam, and told the penalty the prof would like to assess, with your agreement. Likely, this will be a zero on the exam along with a lowering of whatever grade is arrived at as a result- often a full letter grade- and a report of academic dishonesty.

You might be offered the opportunity to accept the penalty, and if you decline, an academic honesty hearing.

It makes no difference that you had no time to actually cheat.

If this is a second offense, you might eventually be faced with suspension, but this would be after the prof submits his report.

You should most certainly go to your school's website and search up their academic honesty policy before this meeting. Also, check with your course syllabus to determine if there are specific course policies. There may even be instructions on the exam that are relevant. My Dean's Office encourages us to put language that possession of a cell phone during an exam is prohibited. If you're offered something much less harsh than what is dictated by policy, you should consider accepting it.

If this went to hearing at my school, a defense saying that you took out your phone to answer an important text, and that you handed in the exam right after this "misunderstanding", the penalty would be as I described it - unless your hearing panel believed you were lying to them, and considered that to be an immediate second offense. That would be unlikely, but a possibility.

Also, in my school, if this were a first offense, and it resulted in a course failure, there would not be a notation of academic dishonesty on your transcript. That is usually reserved for second offenses. We would expect you to use the incident as a learning experience, and you would also have to complete extra honesty tutorials.

Scott Seidman
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It would depend on what evidence they have of your intent when you took your phone out. If they have evidence that you searched for something relevant to the test then obviously you must admit it. Otherwise there are any number of reasons a person might pull out their phone during a bad time. Eg. Waiting for an important text from a family member and nervously checking for news.

If there is no evidence it was for cheating I don't see what benefit for the future there is from openly saying you were intentionally doing it for cheating. You are basically guaranteeing to be branded and punished as a cheater with no argument or pathway for repeal.

Of course how you handle it ethically is up to you. But if this was a legal case and I was your lawyer, and there was no real evidence of intent to cheat, I'm not sure I would advise you to walk in and spell that out for them.

mike
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    In the huge majority of classes at my school, accessing a cell phone during an exam would be considered cheating, regardless of the reason. – Scott Seidman May 19 '19 at 23:40