FARK.com: (7159735) Student caught with 35-foot long cheat sheet filled with 25,000 answers -- when he could have just used that time to study

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		Student caught with 35-foot long cheat sheet filled with 25,000 answers -- when he could have just used that time to study (gizmodo.com)		60
		More: Dumbass, crib sheets, entrance exams, cheats, valedictorians

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tenpoundsofcheese		2012-06-13 12:19:35 AM

The picture is a classic.

Yes, he had a 35 foot long cheat cheat that had answers like: 43: C. 44: A.

I_C_Weener		2012-06-13 12:30:53 AM

Snarcoleptic_Hoosier		2012-06-13 12:50:56 AM

A lep is still a ball

/Don't know why I remember that

bow		2012-06-13 12:51:50 AM

Protip; don't get caught.

Bucky Katt		2012-06-13 01:54:43 AM

That kid must have a really big pocket.

Apos		2012-06-13 02:28:32 AM

I get no kicks from mock tests (Oooo! Oooo!)
Time in study hall doesn't thrill me at all!
So tell me why,then,should it be true....
That a cheat sheet,I get a kick out of yooooou!

Richard Saunders		2012-06-13 04:24:17 AM

bow: Protip; don't get caught.

Grables'Daughter		2012-06-13 06:06:48 AM

Bucky Katt: That kid must have a really big pocket.

technabob.com

pieterh		2012-06-13 06:57:22 AM

It's a bad translation from Russian. What the original article from the Kazakh Workers' Daily says is, roughly, that the student was caught selling exam answers and was caught with 35 different sets of answers and was fined 25,000 Roubles and two chickens. Also that the stated crime was "larceny and indecent capitalism" due to the price he was charging for the exam answers, which was only 1/10th the official price set by the National Teachers and Road Workers' Union. Then the article drifts off into random praise for Nursultan Nazarbayev and ends with a call to all true Kazakhs to wash more often.

Sudo_Make_Me_A_Sandwich		2012-06-13 06:57:58 AM

Snarcoleptic_Hoosier: A lep is still a ball

Man, I didn't realize there were other farkers with nonsense words burned into their skull from too many ISTEP tests. That brings back so many horrible memories.

KellyKellyKelly		2012-06-13 07:06:02 AM

Kinda impressed.

PanicMan		2012-06-13 07:13:27 AM

Easy. Allow cheat sheets, but shorten the test time. Poorly made or copied sheets will be useless.

some_beer_drinker		2012-06-13 07:18:25 AM

The high school student who was cheating on an university entrance exam in Kazakhstan.....

i no longer give a fark, i expect this from asians

Muta		2012-06-13 07:21:56 AM

I cheated my way through my Stats and Calc classes in college. We were allowed a sheet of scratch paper to do the work. I printed the formula on the sheet using the palest gray that I could read. The chances were slim the instructor could read the formula standing next to my desk as he passed out the tests but just to be sure, I'd pick the page up and show him that both sides were "blank". It'd be impossible to notice any text if the page was moving.

GranoblasticMan		2012-06-13 07:21:59 AM

I never understood the mentality of "closed-book, closed-notes" tests. Granted, I played the game by the rules and was always one of the lucky ones who just tests well, but after school, when you're out in the "Real World," we call cheat sheets "reference material."

Case in point: I'm a chef. I had to memorize all sorts of temperatures and other regulations for my ServSafe certification. That's fine and dandy, and it is good to know it off-hand, but you'd be fooling yourself if you think minimum internal temperature charts aren't plastered all over the kitchen.

The weirder stuff I had to memorize for that test, though, was lighting requirements in different parts of the restaurant (I believe it was in lumens?). Yeah, not sure how to test that exactly without what must be needlessly expensive equipment.

hobblekitty		2012-06-13 07:39:33 AM

He probably retained more of the material than he realized just by recopying everything. Re-writing my notes was always an effective study tool for me.

CSB time!

