University of Florida - Office of the Provost / Academic Affairs

You and/or the professor should talk with students about exactly what is and is not permitted in the course with respect to collaboration. (Especially important when homework counts as a large proportion of the grade and students may feel pressure to use inappropriate methods to ensure good performance.)
Be available for help both with the course material and for discussing other issues related to managing their workload. Make full use of office hours and e-mail to maintain ongoing communication.
In a large class, take steps to reduce the anonymity by learning students' names and talking with them informally before and after class.
If you are teaching a course where the assignments change very little from year to year, you may want to discuss with the professor ways to add small variations that will help you detect inappropriate use of past students' work.

Look alert. Walk around the room enough to see clearly, but spend a considerable amount of time in the back of the room so that students cannot easily keep track of where you are (or aren't) looking.
Whenever possible, ensure that students sit in alternate seats. If this isn't possible, talk with the professor about making an alternate version of the exam with problems in a different order.
Don't allow students to share calculators unless you clear the memory first. If each student is allowed to bring a one-page reference sheet with them, it reduces the temptation to cheat by storing lots of information in the calculator.
If you see suspicious activity during the exam, let the student know you are watching. For example, you can easily stand near the student or ask if he or she has a question to apply subtle pressure. If you believe the student is copying from someone else and the other measures haven't worked, you may need to ask the student quietly to move.
Make the process of turning in exams as orderly and quiet as possible. You may want to ask students to stop work and pass their papers to you rather than having everyone drop them off in the front of the room.
Keep a good record of who was in the room, including where they sat and who turned in an exam. Occasionally a student will claim that their exam was lost in order to get a second chance to take it.

Be able to clearly show what behavior and/or written work causes you to suspect cheating.
If you have good evidence, present this information immediately to the course instructor so that he or she can determine how to proceed if a violation has occurred. You should never directly accuse a student of academic dishonesty without discussing the situation with the professor first. Also, do not talk about that student with other TAs. Be discreet; remember that the student may in fact be innocent.
If you are suspicious but wary about making an accusation wrongly, find ways to check your perceptions. For example, if you see something suspicious while proctoring an exam, you might ask another TA to observe the situation for a second opinion and, if copying from another student is involved, you might make a seating chart to help you in checking your suspicions later.
If you suspect someone of cheating but you cannot be completely confident in your judgment, talk with the professor about how to handle the situation.
Always make copies of suspicious student work before you return it. These copies may be vital in showing a pattern if there are repeated violations.

Adapted from the Eberly Center for Teaching Excellence at Carnegie Mellon University

Office of the Provost / Academic Affairs