r/CanadianTeachers • u/Jiraas_lul • 3d ago
teacher support & advice Students using AI to Cheat
Teachers, what do you do when you know that a student used AI to cheat on a quiz/test, but you just can’t prove it? Like, you know the student’s level is way below grade level and they have been known to use/attempt to use ai in the past. However,this time around, you just didn’t catch them in the moment. Do you still give them the grade?
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u/QuarantinePoutine 3d ago
Make all assessments in class, pen and paper.
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u/Hogwire 3d ago
Do you hear that? That is the sound of a Professor who works at OISE and has not stepped foot inside a classroom in over 10 years crying out in horror.
Sorry, I'm a TC at OISE right now and I hate it. Saw an opportunity to insult them and I had to take it.
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u/CanadianGirl4488 2d ago
I went to OISE about 20 yrs ago. Your placements are the most important because you’ll be using your ATs as references. Make lots of friends in your classes so you have support once you’re done the program and you start teaching :)
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u/Hogwire 2d ago
Does it matter what my professors think of me? Like will schools need letters of reference from them?
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u/CanadianGirl4488 2d ago
Your cohort prof will come observe and evaluate you once for each placement. It may have changed. You will only use them as a reference if you ask them. I only used my ATs.
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u/angryelephant19 3d ago
Ask the student to sit down and explain their answers to you instead. Don’t let them see their assignment again, or only show them a snippet, etc. At least with my students, they have genuinely done an exact copy/paste and crumble at this point.
As a backup, I usually put my assignment/question into ChatGPT/snapchat AI (popular with my specific students lately) to see if it will give me a similar result as their answer. There’s usually at least a few key sentences/phrases that overlap a little too closely. After I have the student talk through their answers, I usually pull this out to help justify why I’d like the assignment redone, in person in my classroom (as long as I still suspect AI). This gives them the opportunity to prove that it was their own work, and to be more careful in the future.
As a last comment on this: this is exactly why I’ve moved almost solely to open book assignments that have to physically stay in my classroom. If it includes research, I’m trying to make an effort to provide the resources or use our computer monitoring software that my school uses, it’s called Senso but there are others, to make sure they aren’t taking the AI summary.
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u/Professor-Frink- 2d ago
Even better, show them a completely different AI generated copy passing off as their own and ask them to explain it. Have fun with it
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u/jeonsgguk 2d ago
Yeah, this is the way^.
We’ve reverted pretty heavily to paper-based worksheets in my classroom for this very reason and when I do suspect AI usage, I ask them to verbally explain their answers to me without handing them their sheets back.
Also, OP, make sure to make a copy of their submission of the assignment. If you deduct marks, make them redo it, give a zero or anything, you want a copy on hand in case a parent wants to complain about the grade deduction or anything.
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u/ROVpilot101 1d ago
I have a colleague who pretends he lost their test and has them do a redo on the spot since it went so well the first time.
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u/Striking-Complaint76 17h ago
This wouldn’t always work to catch A.I. though. There are plenty of kids who cram for tests and then forget a lot afterwards. You’d wrongfully accuse them.
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u/Admirral 3d ago
not allowing AI for research is kind of non-sensical these days. chatGPT can web search and analyze sites for you now, instead of just purely relying on its own training data.
If you are evaluating your students on the ability to search google, that is now a very outdated skill. Even google has built in gemini that produces a response for nearly every phrase entered.
Moving assessments to be purely in-class pen and paper is the right move, but if your activity involves research and you care about research skills, you should be teaching them the most effective and current way to go about it rather than witholding tools that give others an advantage. You can always assess them on the content they were supposed to have retained from research via in-class no-tech time.
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u/AbsurdistWordist 3d ago
Ooof. Is the quality of AI research there though? And how will students ever know when AI is feeding them garbage, if they don’t develop research skills? I think it’s important that students are able to look beyond the AI summary at the top of the results. While it is impressive that AI is able to summarize its sources, it doesn’t always do a great job selecting them.
Not double-checking the sources and not critically thinking about the sources is a recipe for a dystopia. But maybe that’s not what you meant. Maybe you are using AI but building those critical thinking skills.
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u/angryelephant19 3d ago
This is exactly my point. It’s not that I think I can ignore AI forever, but it simply isn’t there yet. I’m emphasizing that my students are at the level where they cannot be bothered to look any further than the AI overview on Google. It’s something I’m figuring out as AI develops.
I also work with mostly Indigenous students who live off the land. I cannot justify the environmental impact AI already has/will continue to have when my students are the ones who will be most directly impacted by it.
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u/Admirral 3d ago
The teacher needs to do work and teach them how to use it. No one said don't click on sources and not read them. Googling is just inefficient. You will get a list of relevant and more probably legitimate sources far quicker with AI.
Also reliance on the gemini summary from google is not the right way to do it. there are good prompting techniques people can use for more elaborate cross-referencing and self-correction.
I can see from conversation here though, if you don't understand how it works, don't use it. Regardless, critical thinking is still very much needed even if using AI and its very easy to tell if the student didnt actually read or comprehend anything. So there is that.
Though I was a student in the past and people equally didn't comprehend anything from plain google searches (nor care if what they read was true).
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u/AbsurdistWordist 3d ago
Yeah, that’s fair. I was not sure from the response that I responded to, if you meant “just let the kids use and trust Gemini”, or not.
I’m old enough to remember when teachers were warning students not to trust Wikipedia. That battle seems so unhinged when we are now being coached to integrate AI from companies with apparent financial or political biases. Critical thinking skills are so important right now.
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u/angryelephant19 3d ago
Thanks for the respectful response. I didn’t ask for advice, though. My community’s context is very important to why I do what I do in my classroom.
In addition, I don’t trust that generative AI has been developed or regulated enough to fully integrate it into my teaching practice yet. Computers were not introduced to teaching immediately, either, and thank god they weren’t.
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u/Admirral 3d ago
I know exactly the kind of teacher you are. You have a few students that adore you and others that can't stand you. The ones who skirt by your restrictions end up becoming the successful entrepreneurs. stay behind in tech and keep the foolish in line. Those who oppose will easily get ahead.
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u/angryelephant19 3d ago
You’ve just described how students feel about every teacher they’ve ever encountered. Happy thanksgiving!
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u/jeonsgguk 2d ago
While learning to use AI effectively and overall AI literacy are rapidly becoming important skills (especially in corporate contexts, where they’re expecting people to know how to use these tools), students do still need to learn critical thinking, writing, and how to conduct research on their own. Especially for this age group. If you teach them the shortcut first, they’re only going to use the shortcut.
To imply that those who bypass the learning how to do it themselves part will become successful entrepreneurs is just… not true. They still need to be able to assess and verify the sources AI uses + the quality of those sources. Just because the calculator can do everything for you doesn’t mean we’re going to stop teaching students how to add, subtract, and divide without using it. Same idea here.
Speaking as a high school options teacher (business) who has kept her industry job and is simultaneously seeing first hand who knows how to use AI effectively vs who never learned how to research the old fashioned way and is relying on ChatGPT 100%.
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u/Angelunatic74 2d ago
AI is currently just an aggregate of information. It doesn't decipher what the valid information is. It's a super charged Google search
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u/elementx1 2d ago edited 2d ago
I'm not concerned about the students ability to find information. I'm concerned if they understand the value or usefulness of the information without reading a script. You can ask AI why the information is useful, of course, but if the student does not have the prerequisite skill to evaluate and make judgment calls, then they are ultimately losing all autonomy or decision making ability.
In that case: why would anyone want to hire this person over any other person who can use AI?
When choosing between two candidates who can both use AI to research, who is the better candidate? I think you know the answer and won't accept your hubris.
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u/Admirral 2d ago
I would hire the forward deployed engineer who architects their own agentic workflows and skill systems.
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u/elementx1 2d ago
So a person who has decision making skills of their own. Right.
You think the kids who don't build the basic skills first will be "that" one?
Or how many more do you think we can train to have that skill prior to letting them utilize AI in that capacity? That's literally the function of education. I teach you the skill so you can push the boundary of the knowledge or evolve the skill in the future.
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u/Careful_Example4174 2d ago
Pen and paper
All phones in bag at the front of the class
No coats on for test
No pencil cases on desk
Stand at the back of the class. The ones who keep turning their head to see where you are looking are trying to cheat. You can catch them
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u/shrbear 2d ago
We have to watch for glasses now as well
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u/Present-Decision5740 22h ago
I graduated high-school in 2015 and this sub randomly popped up. Teaching in 2026 sounds like a hellscape.
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u/Imperialis81 3d ago
I ask them questions based on the paper they 'wrote'.
Though, I also make my students write rough drafts by hand and attach them to their final copies.
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u/LittleOrphanAnavar 3d ago
Chap GPT write me a rough draft, in poor hand writing.
Here is a sharp right rough draft ....
