Grant Aslup had good intentions when he helped his friend cheat the attendance record for a science class at U. Nebraska-Lincoln last spring.

“My friend was recurrently sick and had unfortunate things happen to him, so I just kept his clicker,” said Aslup, a sophomore theater major.

Aslup said he assisted his friend by using his clicker, in addition to his own, to answer quiz questions and report attendance.

Although he had positive intentions for lying for his friend, misusing clickers has grown across campuses nationwide. In his class of about 85 students, skipping was an easy matter for those who wanted to. With the clickers, lying about attendance just requires the goodwill of a classmate.

“In my Geology 101 course, many people skipped,” said Reed Felderman, an undeclared sophomore. “I remember one guy having five clickers.”

As reported in the Sept. 9, 2011, issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education, students at colleges across the U.S. have been misusing the clickers to skip class or cheat. Some UNL students have admitted to misusing clickers and don’t see it as a major issue, but UNL administrators can’t tell how widespread the problem is because the issue hasn’t been investigated.

“I’m an adult. I pay for classes,” Aslup said. “I can choose if I want to go to class and deal with the consequences.”

That attitude has faculty like Brad Buffum, an instructor at the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film, frustrated.

Buffum has dealt with this issue, but has embraced the caveats of using the technology. Buffum said he understands the limits of evaluation techniques such as the clicker and knows students misuse them.

“I know that people know how to cheat with them, I’m not dumb,” he said. “If the student is dumb enough to get caught, they deserve whatever they get.”

In response to this, Georgetown U. has implemented a “5 percent” rule, which means that only up to 5 percent of grades can be derived from clicker attendance and questions. UNL currently has no regulations regarding clickers, but some professors have led the charge against their misuse.

In his classes, Buffum uses the clickers as a way to promote discussion, which he sees as the clicker’s purpose.

Because of his experiences, he altered his syllabus to reward people who come to class, rather than punish those who skip.

After an experience with a student who walked out on his class after using his clicker, he realized he had to change his thinking about the issue.

In that experience, Buffum said he saw no need to use clickers for grading students.

“No matter how cynical I get, it’s never enough,” Buffum said.

Kevin Lee, a research associate professor at UNL, supports the clickers in teaching and uses them for peer instruction.

“Its main benefit comes from students learning from each other by explaining and defending their understanding of concepts,” Lee said. “Often the percentage of correct answers to a projected conceptual question will go from 40 percent on a first vote to 90 percent on the second vote when a vibrant student discussion occurs in between.”

Voting gives both instructor and students good feedback on what is understood by the class and what is not, he said.

Lee said he thinks instructors who use clickers to take attendance and give quizzes are missing the boat, because they’re focusing on the technology instead of the teaching methods.

Even though the University Judicial Board hasn’t heard a case of clicker-cheating, misusing clickers is punishable under academic dishonesty. Offenders could lose credit from a class or face suspension if found guilty, according to the UNL Student Code of Conduct.

Matthew Hecker, dean of students, said he hasn’t dealt with any clicker-cheating students yet. But the attitude that it’s OK doesn’t sit well with him, he said.

“Where do they draw the line, at which act of academic dishonesty do you consider it a big deal?” Hecker said.