When I was in high school, my economics teacher would give everyone in the class a 1"x3" piece of paper before every test. That was our cheat sheet. As many notes as we could fit onto that tiny sheet of paper we could bring into the test with us. He would also award 2 bonus points to the student who could get the most notes on their sheet. I got that 2 points on more than one occasion. I managed to fit an entire chapter including a pie chart on there one time. Incidentally, after doing all that I knew the material really well and barely needed to reference the sheet.

/CSB

Honest Bender		2012-06-13 07:41:26 AM

Muta: I cheated my way through my Stats and Calc classes in college. We were allowed a sheet of scratch paper to do the work.

We were allowed calculators. Ti-89's can store text files...

gtfan92		2012-06-13 07:45:45 AM

hobblekitty: Incidentally, after doing all that I knew the material really well and barely needed to reference the sheet.

This is what I came to say. If I was allowed a cheat sheet on a test, I barely used it because, hell, I'd had actually taken the time to write out and memorize the thing before. It was a fantastic study tool.

Muta		2012-06-13 07:53:07 AM

hobblekitty: He probably retained more of the material than he realized just by recopying everything. Re-writing my notes was always an effective study tool for me.

That is how I got through my accounting classes. The test usually consisted of two long journals and some short answer/multiple guess questions. The journals were loosely based on the ones in the text book. I'd spend the two hours before the test copying the text book examples three times or so. During the test I could crank through the journals with my eyes closed. I wouldn't be able to answer If you asked me a question 3 hours later since I didn't retain anything but I got A's in all my accounting classes.

After reading how I got through Stats, Calc and Accounts, you'd be correct if you thought that I was just cruising through my professional career getting by with the minimum of effort. You know what? It's working out fairly well. I've only got to pull this off for about 25 years and I've only got about 7 more years before I can retire.

Pathman		2012-06-13 08:06:35 AM

Wait, he's Asian? Why didn't he just cheat off the guy next to him?

GardenWeasel		2012-06-13 08:10:03 AM

My senior year @ Purdue, our SQL prof allowed 1 8.5x11 sheet of notes for the final. At the time, I worked 3rd shift at Kinkos's. We had a machine with a 24x36 pane of glass that could shrink 25% at a time. I could shrink 9 pages at a time. With margins cut off, I was able to get 15 2"x3" tiles on each side of the paper. Each tile contained 9 pages from the manual. In the end I was able to put the entire 250 page manual on 1 double sided sheet of paper, plus leave room for a few notes of my own. I gave it to the prof when I handed in the test. He gave me 1 pt extra credit for it.

debbie_does_dishes		2012-06-13 08:10:29 AM

Snarcoleptic_Hoosier: A lep is still a ball

/Don't know why I remember that

A Baloo is a Bear.

AbbeySomeone		2012-06-13 08:29:29 AM

pieterh: It's a bad translation from Russian. What the original article from the Kazakh Workers' Daily says is, roughly, that the student was caught selling exam answers and was caught with 35 different sets of answers and was fined 25,000 Roubles and two chickens. Also that the stated crime was "larceny and indecent capitalism" due to the price he was charging for the exam answers, which was only 1/10th the official price set by the National Teachers and Road Workers' Union. Then the article drifts off into random praise for Nursultan Nazarbayev and ends with a call to all true Kazakhs to wash more often.

That makes more sense.

Wade_Wilson		2012-06-13 08:46:09 AM

Honest Bender: Muta: I cheated my way through my Stats and Calc classes in college. We were allowed a sheet of scratch paper to do the work.

We were allowed calculators. Ti-89's can store text files...

I was the only one in my statistics class who knew how to program a calculator. Made that class a breeze, it was all just plugging stuff into formulas.

LazarusLong42		2012-06-13 08:46:24 AM

KellyKellyKelly: Kinda impressed.

I can't believe I thought of the same thing.

