http://www.odditycentral.com/news/bizarre-anti-cheating-paper-hats-spark-controversy-in-thailand.html Bizarre Anti-Cheating Paper Hats Spark Controversy in Thailand By Spooky on August 19th, 2013 Category: News A photo showing students of a renowned Bangkok university wearing strange headgear complete with side flaps to thwart cheating during a midterm exam caused quite a stir after it was uploaded to Facebook as a joke. Teachers at Kasetsart University in Thailand have recently come under fire for making their students wear horse blinder-like devices made of paper to prevent them from cheating on their exams. A photo showing around 100 students wearing the rudimentary anti-cheating hats was recently posted on Facebook by the KU student board, where it got so many negative reactions that it was eventually removed. Unfortunately for the Thai learning institution the photo had already been picked up by the media and the negative responses just kept on coming. However, it appears the students were not pressured into wearing the paper blinders, in fact they were the one who suggested it. ‘‘It was an agreement between us. No student was forced to wear a hat. Instead, all were happy to do so and thought it was fun. They felt more relaxed during the test,’’ Nattadon Rungruangkitkrai, a lecturer at Kasetsart University, said during in a press conference. Rungruangkitkrai’s claims have been confirmed by members of the student council, who went on to explain that the anti-cheating hats were deemed necessary because the classroom was too small for the number of individuals taking the exam, and they were forced to sit very close to each other. “It is quite normal that people try to cheat in an exam, so the hat helps avoid distractions while doing the test. I feel very bad, and angry, that this has been seen as bad by outsiders,” a third year student at KU told the Bangkok Post. Nattadon told the press he had intended to teach the students about ethics, and as part of this lesson he had asked them to think of creative ways of preventing cheating during the upcoming exams. Out of all the ideas presented, they settled on blinder hats made from A4 paper. I for one fail to understand see how wearing anti-cheating hats promotes the idea of ethical conduct, although, to his defense the students had agree to do it. Still, simply not cheating when given the opportunity sounds a lot more ethical to me. According to News.com.au, Thailand’s Civil Aviation Center allegedly used a similar anti-cheating approach. A photo (also posted on Facebook) shows students wearing cardboard boxes on their heads. Photo: Facebook ---------------------- http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/08/16/212678475/embarrassed-thai-university-removes-anti-cheating-hats Wandering eyes at test time is hardly a new problem, but a photo of one classroom's unique solution has proved an embarrassment for Kasetsart University in Thailand, The Bangkok Post reports. The university says it has decided to discontinue special "anti-cheating" headgear that was designed and constructed by the students themselves to be worn as a deterrent to cheating during exams. The paper hats, worn by students in a textiles class at the college in Bangkok, consist of a headband with two letter-size blank pages draped on either side of the head. The photo above of students wearing the "anti-cheating helmets" as they sat for a recent examination went viral after it was posted to the university's alumni Facebook page (the photo seems to have since disappeared). The faculty's dean, assistant professor Tanaboon Sajjaanantakul, told the Post that comments on social media "had drawn a mixed reaction from the public and caused a lot of stress to lecturers in the faculty." Natdanai Rungruangkitkrai, the textiles course lecturer, said the hats were the idea of his students and grew out of a discussion about ethics. When he asked his class how to prevent cheating, they came up with the hats. Natdanai says no one was forced to wear the cumbersome headgear, but about 90 students chose to do so, and they were responsible for making their own. The Post writes that Natdanai "regretted that the issue had received such a strong negative response from the public, adding that he had tried to encourage creativity during his eight years in the job." "'The students were excited and having fun. No one refused to make a hat. I admit [the response to the hats] has been stressful, so we decided to stop using this method and will talk with students to find other more acceptable ways to prevent cheating,' said Mr. Natdanai." One student was quoted as saying she thought the hats were an effective deterrent: "It is quite normal that people try to cheat in an exam, so the hat helps avoid distractions while doing the test," Rawiporn Buasaeng told the newspaper. "I feel very bad, and angry, that this has been seen as bad by outsiders." -------------------- http://www.bangkokpost.com/learning/learning-from-news/364905/anti-cheating-hats-the-talk-of-the-town KU staff say exam blinker hat idea came from students. Senior academic staff at Kasetsart University (KU) have vigorously denied students in the agriculture faculty were pressured into wearing paper hats with blinkers to prevent cheating in an exam. Nattadon Rungruangkitkrai, a lecturer at KU’s Agro-Industry Faculty, told a press conference yesterday that it was the students themselves who suggested the hats, and none had been forced to use them. Mr Nattadon said the hat idea was among several methods proposed to prevent cheating. The students made the suggestions a week prior to the exam. He said moral issues had always been added to class studies and he had also discussed with the students how to prevent cheating in the coming exam which was taken by almost a hundred students. The paper hat idea was selected by them. ‘‘It was an agreement between us. No student was forced to wear a hat. Instead, all were happy to do so and thought it was fun. They felt more relaxed during the test,’’ he said. ‘‘It was not meant to indicate that Kasetsart students often cheat on exams. I apologise if the photo makes other people look at my students in a negative way.’’ Mr Nattadon, who took the photo and posted it in a closed Facebook group, said it would be the first and last time the paper hats are used. Update: Friday morning press conference This morning, Dr Tanaboon Sajjaanantakul, dean of the Kasetsart University's Agro-Industry faculty, together with Ajarn Nattadon Rungruangkitkrai of the Department of Textile Science (?????????????????????), held a press conference to explain the controversial use of cheating-prevention hats that have been the subject of much discussion in the social media. Ajarn Nattadon said the hats were made after discussion with the students who were in agreement that the hats should be used to prevent possible cheating. No compulsion was involved he said. Anti-cheating hats the talk of the town The use of paper blinker hats like those worn by a group of Kasetsart University students to prevent them from cheating on a recent exam is not likely to become widespread. Certainly not after the massive and largely negative reaction to the above photo which was posted on the Kasetsart University (KU) Student Administrative Board's Facebook page. The image quickly went viral. There were more than 10,000 views on our own Facebook page within a few hours, and like elsewhere, most comments were negative. "I'm speechless.......the issue of trust between students and lecturer," read one of them. Elsewhere viewers complained that the blinkers looked humiliating and insulted the students' dignity and reflected badly on the image of the university. Not all comments were negative, however, with some expressing sympathy for the single teacher in a room with so many exam-takers. The KU student board later removed the photo from it's Facebook page and issued a statement apologising for igniting the controversy. “We must apologise for causing differing opinions. We actually intended to make people look at it in a funny way.” The board explained the anti-cheating hats were considered necessary because the room was small and many students were taking the exam sitting close to each other. Rector Wuttichai Kapilakarn promised to look into the blinker matter immediately. A press conference has been called for 10am this morning to explain what really happened. ------------- http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Anti-cheating-hats-will-not-be-used-again-universi-30212839.html Kasetsart University's Faculty of Agro-Industry has promised not to use the much-criticised anti-cheating hats in its exam room again, but officials insisted yesterday that the paper hats were introduced with the intent of promoting honesty. "Since people have criticised us, saying the hat is not appropriate, we will not use it again," faculty dean Tanaboon Sajja-anantakul said at a press conference. The hat was made with sheets of A4 paper to cover both sides of the student's face, making it difficult for him or her to glance at a neighbour's test. According to Tanaboon, this hat was used on some 90 students just once when they sat an exam on Textile Testing. The students and their lecturer Nattadol Rungruangkitkrai had mutually agreed to try and stop cheating, and hence invented the hat. "I want to inculcate ethical behaviour and honesty in my students. So, I emphasised that those who cheat in exams will be punished and asked my students to propose how they can prevent the cheating," Nattadol said, adding that his students then proposed that they wear a paper box or paper hat. "We finally agreed on the paper hat, and the students found it fun," he said. Nattadol said he took a photo of his students wearing the anti-cheating hats and posted it on the timeline of a closed Facebook group. The faculty dean added that the photograph somehow found its way to the public sphere and criticism followed. "I am so sad and stressed out," Nattadol said, referring to widespread comments that his university had such a bad problem with cheating that such a hat had to be created. The lecturer insisted that his students were honest and disciplined. Chanantorn Jiravejdechacharn, one of the students, said she was also saddened by comments in which the students wearing the hat were described as being submissive, oppressed or cheats. "In fact, we found that the hat helped us concentrate better," she said, adding that she understood her lecturer's good intentions. However, she said, if people deemed this hat inappropriate, she would not wear it again. Tanaboon said his faculty would not punish Nattadol for the uproar caused by the hats. "He has been under a lot of stress already and has already been faced with derision," the dean said. ---------------- http://twentytwowords.com/thai-students-invent-an-anti-cheating-hat-for-themselves/ The professor of the class has since explained that the headgear was invented by the students as part of an ethics class in which they were discussing creative ways to prevent cheating. The blinders were worn voluntarily and everyone was having fun with it, he said. Also, there isn’t an actual systemic problem with cheating at the school. However, because of all the flack that has come from the photo being shared far and wide, they’re going to stop using the hats. ---------------- http://www.neatorama.com/2013/08/22/Anti-Cheating-Devices-From-the-Ridiculous-to-the-High-Tech/#!bu3HWE Anti-cheating paper hat, however, doesn't seems to be effective enough for the students at Thailand's Civil Aviation Centre (allegedly). To combat cheating, they opted for the deluxe anti-cheating cardboard box helmet: