The school year is in full swing at Bowie as the spring semester begins. Students are getting closer and closer to college applications, SATs, and the pressure to maintain strong grades. Many students are carrying heavy workloads and are looking for ways to keep up with their responsibilities.
This has led many students to turn toward cheating as a way to manage the heavy load of junior year. This has been especially true in one of Bowie’s most difficult courses for juniors, Advanced Placement (AP) United States History, often referred to as APUSH. APUSH is a junior-year history class that studies how the United States developed from its founding to today, with a strong focus on analyzing events, documents, and cause-and-effect over time. Jessica Isaacs, a teacher at Bowie who has taught APUSH for two years, shared what she believes is the main factor pushing students to cheat.
“I think the biggest driving factor in cheating is the pressure that so many students are under to perform well, both internally and externally. Bowie is a very competitive school and many juniors are looking to their future college and career plans,” Isaacs said. “Many students feel like one bad grade will affect their entire future, which is so much to carry on your own. For many of my students APUSH is the hardest class they’ve ever taken and they have”
Teachers and students agree that cheating has long been an issue across many classes, not just AP U.S. History. Some students believe that with tools like ChatGPT, cheating has become more common and much easier to do. Karl Lauer, who has taught APUSH at Bowie for many years, explains that he does not think this problem is limited to one course, but instead affects classrooms across multiple subjects.
“I honestly don’t have much to add and also don’t really care to call out APUSH as a subject that students cheat in more than any other subject,” Lauer said. “Sure, it happens, but I haven’t experienced any more or less than teachers of other subjects.”
There are various reasons why a student may feel the need to cheat on a test, whether in a difficult course or even an easier one. Tatiana Bosada, a junior currently taking APUSH, understands why students may feel pressured to do this at certain times.
“Personally I haven’t chosen to cheat on my test because I feel that I went into the class knowing that it was going to be difficult based on being in advanced placement world history the year prior and taking other difficult classes,” Bosada said. “But I see why many students feel the pressure to cheat with college applications and more right around the corner.”
In an attempt to reduce cheating in APUSH, the APUSH teachers have come together to create a plan to change testing rules and establish a more secure testing environment.
“The biggest change the AP US history teacher will be implementing is the lockdown browsers that are downloaded to each student’s Chromebook,” Isaacs said. “This will help teachers to ensure that students are taking their test in a secure and focused environment.”
Teachers feel that these rules are effective and at least make it more difficult to cheat. However, the changes require more effort from both teachers and students, along with patience and participation. Bosada acknowledges these challenges and finds them frustrating.
“The new testing rules have been very frustrating for me and many of my classmates because of how much class time it takes trying to get everyone’s lockdown browsers set up,” Bosada said. “I realize that these rules have been helpful to prevent cheating, but it’s very inconvenient for the students who follow the rules and now have to test in a much more stressful environment with issues with technology and more going on around us.”
While Bowie does have a policy for academic honesty, teachers and students agree that the issue is not always taken seriously enough, and some students who cheat are not caught or do not face consequences. Isaacs believes enforcement is essential.
“According to Bowie’s academic dishonesty policy students who are caught cheating will receive an academic referral that goes to their AP, parents will be notified, and then they will have to complete an academic dishonesty course,” Isaacs said. “These penalties are in place to give students the opportunity to make a better choice while there are options still available. Cheating is a serious offense and at the University level it can result in academic probation, suspension, revocation of scholarships, and in extreme cases you can have your degree revoked. That is absolutely not what we want for our students.”
Along with its academic honesty policy, Bowie also offers students the opportunity to move into a class that better fits their abilities and workload. Bosada, who has taken many advanced and AP classes, understands the frustrations students experience.
“The cheating issues in APUSH and many other classes gets really frustrating and annoying not only for myself but many of my friends,” Bosada said. “When you see someone cheating on a test or quiz that you studied really hard for, it’s not only frustrating but very discouraging, because these students end up getting higher grades and it makes it hard to want to continue pushing myself and working hard in the class.”
Ultimately, students must decide how they approach their education and whether they choose to cheat. Isaacs feels strongly about the impact of cheating and believes it deprives students of meaningful learning.
“Cheating is a problem because it robs you of your education. We live in a world where half the population reads below a 6th grade level,” Isaacs said. “Mis and Disinformation is getting harder and harder to discern from factual, quality journalism. I want students to remember that you are more than your grades.”