Wade_Wilson		2012-06-13 08:48:24 AM

"Right, they're bound to ask the right thigh, which is 10 per cent. They must ask the left thigh, which is 20 per cent. They've got to ask one of the forearms. Which means I've passed already; anything on the left shin's a bonus! Right. *Looks at one arm* `CUTIE'. Current under tension is ... what's this? Current under tension is equal? Current under tension is expendable? Current under tension is expensive? What does this mean? *Begins to panic* What does any of it mean? I've covered my body in complete and utter and total absolute nonsense gibberish!"

palelizard		2012-06-13 08:49:05 AM

Muta: I cheated my way through my Stats and Calc classes in college. We were allowed a sheet of scratch paper to do the work. I printed the formula on the sheet using the palest gray that I could read. The chances were slim the instructor could read the formula standing next to my desk as he passed out the tests but just to be sure, I'd pick the page up and show him that both sides were "blank". It'd be impossible to notice any text if the page was moving.

You may have had crappy instructors. All our exams beyond the very basic were open note, open book, including my grad school tests. The general attitude in our stat department was "in the real world, you'll have reference material". The tests stopped being about memorization and became about application.

Lor M. Ipsum		2012-06-13 08:53:00 AM

PanicMan: Easy. Allow cheat sheets, but shorten the test time. Poorly made or copied sheets will be useless.

This. In my experiences, I learned more from creating "cheat sheets" in the classes that allowed it than trying to cram into my head every iota of information from every obscure corner of the course materials.

MythDragon		2012-06-13 08:55:25 AM

In High school, we were often required to make book covers to protect the school's books. They were usualy made out of heavy card paper. We were allowed to draw on the covers, so I would write notes and answers in the shape of various designes all over the covers. The come test time, I would just glance over at my closed book.

In college, just before a test, I would draw lightly on the desk in pencil (it was wood grain so really hard to see). A simple wipe of the palm and the notes would be gone.

One time at band camp		2012-06-13 08:56:32 AM

The prof for my 3rd semester calculus class gave us a full notebook sheet of notes for our final as a cheat sheet. After I aced the test, he had the gall to yell at me because he had to write a new one. What did he expect?

/only used half of one side of the sheet

dittybopper		2012-06-13 08:59:58 AM

Honest Bender: Muta: I cheated my way through my Stats and Calc classes in college. We were allowed a sheet of scratch paper to do the work.

We were allowed calculators. Ti-89's can store text files...

Heh.

The Army makes you take what are called "Skill Qualification Tests" once a year. Those are tests that make sure you know what your job is. You don't want to fail an SQT, but I can't recall that happening to anyone. Then again, we used those skills every day, being actively engaged in the SIGINT business.

Anyway, the SQT for Morse interceptors consisted of a couple of parts: One was actually copying Morse by writing down what you heard from a tape, and the other was written. The interesting part is that the NCOs giving the tests weren't dittyboppers, and didn't know Morse. So, on the written portion, if you got stuck on a question (an admitted rarity), you could tap out the question number on your desk, and if a neighboring person knew the answer and was predisposed to helping, they would discretely tap back the answer. This actually worked because the questions were always multiple choice, and A, B, C, and D are distinct enough in Morse that just the pattern of tapping sufficed to convey the message. This is also true for the numbers. Had the answers required been "A, N, I, M", we probably couldn't have managed it just via tapping.

It also helped that generally one side of the room during the test session was taking the Morse portion while the other side was taking the written, due to a lack of tape players: There was enough "QRM/QRN" going on that the faint tappings of fingers or pencil erasers wasn't blatantly obvious.

superdude72		2012-06-13 09:01:16 AM

I wonder if he actually wrote out that cheat sheet by hand. I suspect he printed out a bunch of crap off the Internet. Easy to get a 35 foot long sheet that way.

BenJammin		2012-06-13 09:02:28 AM

Next time try a 35 foot long python.

garandman1a		2012-06-13 09:07:29 AM

hobblekitty: Incidentally, after doing all that I knew the material really well and barely needed to reference the sheet.

