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Why are students cheating in the classroom
Introduction important on academic integrity
Introduction important on academic integrity
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In the article, “A Better Way to Prevent Cheating: Appeal to Fairness,” author David Callahan compared the idea of professors who grade mid-term exams to the role of them playing cops or detectives. The article was about the struggle that a lot of universities are facing with the epidemic of cheating amongst its students. A lot of these colleges and universities have put in play honor codes but they are not being enforced effectively. It talked about how that the students feel that it’s the only way for some of them to succeed, get into the college of their choice or even get the job that they want. One student even argued that everyone cut corners to get ahead in life it’s the norm in all industries. Even when trying to appeal to the student’s
self-interest in telling them that there are consequences of cheating or its unmoral they didn’t even care they wanted to take the risk to be more successful. Some of them only wanted to see the big picture of getting in the best college, making the most money, being the better athlete at any cost necessary. The only students who seemed not to struggle so much with the idea of cheating were the ones who were raised with a strong sense of right and wrong, and those with a theistic outlook. Those are the students who would rather not want to advance or get pass an exam if they would have to do it unmorally. It pointed out that cheaters get rewards that they do not deserve when the students who do things ethically get passed up on certain opportunities. So cheating may not be in the lime light on any politician agenda but it is becoming a major issue in colleges everywhere. It’s going to take the college scene as a whole to correct this injustice of cheating so everyone will be given a fair chance to succeed.
In the short story “The Cheater’s Guide to Love” by Junot Diaz, the author pinpoints on the Yunior’s life as a writer and college professor who is also struggling with his romantic relationships. The short story is filled with his experiences of using women for his beneficial needs and how it negatively affects him. It focuses on Yunior’s downfall through life after the destruction of his relationship with his fiance. The diction includes the narrator’s hateful consideration of women and a paradox of his own endeavors which prevent him from pursuing a meaningful relationship, but he grows to realize that he treats women awfully and his ex did the right thing by leaving him due to his untruthfulness.
However, this may stem from a lack of enforcement of the rules. Even at the most prestigious schools, such as Harvard University, students are not upholding the rules implemented: “The possibility that 125 Harvard students ‘improperly collaborated’ on an exam in the spring has galvanized … discussion about … honor codes” (Source: C). In this case, people may argue that the only party at fault consists of the students. However, the faculty may be partially guilty as well, as their lack of care towards the rules has created a situation that jeopardizes the school’s integrity. Revision may then seem like the least of the school’s priorities, as they must show they seriously consider educational integrity. Likewise, at the University of Virginia, “157 students have been investigated by their peers in the largest cheating scandal in memory” (Source: D). Again, the school and all those who work there hold at least part of the fault for this ignorance because, theoretically, they should preserve and enforce the rules provided. The fact that the scandal exists means that they were not doing their jobs to their fullest. Although revision may seem simpler to carry out, the school’s staff must show an attempt at intervention within the student lives to keep them on a path towards
Luke had always been the one student to cheat. Each time he had homework, he depended on his friends to get it completed. Every time he had to take a test, his desk partner or cheat sheet was always by his side. His grades were then much higher than average, and people expected so much of him. He had cheated so much during high school that it had become his daily routine. On graduation day, Luke graduated with high honors. He was accepted into one of the best universities in the state. When applying, he was asked to sign an honor pledge so he was able to get into the school. When summer break was over, he packed his things and moved into his new dorm room at college. When his classes started, he got loads of homework. Luke was thankful to have most of his classes with his roommate, so that he was able to cheat off of him. Luke made it through most of the semester by cheating on each worksheet or paper that he had to complete. At the end of the semester, he had many tests that he had to do. Luke made cheat sheets that he planned on using during the tests, but each one was observed closely. He suddenly realized how difficult it was to complete each test when he knew none of the information. Each one he completed, he scored low on it, making his final grade much lower than people had expected him to get. On his final test, he understood none of the material, so he decided to take the risk and get his cheat sheet out when he thought that the college professor was not looking. Unfortunately for Luke, he was caught. He was asked to leave the classroom and later found out that he was kicked out of the class. People were surprised that Luke was caught cheating, because most had thought better of him. Luke made the poor decision to cheat on one test and was caught, getting him into trouble that he would remember for the rest of his life. Luke’s future could possibly be affected by his decision to cheat, and cheating is a decision that he would not choose to make again. Luke’s future needs to be sustainable, but will his future be sustained if he makes the poor decision to cheat?
