Expert: Wanda Thibodeaux - 3/4/2009

Question
Example:

What if Jenna and Jane are studying for a test.
Jenna has already taken the test but is helping Jane prepare for the test.
Jenna tells Jane one of the questions on the test but not the answer.
Jane does not cheat during the test and does not look off of anyone's paper and does her own work.
Is this cheating?

Answer
This is tricky because of the way some teachers operate. I honestly have had teachers in the past who provided study sheets of the actual test questions--they simply selected only a portion of the questions to have on the actual test. I would say that it boils down to who provided the material. If not everyone has access to the same data, then "Jane" would have an unfair advantage over others and thus would be considered to be cheating because the other students would not have had the same opportunity she did to prepare for that question. If, however, every student is given data by someone who is in the position to administer the test, then this is not cheating because everyone has the same chance to find the answers and has the same information to work with.