Hailey's Reading Notes #6

“Cheating is natural, common, and greatly affected by the situation in which individuals are placed.” (Lang, pg. 197) I think what struck me the most during the readings about academic honesty this week, is how “common” cheating seems to be amongst undergraduates. While it seems feasible that plagiarism due to incorrect citations is prominent on college campuses, it is surprising the statistics Lang states about the increases in serious test/examination cheating. (pg. 199)

While reading Davis, I was shocked by the extreme precautions instructors take to prevent cheating. Apparently, I am naïve or I was just too honest… or scared… to cheat, but do students really go to such great lengths to where instructors would need to check photo IDs in large lecture classes (Davis, pg. 355) or turn in empty Blue Books to later be replaced by a completed one? (Davis, pg. 356) If so, this is depressing.

What I did enjoy in both texts this week was the common suggestion to prevent cheating: give students multiple chances to do well on assignments and therefore reduce the temptation to cheat. I also loved Lang’s suggestion that students are less likely to cheat if they feel like a strong member of the class. (Lang, pg. 203) Does this seem to be true for those teachers in the course with experience?

While both Lang and Davis give suggestions on how to deal with cheaters, I would be interested in hearing how those members of our class that have dealt with cheaters before have handled it? I feel like it is one thing to read methods out of a textbook, but quite another thing when you are face to face with a student that you know has cheated on an assignment. How do you maintain your composure? I also think it would be extremely frustrating when you approach a student and they deny cheating. Do most students actually admit to plagiarizing?

Aside from academic honesty, I was also intrigued by the idea of group exams. I have never heard of this previously, and I am curious if it is successful? Part of me feels like it would benefit some students, especially those that are not doing their work, and annoy others who are stronger students.

The one thing I disagree with this week is where Lang mentions making the first exam relatively easy. (Lang, pg. 376) As a student myself, I prefer all exams to be equal. While yes, the first exam ends up being more difficult because you don’t know the instructors testing style, I would learn from that first exam to apply on future exams.