In “Why Colleges Should Ditch Honor Codes” Susan Greenberg is trying to inform the audience as to why society does not require the honor code anymore. The rules that lie behind this regulation are becoming outdated and more students are finding themselves punished for disobeying it. A lot of honor code schools are trying to get rid of this process because it only brings the students more pressure. Typically, students that are in honor code schools tend to cheat more than schools that do not possess it. If a student is enrolled in a more prestigious school, he/she is more tempted to cheat in order to maintain his or her good grades. Greenberg explains a situation that took place in Stanford University that led more than 100 students in academic
A world that demands perfection is only more likely to create imperfections. In the article “Who’s Cheating Whom?” written by Alfie Kohn, he deconstructs cheating in school from why students cheat to the underlining cause. He sheds light on the fact that cheating could in fact be mainly caused by the environment our culture has created for students. Cheating is most often seen in situations where students find what they’re learning to be boring or something they have no interest in. Many social scientists also believe cheating is a result of both the educational system and society valuing and rewarding the high grades over actual learning and teaching. Due to this competitive environment created in school
Donald L. McCabe and Linda Klebe Trevino, "Academic Dishonesty: Honor Codes and Other Contextual Influences", The Journal of Higher Education 64, no. 5, (September–October 1993) 4. Kenneth J. Smith, Jeanette A. Davy, and Debbie Easterling, "An Examination of Cheating and its Antecedents Among Marketing and Management Majors", Journal of Business Ethics 50, no. 1, (March 2004) 5. Richard A. Fass, "By Honor Bound: Encouraging Academic Honesty", Educational Record 67, no. 4 (Fall 1986) 6.
Having an ineffective system is just as bad if not worse than not having one at all. Also, peer-pressure is a very influential force in a student’s life, regardless of age, and using that to create a world of academic integrity is a powerful asset. Honor codes are intended to teach responsibility, self-respect, and integrity. A strong honor code will make sure that students understand that the strict consequences of cheating will outweigh the rewards that students may receive by trying to take advantage of the system. It is important that students are taught at a younger age to have integrity and also avoid tempting decisions such as cheating, dishonesty, and plagiarism. This helps the students develop a pride in doing their own work. The honor code is critical to success of students of all ages and must adapt to the advancement with new technology
In his essay The Shadow Scholar, Ed Dante peels back a layer of the onion that organized academic fraud has become. His aim, he says, is to “initiate a conversation” (p.474) about why cheating is as prevalent and lucrative as he claims it to be. Citing a New York Times article, he says that up to 61 percent of undergraduate students have admitted to committing some sort of academic fraud (cheating) on required coursework, and if that is the case, it’s a conversation that should be entertained by everyone who has a stake in education, from elementary school students and teachers all the way up to the presidents and deans and provosts of the nation’s colleges and universities.
"Fools make researches and wise men exploit them." Merriam-Webster's dictionary defines the word plagiarize as to pass off as one's own the ideas or words of another. Every student knows that plagiarism is dishonest and wrong. Why do so many students do it? Students themselves may not believe that they are plagiarizing. Many students plagiarize because of the diverse types of plagiarism which are often unknown to students. The three major types of plagiarism are shameless, haphazard and self-plagiarism. Self-plagiarism is a relatively new concept that has not gained much attention in the student world.