I found the same thing exactly. The time it takes to figure out what to write so it will give you the answer, along with the time it takes to do it small and legibly certainly went a long way to learning the material.

However, it didn't keep me from selling my cheat sheet to others (mine were fairly known as very helpful), so it was a win/win. I made money, learned the material, and didn't cheat ultimately.

THX 1138		2012-06-13 09:18:57 AM

In situations (usually math of some sort) where we were given a sheet of blank scratch paper right at the beginning of an exam, I'd often come to the rest with my formulae written on my calculator with a very fine-tipped pencil. Then once the test begain, I'd write them all on the scratch paper to make it look like a brain dump, then a good old lick of the finger and wipe to the calculator would erase any evidence of wrongdoing.

Balchinian		2012-06-13 09:38:21 AM

I had a 35 foot sheet once. At least it felt like it was that long.

GameSprocket		2012-06-13 09:42:07 AM

Well, there is only so much body area.

SkunkWerks		2012-06-13 09:43:16 AM

I thought part of the point of a "cheat sheet" was portability.

ha-ha-guy		2012-06-13 09:53:27 AM

gtfan92: hobblekitty: Incidentally, after doing all that I knew the material really well and barely needed to reference the sheet.

This is what I came to say. If I was allowed a cheat sheet on a test, I barely used it because, hell, I'd had actually taken the time to write out and memorize the thing before. It was a fantastic study tool.

Exactly. The good tests are the ones where if you have to look up everything in the book, you won't have time to complete the test. Basically the book/note sheet is there to let you catch yourself if you transpose something in the formula, but if you have to desperately page through the book for every question, you'll only get 60% of the test done in time.

In real life the first thing I do after working out the solution to something is go consult my reference manuals for that part. The last thing I want to do is be the chump standing there with an incorrect fix at a meeting. So I have a giant stack of books beside my desk and they all get used.

StreetlightInTheGhetto		2012-06-13 09:55:46 AM

hobblekitty: He probably retained more of the material than he realized just by recopying everything. Re-writing my notes was always an effective study tool for me.

CSB time!

When I was in high school, my economics teacher would give everyone in the class a 1"x3" piece of paper before every test. That was our cheat sheet. As many notes as we could fit onto that tiny sheet of paper we could bring into the test with us. He would also award 2 bonus points to the student who could get the most notes on their sheet. I got that 2 points on more than one occasion. I managed to fit an entire chapter including a pie chart on there one time. Incidentally, after doing all that I knew the material really well and barely needed to reference the sheet.

/CSB

Yep, your teacher was kinda clever.

Through most of college we had either note card, note sheet, or open book tests. Math and science and engin - if you don't know how to *apply* the formulas all the notes in the world aren't gonna help, especially when you have fifty minutes for ten problems with multiple steps.

Anyway, some of my note sheets are really effing things of beauty, and for the classes where I got a whole sheet - making the note sheet, organizing the info, etc. was my entire test studying routine. Worked out pretty well. Plus the look of amazement on my academic adviser's face every time I showed her my handiwork during finals was pretty awesome.

unchellmatt		2012-06-13 09:58:37 AM

GameSprocket: [gazpachosoup.files.wordpress.com image 300x300]

Well, there is only so much body area.

True, but it does not end well... Especially if one is prone to sweating under stress.

web.mit.edu

awfulawful		2012-06-13 10:03:05 AM

I liked the approach that my stats professor in grad school took. Not only did he acknowledge that we would never have to memorize any of the material in the real world, but also that we would never be doing the math by hand. On exams we were allowed to either answer a question with the actual answer, or by writing the formula, complete with all inputs, that Excel would use to calculate the answer.

stonicus		2012-06-13 10:09:55 AM

Testing memorization is silly now-a-days. All tests should be open book. Knowing how to find the answers is what is important. I've NEVER EVER been at work and had my boss come up to me and say "Stop using that calculator! Stop looking in that math book!" In fact, if I wasn't using all the tools available to me, I'd probably be fired.

