Students use UV light to cheat in exams – KNUST research reveals

The skin or clothes have traditionally been used by many students to aid in cheating during examinations.

In addition to these, most invigilators are aware of the use of calculators, phones and watches to cheat.

However, a study by the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology has found one which eludes the invigilators and that is the use of UV light.

The use of UV pens involve students writing the answers with an inkless pen on any material they are allowed to take into the exam hall.

The rise in academic cheating indicates that students are finding innovative techniques to cheat during examinations.

This situation has left invigilators and academic stakeholders at their wits end.

The study published in the journal of Educational Research International sought to explore the techniques used by students during examinations.

The study revealed that the innovative techniques used by students were sitting arrangements, use of body parts, use of foreign materials, and the use of technology.

Dr. John Boulard Forkour, the lead researcher, said “In the course of the exam, all they did was to shine or focus the red rays of the pen onto the surface; then, all the answers would appear.

“Most invigilators are aware of other technological devices that students use to cheat but with the UV light, most of them are not aware,” he said.

One of the students interviewed by the researchers revealed: “They think it is an ordinary pen. Well, I sometimes tell some of the invigilators that it is an ordinary pen. I have an inkless pen that comes with the UV pen.

“All I have to do is write all perceived answers on a sheet in my mathematical set and send it in. Thereafter, I use the UV light to reveal the answers. Easy right?”

Dr. Forkour recommended that, “To curtail academic cheating, educational authorities should not only improve institutional mechanisms to prevent cheating but also make a conscious effort to alter students’ perception on cheating.”

SOURCE: Emmanuel Kwasi Debrah