"What is wrong is wrong, even if everyone is doing it. What is right is right, even if nobody is doing it." Whether or not a group of people are doing the wrong thing, the action will always be wrong. In any case, cheating is simply not a moral thing to do. Yet, many people do it anyways. A person will figure that they won 't get caught. Cheating can happen in a relationship, on a paper or exam. The severity of the wrongdoing depends on what the person did. At some point, mostly everyone will question will ask questions on whether their action is wrong. In most ethical issues, it 's either a white or black area. What someone sees as an action that is completely innocent, another may view it as unethical. Critical thinkers will often justify
"I’m preparing for the real world. Business is unethical. Cheating is just good training. I’ll be better able to handle what’s put at me when I get out." "‘Oh, it’ll only be this once’ or ‘Everyone else does it, so why shouldn’t I?’" Sly glances at a neighbor’s work, an open book on the lap, or even high-technology methods—the resources of the cheater are many and varied. Whatever the methods, there are many statements like those above to justify cheating. For example, in the United States, surveys show that more than half of all students cheat, or have cheated, during their school years.
In “No Edit,” written by Randy Cohen, a new ethical dilemma is beginning to unveil itself with the number of students applying for college starting to grow yearly. Teachers are beginning to question if editing a student’s college essay application should be considered cheating or if it is even ethically correct. This is an example of ethics in everyday life, and how a person should work through situations to make the most ethically correct decision. Ethics, as defined in “Ethics—The Concept of ‘Right’ and ‘Wrong,’” is a complete branch of knowledge and can be easily placed in moral philosophy” (The Concept par. 2). In “The Cheating Game,” written by Carolyn Kleiner and Mary Lord, it is mentioned that “competition for admission to elite colleges has transformed the high school years into a high-stakes race where top students compete for a spot on the sweet end on the curve,” (The Cheating Game, par. 10). In addition to students competing for highly competitive spots at high-end colleges across the nation, surveys “notes that 50 years ago, only about one in five college students admitted to having cheated in high school … studies show that figure has exploded, to anywhere from
“Most obviously, cheating is unfair to honest students. A cheater receives through deception what honest students work hard for; and in classes graded on a curve lowers their grade to a boot. Cheating also cheapens the diploma. How valuable can a sheepskin be if so many people receive it under false pretenses? But the devaluation is not just figurative. An Iowa State degree is a valuable commodity, only if people
Cheating in relationships happen to both men and women, and for many varied reasons. The reasons of cheating on someone may however, change based off the person’s gender. To simply state, the reason a man cheats may be different than the reason a woman cheats in a relationship. There have been facts and as well as myths surrounding the topic of infidelity. Also, one person may have a different view on what is cheating, where on the other hand, another person may think cheating is the complete opposite. With this, there is not a full and official definition of cheating in a relationship, so this can make it difficult to actually know what exactly is or what is not cheating. I have been told what is cheating by one person, and later on would
The amount of pressure put one students today is incredible. Teachers have to teach so much in a short amount of time, so that they can cover everything that students need to know to pass the tests at the end of the year. Information is being crammed down students’ necks and it’s not helping it’s hindering them. So much focus is put on getting a good grade that students will do anything to get that grade. Independent Scholar, Alfie Kohn found that “the more students are led to focus on getting good grades, the more likely they are to cheat, even if they themselves regard cheating ad wrong” (2). Students feel as if they have to cheat to get the grade, but all they are doing is short changing themselves. This attitude of feeling that cheating is an acceptable answer to a problem is crumbling students’ creativity and ability to think outside the box. Cheating can come in many forms. There’s the obvious form, stealing someone else’s work and calling it your own, looking up answers on the internet for a test, etc. Then there is the not so obvious form of cheating. It takes a form called “cheating yourself”. Because the system today focuses on almost solely grades, students take the easy way out. Mr. Kohn insinuates, “The more pressure to get an A, the less inclination to truly challenge oneself” (1). This is so true. More times than I can count, I can remember hearing fellow students whisper, “let’s do which ever one is easiest” as