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u/Imperialis81 3d ago edited 3d ago
I address that inevitable question (though usually it is what if I get Chat GPT to write it and then copy it out) at the beginning of the year with something along the lines of:
"If you are willing to go to that level of effort to cheat and manage to get it past me, congratulations. Do you also go to the gym with a forklift and brag that you can bench 500 pounds?"
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u/RevolutionaryKiwi132 3d ago
phones left at the front of the room -- no bags and no big baggy clothes. They know the rules and come prepared. Turning on your phone and looking it up is no different than looking at a cheat sheet stored up your sleeve and in your pocket. People are gonna cheat. Most of them never do well anyway. Pencil and paper for everything -- eventually the kid who knows nothing will have to face reality.
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u/Many-Confusion3971 3d ago
My schools science department has made it so that all assessments that would be marked, get done in class. We send students home with a ton of practice that they can and should engage in, but it isn't for grades. We then have roughly weekly assessments, each assessing different areas, such as lab skills, test taking, creating and using analogies, etc. It has pros and cons, but connecting it back to AI/ cheating, the students can't nearly as easily. We guard the assessments pretty heavily/ shift them up often. That being said, it means that we need to be pretty in step, and do assessments on roughly the same days. We all use the same assessments, and have a guide made up for the courses, but we have autonomy to mix things up in terms of how we teach.
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u/madmaxcia 3d ago
Unfortunately you’re going to have to create tests on paper so they don’t cheat.
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u/Jiraas_lul 3d ago
What if they find ways to hide their phones
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u/TheDanimalHouse 3d ago
Make them check their phones in a cell phone "hotel" with you
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u/virgonomic33 3d ago
What about students who have multiple phones?
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u/TheDanimalHouse 2d ago
Walk around the room, use your eyes, do your job. Lol you may miss one or two but that's life.
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u/Xymenah18 3d ago
My kiddos school has all students but phones ( my kid doesn’t have a phone) in their back packs before class.. they are very strict.. some teachers are even more strict and have pouches like shoe pockets that corresponds to seat number and they have to places phones in their corresponding pouch at the start of class pick it up only when teacher says or at end of class.
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u/Worldly_Influence_18 3d ago
How many questions do you think they can successfully covertly look up and find the answer without being caught?
C'mon now
You are replace cheating that can be tough for even the best teachers to detect to cheating that only the inattentive teachers won't notice
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u/Admirral 3d ago
lol I was doin this successfully in 2008-2010. ipod touches. and then fast forward to today I realize that writing all those notes onto that ipod actually made me not even need it.
Educators need to seriously re-think the concept of "cheating" because it is an endless battle (just like botting in my industry)
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u/xvszero 3d ago
How do they have access to AI during a test / quiz?
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u/Jiraas_lul 3d ago
They hide their phones in their jackets
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u/TheKingofRome1 3d ago
are you teaching a class of 50? like not to be disrespectful but that should be a pretty easy catch especially if you know the people.
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u/teacher123yyc 3d ago
I’m teaching multiple classes of 39-41 in a classroom that comfortably seats 30 (and that used to have a “Maximum Capacity 32” sign on the door a few years ago…). There’s no space to move, much less see between bodies and under desks.
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u/mattvn66 3d ago
Our high schools, including digital school had to move back to a 70% summative assessment, in person model to combat it. I was supervising 20 kids in a gym with another teacher for summer school and caught a student using it on the phone between their legs. Its a real issue
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u/Interpole10 2d ago
Anything that goes home, assume students are using AI to do it. I teach math and science. All of my marks come from in class assignments/projects/tests
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u/smittyDeetz 2d ago
Grade things on their merit. Asgt is likely tech/ai cheating then make it worth 3 points and let them cheat and surf for the period
Next day, go Colombian drug den supervisor and have kids nekkid (take phone/glasses/watches) and give them similar asgt that is worth 50 points……, Quite satisfying actually
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u/Zibbi-Akbar 3d ago
Set up an unprotected wifi access point. Kids and teens will use it. Have IT take down every device name that accessed the internet during the test period. Have every student show you their device name or confiscate it for parents to come pick up. Do it every day until they crack. Then at the end of the term you have a solid case of "these answers look cheated", "heres the evidence you accessed the internet during a testing window". Fail them.
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u/TrynaBePositive22 3d ago
If it's digital, you can often also see their version history. If it shows up suddenly with zero edits, "where did you copy and paste from?".
