Academic Dishonesty

[lilrofl]

Most of you know that I currently attending college, and like most colleges, the one I am attending has a low tolerance policy for academic dishonesty as defined below:

Code: Select all

it is academically unethical, and unacceptable to:
     1) Submit work in whole, or in part another person as if it were your own.
     2) Restate or rephrase another writes work without acknowledging the source.
     3) Copy another students work and submit it as if it was a product of your own labor.
     4) Store or communicate information not distributed to the students by electronic
              devices, recording devices, cell phones, headsets or portable computers.
     5) Attempt to gain advantage by the use of crib sheets, hidden notes, viewing
               another students work, revealing the questions or answers to a quizzes or
               exams to other students, or viewing the answers to quizzes or exams 
               provided by other students.
     

So here's the question, in a world where typing a question into a search engine can produce you with the exact answer to your exact question, where should administration draw the line when evaluating work for dishonesty; being that a search engine is a tool acceptable for research.

This came about as a moral dilemma that I faced the other night during a final project in Server 2008. The project consisted of setting up 2 servers, active directory, a few ou's groups and users with a couple of group policies. The projects are completed on virtual servers so we have access to the Internet, although we are only officially allowed to use our notes. The deliverables for the project where screen shots of the milestone steps, defined by the teacher as items 5 through 11 (I took 8 screen shots and printed them on 4 pages)

The guy next to me googled the project and found a completed one, printed it off and turned it in. His submission was 25 pages, and covered every minute detail of the project task. The teacher asked some questions about how he made the leap from total non-understanding to completed project in 30 minutes (mine took just under 2 hours) the kid wove a web of claims, and when asked if he was sure he wanted to turn it in as his work replied in the affirmative.

I feel this kind of behavior devalues the education of everyone else in the school, if he's allowed to get away with it. Would an employer think highly of the degree program after hiring him, and how would that affect that employers decision upon seeing I have the same degree on my resume?

Before I turn this into a rant, I'm looking for some feed back. Am I over reacting? Am I under reacting? Should I let things play out and see if the teacher wraps it up in a pretty package? What's the word? How do you feel about academic dishonesty?

[lonewolf]

I believe that what the person did was in many ways wrong especially if the person does not have an understanding of what they are doing. Once they get hired it will come out that they do not understand what they are doing.

[maboroshi]

Here is my take on it:

Honesty and Academics is basically a self evaluation but it also allows you to evaluate others as well. Maybe he is struggling and is to scared to admit it. If he is truly a bad person by your best judgement than he will surely fall in life as well as school. But maybe he is just struggling and needs help and is to afraid to admit it. As a peer and student maybe speak with him? And as a selfless human being suggest to him that maybe you can help him, suggest that if he is willing to learn you can help him and he will only get back what he puts into it?

Otherwise fuck him let him fail and think no less of yourself... This is truly Yin and Yang

*cheers Maboroshi

[DNR]

Well - I have plenty of college experience, made the Dean's List many times.

I believe it is the individual teachers who will interpret the student's work. Some teachers will go as far as typing a paragraph you wrote - and submitting it to the internet to see if anyone else wrote it. Some teachers don't give a crap about anything, including your work.

My computer science teachers were in two classes - I knew more than they did, or they knew more than I did.
The teachers I knew more than they did - were easy - I could write papers blind at 4am in the morning and write something that will impress and take their breath away.
The teachers who knew more than I did, I just did the homework - using the text books, using library references - the teachers will read that I read their recommended readings. I am good at quoting references to support my writing. Of course the hands on, class room time, Q & A in the class - the teacher came to expect a certain level of knowledge, and how I express it in writing. If I cut and pasted something it would likely be way below or way above my skill level he/she knows I have.

I was always pretty good, I never really had to cheat. Its not to say I never did, some topics are just too hard, mundane, and may not even be practical to memorize (teachers might say it themselves!) I cheated more so I could focus on more important topics.

I believe that Knowledge is mine, what I know is of great benefit to me. If I fake learning things, fake knowing things - then I am fake.
You will see plenty of cheaters and fakers in college, but they will graduate to become a cheat or fake. You, will be real. The great teachers will see you.

DNR

[JohnB]

I feel academic dishonesty is pretty rife and a lot of people get away with it. What really grinded my gears was a friend in middle school ,for his English coursework, copied verbatim a copyrighted work and passed it off, as a story of his own. The teacher didn't even notice and gave him an A*. I do my own story and get a B or C . It's pretty criminal.

A more recent example is at uni. We're on the same course so we have the same study periods and we're friends so we hang around with eachother. They start doing the coursework all together and asking me how to do it and asking to my work. I refused by lying "I don't have it on me" and giving other vague answers. I wish I had the balls to tell them a straight "No" and "what you're doing is wrong".

But they got their comeuppance when the tutor saw their work. He told them off and said if they did it again he'd report them. I felt so smug at that moment.

[DNR]

Cheating is just dumb, the cheater did not learn anything and makes a fool out of the teacher when the teacher passes that student as a knowledgeable person. Company hires that person and finds him/her to be a moron, blames the school. Some schools still practise the 'give everyone a good grade for morale' - who the fuck wins with that?

I found too many people in jobs or rank that should never had made it. They cheated or used politics to get put into position. Not only does this jeopardize an organization with clueless people, but it can cause knowledgeable people to give up or quit. There were a few companies I worked for with high aspirations, but when I found everyone was scamming, I would slack off or screw off. What was the point? Other companies where I stuck to my guns and kept my personal standards - I was not popular - people actually asked me to slow down or slack off so they would not look bad. But it was my personality that drove me to be fast, efficient and the best.

Screw the lamers.

DNR

[lilrofl]

That's exactly the conclusions that I came to DNR.

Since I took a stand of, "No, I will not scan my homework for you to "get an idea of what their looking for"" I have become very unpopular.

Recently the teacher mentioned that he was going to grade the final on a curve, and I was asked to do poorly along with the rest of the class. I told them I'd do my best, which they may have interpreted as, "i will do my best to fail with you all"... which would be unfortunate as I have redouble my studies so that I can earn the grade I want.

I've started clarifying my issue also, it is not the whole school, it's two or three special case children who just haven't had the cold slap of life yet. They are what happens when everyone gets a good grade for moral, there are no losers just last place winners, and the system failed them by not holding them accountable.

On the bright side, it makes it very easy to look like an over achiever in a crowed like that

[DNR]

right - so either you want to be popular with lamers or you want to be smart.

My college graded on the curve too, and I was not popular because I always set the bar high with a 99 score. So once 99 became the "A", the middling 70 score became a shitty 'D'.

Not my fault, I studied, I cared more, and I did the hands on. They didn't - so why support them? Those fucks won't support you when they get in to high end jobs because daddy works there.

Screw all lamers, shoot them in the heads.

DNR