das224		2012-06-13 10:30:10 AM

Gotta admit 35 feet is impressive. Probably has a line in there with the conversion from feet to metric. I give students all the formulas they need, so any cheating then comes from the really clueless who don't know what to DO with the equation, and has to prairie-dog to copy anyway. They inevitably get busted.

poot_rootbeer		2012-06-13 10:40:54 AM

He's this close to re-inventing "book".

grinding_journalist		2012-06-13 10:45:23 AM

stonicus: Testing memorization is silly now-a-days. All tests should be open book. Knowing how to find the answers is what is important. I've NEVER EVER been at work and had my boss come up to me and say "Stop using that calculator! Stop looking in that math book!" In fact, if I wasn't using all the tools available to me, I'd probably be fired.

Recently got certified in medical coding; had to take a standardized test for it. We were allowed to copy anything we wanted into the blank space in our books, as the books are one of a coder's most useful tools. In my case, i copied the things that weren't in the code books, but knew I'd be tested on (like the cook who had to know lumens in the kitchen) - stuff like "Which govt accounting office is responsible for ____" Stuff I'd never need to know, and could find out with a cursory google.

In the real world, the books are about 50% of what I need to do my job- I use internet forums, newsgroups, google, and medical dictionaries. The disconnect between a testing scenario and the real world is mind boggling. God forbit I'm tested on things that are relevant to my work.

/out of 12 test takers, 3 passed.
//I did

Carn		2012-06-13 10:53:28 AM

Sudo_Make_Me_A_Sandwich: Snarcoleptic_Hoosier: A lep is still a ball

Man, I didn't realize there were other farkers with nonsense words burned into their skull from too many ISTEP tests. That brings back so many horrible memories.

A baloo is a bear. Wuzzle means to mix. A yonker is a young man.

/always aced that part

Carn		2012-06-13 10:58:31 AM

Carn: Sudo_Make_Me_A_Sandwich: Snarcoleptic_Hoosier: A lep is still a ball

Man, I didn't realize there were other farkers with nonsense words burned into their skull from too many ISTEP tests. That brings back so many horrible memories.

A baloo is a bear. Wuzzle means to mix. A yonker is a young man.

/always aced ~~that part~~ the whole thing

FTFM. The ISTEP was a colossal waste of time. Do they still take it?

Carn		2012-06-13 11:01:52 AM

grinding_journalist: stonicus: Testing memorization is silly now-a-days. All tests should be open book. Knowing how to find the answers is what is important. I've NEVER EVER been at work and had my boss come up to me and say "Stop using that calculator! Stop looking in that math book!" In fact, if I wasn't using all the tools available to me, I'd probably be fired.

Recently got certified in medical coding; had to take a standardized test for it. We were allowed to copy anything we wanted into the blank space in our books, as the books are one of a coder's most useful tools. In my case, i copied the things that weren't in the code books, but knew I'd be tested on (like the cook who had to know lumens in the kitchen) - stuff like "Which govt accounting office is responsible for ____" Stuff I'd never need to know, and could find out with a cursory google.

In the real world, the books are about 50% of what I need to do my job- I use internet forums, newsgroups, google, and medical dictionaries. The disconnect between a testing scenario and the real world is mind boggling. God forbit I'm tested on things that are relevant to my work.

/out of 12 test takers, 3 passed.
//I did

Programming is one of those disciplines where formal testing doesn't prove anything, in fact, it often does the opposite. I know most of my junior and senior year computer science classes were mostly project work and homework grades with very few exams. Like you say, what's the point of making you memorize something that will always be there in a reference? That's why I kinda hate studying for certifications. It's nice to get that little stamp on your resume but if I see a guy with 200 certs, I strongly doubt his ability to actually code anything.

massfeud		2012-06-13 11:13:28 AM

Not impressed, not even a little.

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