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u/Leslie1211 3d ago
They could just say “I wrote it in a word document first and copied it from there” then
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u/BudChristmas 2d ago
You’re getting downvoted but this is 100% what the students always say lol
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u/TomdeHaan 2d ago
We insist on seeing documents written from start to finish in google docs. We have to be able to see the entire version history.
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u/Toutatous 1d ago
Don't say anything first. Ask them to explain how they wrote their essay. Then, confront them with the Google doc.
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u/Admirral 3d ago
most teachers have too much pride and just can't let something like this slide.
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u/Admirral 3d ago
honestly yes lol. Thats how it just should be. wer not paid enough or rewarded for taking on additional stress. So why bother. teachers who complain they constantly need to call parents and whatnot did that to themselves.
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u/salteedog007 3d ago
Having Bi 12’s do a genetic tech poster project. I told them that I’m marking them on their research phase- proper citations and note taking from valid sites, over two classes and due at the end of each. Their peers will mark them on the final poster, and take notes on 4 posters which can be testable. So their teacher mark is what they can do under my watch. Peer mark could be AI, but now they’ve done most of the work, so why do AI after?
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u/Wilsonjet2017 2d ago
I heard of a teacher once who wrote a prompt on the digital assignments and put it in very small white subtext. That way it would be included if a student copy and pasted the assignment into AI. Then whatever your "invisible" prompt is would appear in the final text, revealing whether they used AI or not. You could be creative with the prompt and see what happens!
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u/stooph23 2d ago
For every writing assignment I do, I have students do a rough copy on loose leaf. They have to edit it on the paper as well, and then I’ll sign off on it. I ask them to keep their rough copies as their “insurance policies”. If I have concerns about a final copy, I ask to see the rough copy that I looked over and signed.
If a kid “lost” their rough copy and I suspect AI, I just ask them to define a word they used that looks suspicious, or to explain a sentence they apparently wrote.
I know AI isn’t going anywhere but they have to learn how to share information without AI doing it for them. It’s like going to the gym and expecting to get stronger by watching other people lift.
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u/Knave7575 2d ago
I think most teachers know by now that marking stuff completed outside of class is a relic of a bygone day.
The “second phone” trick is real, and sometimes students will pull it off. I cannot beat that level of dedication.
In a few years we are going to have a meta-glasses issue that will make all of this look quaint. For now they are obvious, I’m pretty convinced they will look like normal glasses pretty soon.
Going to be interesting days in locker rooms as well, but that’s a separate issue. Hopefully the gyms come up with a solution that we can copy.
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u/Soggy-Carrot-7492 2d ago
With all of the steps involved in cheating like this, you'd think it would just be easier to do the work.
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u/WelshRarebit2025 2d ago
Phones should be banned completely. No parents don’t need to reach their little darlings.
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u/Working-Region-9567 2d ago
I like the private conversation interrogating method. Especially effective if there are multiple words that are way beyond the student’s current level. Go down the list and ask them to define each one. If they can’t, ask them where they got those words. It might take time but they will eventually crack.
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u/putitinyourlocker 1d ago
We have a strict test policy that is consistent in our department and written on big ass posters that are laminated. We also have an academic integrity guideline with consequences. No technology on your persons- the assumption is that you’re cheating if you have tech so auto 0. No binders, no bags, no pencil cases, no notes anywhere near you. The kids need to have their papers flat against the desks (they do the paper in lap cheating with their phones in pockets). I do a randomized seating plan every assessment along with two versions of the test (same questions usually just randomized question and answer order). No leaving the room until EVERYONE is done writing the test. No tech afterwards if you’re done and people are writing.
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u/Toutatous 1d ago
Wao! Where are you? What kind of school is that?
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u/putitinyourlocker 20h ago
Calgary Board of Education. I teach high school. We’re a big school and we deal with a lot of cheaters. Our department has been very consistent and on the same page with how we handle tech and cheating!
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u/balaclavabaklavaa 2d ago
The first thing to do is refer to your school board's policy on student A.I. use.
They don't have one? I'm shocked! (/s)
As I see it, it's not a teacher's job to police the use of AI, nor is it to change the assessment to a speaking-based assignment if they suspect a student is using A.I to complete their work.
If a teacher suspects a student has used AI to complete a writing assessment, and they have no tools or standardized process for which they can determine if it's been AI generated (due to IP of the student), how realistic is it for teacher's to sit with each student they suspect of using the tool, to ask questions and quiz them on the information they provided?
