Game theory is used in biology to understand why otherwise rational individuals make nonintuitive decisions regarding cooperation and competition. Recently, biology teachers engaged their students in game theory curricula by presenting them with a real-world game theory challenge: the opportunity to cheat on a game theory exam. Here we present a guide for other teachers to employ this provocative and educational classroom exercise, and discuss the results of the Cheating to Learn exercise in a biology class.

Keywords:
game theory, prisoner's dilemma, cooperation, cheating, evolutionary stable strategy, exam
© 2017 National Association of Biology Teachers. All rights reserved. Please direct all requests for permission to photocopy or reproduce article content through the University of California Press's Reprints and Permissions web page, www.ucpress.edu/journals.php?p=reprints.
2017
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