Philosophy
Many of us whose job it is to educate young minds do it because we think it's important and because we want to make a real difference in the world. In fact, in some cases we decide to teach even at the expense of personal well-being and practical benefits. Trust me, I'm not an academic for the chicks or for the money...
So it is especially disheartening, though hardly surprising, when we discover that students cheat, in tests, papers and projects. And with exponential advances in technology and access to information and resources, this trend of dishonesty is metastasizing out of control. Here is a recent chilling article from the Chronicle of Higher Education, for instance, that confirms what many of us already know and detest.
What students don't seem to realize, however, is that we weren't born yesterday. Whatever they think they know, we know better. And without divulging many secrets, we have accumulated over time many tools, strategies and abilities for making sure that our students' grades ultimately reflect their own performance and not someone else's.
They also don't seem to be smart enough to realize that the same technological advances that allow them to think they can cheat are in many cases the very same tools that instructors can use to detect them... Case in point:
Before cheating, they should look up anosognosia.
Unfortunately, messages like this usually fall on deaf ears. No matter how much I talk to and warn my own students not to be intellectually dishonest, there's not a single semester that goes by without a few schmucks trying to get away with cheating, only to cry me a river once they've been caught.
I never humiliate anyone in public, but I'm starting to wonder whether that might be a deterrence strategy worth trying...
.
- Is There Something Intrinsically Good About Fair Play?
I told the shorter of the short people yesterday that he should not cheat at solitaire. He responded, "Why not?" To which I said, "Ummmm..." Clearly, "cheating" in this case indicates breaking the rules and not swindling another player. By breaking the...
- Is Grade Inflation Really A Problem?
A couple colleagues of mine were wringing their hands a little while back about grade inflation. I don't know whether it really exists or not, but let's grant that grades are higher now than they were 10, 20, 50 years ago. Is it really a problem?...
- Catcher's Ethics
The shorter of the short people has taken to playing catcher on his little league team. So, when we watch a ballgame, we often pay special attention to what the catcher does. In a game the night before last, the Orioles were playing the Mariners and with...
- Cheating--who Suffers?
You have seen and probably used one of these...an unattended snack box where payment is on the honor system. Well, the same can be understood in the following story...sort of an invisible ethical administrator. "The Temptation to Cheat in Computer Science...
- Assisted Knowledge
My oh my, I Googled "cheating on exams" hoping to discover some decent input, but what did I find...page after page "on how to cheat"--what an industry it has turned into. I remember recently discussing this with a university professor nearby and he offered...
Philosophy
The Growing Problem of Academic Cheating
Many of us whose job it is to educate young minds do it because we think it's important and because we want to make a real difference in the world. In fact, in some cases we decide to teach even at the expense of personal well-being and practical benefits. Trust me, I'm not an academic for the chicks or for the money...So it is especially disheartening, though hardly surprising, when we discover that students cheat, in tests, papers and projects. And with exponential advances in technology and access to information and resources, this trend of dishonesty is metastasizing out of control. Here is a recent chilling article from the Chronicle of Higher Education, for instance, that confirms what many of us already know and detest.
What students don't seem to realize, however, is that we weren't born yesterday. Whatever they think they know, we know better. And without divulging many secrets, we have accumulated over time many tools, strategies and abilities for making sure that our students' grades ultimately reflect their own performance and not someone else's.
They also don't seem to be smart enough to realize that the same technological advances that allow them to think they can cheat are in many cases the very same tools that instructors can use to detect them... Case in point:
Before cheating, they should look up anosognosia.
Unfortunately, messages like this usually fall on deaf ears. No matter how much I talk to and warn my own students not to be intellectually dishonest, there's not a single semester that goes by without a few schmucks trying to get away with cheating, only to cry me a river once they've been caught.
I never humiliate anyone in public, but I'm starting to wonder whether that might be a deterrence strategy worth trying...
.
- Is There Something Intrinsically Good About Fair Play?
I told the shorter of the short people yesterday that he should not cheat at solitaire. He responded, "Why not?" To which I said, "Ummmm..." Clearly, "cheating" in this case indicates breaking the rules and not swindling another player. By breaking the...
- Is Grade Inflation Really A Problem?
A couple colleagues of mine were wringing their hands a little while back about grade inflation. I don't know whether it really exists or not, but let's grant that grades are higher now than they were 10, 20, 50 years ago. Is it really a problem?...
- Catcher's Ethics
The shorter of the short people has taken to playing catcher on his little league team. So, when we watch a ballgame, we often pay special attention to what the catcher does. In a game the night before last, the Orioles were playing the Mariners and with...
- Cheating--who Suffers?
You have seen and probably used one of these...an unattended snack box where payment is on the honor system. Well, the same can be understood in the following story...sort of an invisible ethical administrator. "The Temptation to Cheat in Computer Science...
- Assisted Knowledge
My oh my, I Googled "cheating on exams" hoping to discover some decent input, but what did I find...page after page "on how to cheat"--what an industry it has turned into. I remember recently discussing this with a university professor nearby and he offered...