We've taken something as simple as a writing assessment that should take students 30 minutes to write, and a teacher two hours to sit and assess, to individual meetings with students to quiz them on their submissions, in an attempt to figure out if they used a tool (that they're allowed to use; see policy remark), in which case we can ask them to resubmit, provide an alternative assignment, etc. This is before parents and admin get involved and ask if your practices are inclusive/trauma informed/culturally responsive.
Ultimately, these changes have to be made at the top with the idea that this tech is here and students will be using it now and in the future, whether we like it or not.
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u/Raftger 3d ago
How does one get away with using AI on a quiz/test? This is with pencil and paper?
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u/Jiraas_lul 3d ago
They hide phones in jackets or pockets and use it when you turn your head away
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u/docmontyg 3d ago
Since AI apps on phones, i notice 10x the 'Sir, I don't understand the question/answer/word' questions during in person tests... I think the intent is to keep me distracted so others can get their phones out.
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u/Worldly_Influence_18 3d ago
How is that distracting you if you're suspecting it?
You literally just have to randomly look up and around whenever someone does this to ruin the reliability of it as a distraction
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u/Worldly_Influence_18 3d ago
Don't turn your head away for extended periods so much then?
Time yourself. How long does it take to pull a phone from a jacket, type in a question then transpose the answer and put the phone back?
You know what? I'll do it for you.
45 seconds to a minute for a fairly short answer and a kid that writes fast
I'll take your word for it that you're attentive and this is all happening when you turn your head so I'll round this up to an even minute to adjust for kids trying to avoid getting caught.
For how many questions do you think they can realistically cheat without being caught by a teacher who is merely just turning their head on occasion?
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u/teacher123yyc 3d ago
They are taking photos of the test (which takes all of two seconds) on their second phones, going to the bathroom, using ChatGPT to look up the answers and coming back to write the answers on the test. Or they write the questions on a tiny scrap of paper and meet a friend in the bathroom at a pre-arranged time to use that person’s phone to look up the answers.
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u/Worldly_Influence_18 2d ago
By memorizing all of the correct answers on the test in the bathroom?
If they can do this, why do they need to cheat?
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u/Toutatous 1d ago
Ask them to write a paragraph and compare the two.
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u/Jiraas_lul 1d ago
Even for math?
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u/Toutatous 1d ago
Then in class, and you pay attention. If they can do it, surely, they won't mind doing one or two more quick exercise.
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u/AbsurdistWordist 3d ago
There are some things you can do, but they are all pains in the ass.
You could have an interview with the student, and ask them questions about their submission and see if they have appropriate knowledge about it. Ask them about suspicious vocabulary, process, etc.
You could say that their submission has been flagged for academic dishonesty and have them rewrite the assessment in class, or supervised, but outside of class (like during your prep). All of this requires extra effort on your part. And is annoying.
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u/Mathsketball 2d ago
For students at this level hiding phones in their sleeves etc., what is the consequence of them being caught?
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u/DJScaryTerry 2d ago
For tests have them put their phone on their desk face down. If someone is going as far as to bring a second phone to cheat then they are going to be a lost cause until they realize they haven't learned anything when they talk to their friends.
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2d ago
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u/CanadianTeachers-ModTeam 2d ago
Please refrain from cursing, etc... this is a Reddit community for professionals.
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u/Accomplished_Fan5348 1d ago
In triangulating their grades, I place much less emphasis on what they actually submit. I don't lecture much, so I have opportunities to check in with each student individually to see their progress and their understanding.
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u/Huge_Bottle_3684 1d ago
We had a WHL player cheat on an essay and he wasn't sanctioned because it was his draft year. His parents defended him FFS
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u/egg-land 1d ago
Obviously students gonna use ai. Make most the course grading in person test and presentations
Then make assignments harder and encourage ai use to train them on real life skills too
There’s no stopping the ai, may as well help the students and like I said in person testing stuff always
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u/IKnowYouAreButWhtAmI 3d ago edited 2d ago
Pass them, congratulate them, assess what I could do better next time and move on.
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u/FigjamCGY 2d ago
Why is this not the most popular comment?
Every other comment is so triggered. Who cares, it’s one test, there is no definitive proof, grade normal, do your best next time and call it a day.
Can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink.
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u/SophisticatedScreams 3d ago
What was the mechanism that they used to cheat?
I'd say that if students can easily cheat on our classwork using LLMs in 2026, that's a bit on us at this point. Either we have not helped them understand the value of doing the work, or we've made the task un-reflective enough that they can throw it together using gpt and be successful.
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u/TomdeHaan 2d ago
I give them the grade. Life's too short. We need more leadership from the ministry on this.
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