Dealing with cheating [on hold]

I have a student who was blatantly cheating in class. I saw that he had the answers pulled up on his phone. I asked to see it and he let me without too much hassle - i.e. he didn't attempt to close everything on his phone or turn it off.

I told him to never use his cell phone again in class and to never let me catch him cheating again. I could have reported him for academic dishonestly and he very well could have been in some serious trouble (i.e. a failing grade in the class).

However, I did not pursue further action against him. I don't know exactly what the best course of action would have been. I chose my course of action because of the following reasons.

• My goal in the glass is to have the students learn and really understand a bit of the material. The amount of material covered in the class is a lot. And I know when I took the class I definitely did not understand everything in the class (not even close). However, I was at the very least interested enough in the material to keep trying to learn more. I don't think that flunking a student would encourage him or her to "like" the subject more.


• When I took the class, I also cheated. Yes, I also had answers pulled up on my phone during class. I simply wasn't caught. Yet here I am as their instructor. I do know my stuff even though I cheated; yes, I cheated to get through, but yes, I also followed-up and relentlessly pursued more knowledge and understanding. And here I am standing in front of the students as their instructor. And I know that if I had been caught and failed, I probably wouldn't have the same passion for the subject as I do now.


• The majority of the grade in the course comes from the lab practical ... and it's pretty hard to forge your understanding of lab techniques and methods ... there's no solution manual or answer key to bail you out here. So I was also thinking that yes, the student may have cheated on the written assignment, but that only hurts him in the long-run because he'll have no clue during the lab practical.

What is your policy on students who cheat in similar circumstances?