Thursday, July 16, 2009

Academic Cheating

What is considered cheating? Everybody has different standards. Some will say that writing papers for others isn’t cheating. Or getting test banks isn’t cheating. But one thing I think we can all agree on is that copying answers out right on a test in a classroom is cheating!

1. A few months ago, I was taking a final in a classroom with about 100 other people in it. Everyone had the same test, and there were no spaces between desks. In other words it was one crammed room with plenty of cheating opportunities available.

My Robot This final was on Robotics, one of my favorite classes. I had done well in that class the whole semester. My lab partner and I even won a race, our robot was able to go the fastest! We beat the guys, and it was really funny to see them being sore losers and making excuses of why we won.

So when it came to the final, my lab partner sat on one side of me, and this other girl I don’t know sat on the other side. The test began and I quickly filled out all the answers that I knew, and couldn’t wait to get all the information down and get home so that I can study for my next final.

But then the girls sitting next to me had a different plan in mind, they wanted to cheat off my paper. My worst vice I would say is that I can’t say NO! (I’ve had it before with babysitting jobs, where I couldn’t tell the mother that NO I can’t babysit by her. So the same thing happened here.) I couldn’t say no, and I let them cheat off my paper. Because one of the girls was my lab partner and I had become her friend, I felt like I couldn’t be mean to her and say no.

This is an example where every midah can be used for good and bad. How sometimes we have to be mean because it’s the right thing.

2. When I first started college, while I was in seminary at the same time, I came into a situation that involved cheating. I was taking a test and was stuck on a few examples. The guy sitting next to me felt bad that I didn’t know the answers, so he figured he would “help me out”. He told me the answers to the multiple choice questions. But I didn’t feel right to write the answers down. So I went up to the professor, and told him that I was stuck on those questions and asked him to explain me the question. He did, and then I was able to answer the questions. I still felt as though I had done something wrong, so the next day I went over to a Rabbi at the seminary and told him the situation and asked him if what I did was okay, and he said yes, and I then felt better.

3. There was this married women with 2 kids who shared a class with me. She told me how hard it was that she was married with kids in college, and that she didn’t have time to study. She told me that 10 years ago when she was in college she studied really hard. But now because she has other responsibilities, she doesn’t have time, so she cheats on her test. She said she actually feels justified, that she’s not doing anything wrong by cheating. That she just needs to graduate already.

The next day in my philosophy class, some topic like this came up, where my professor said that she will let her son make any decision he wants about career choice, but one thing is certain, that she won’t let her kid take a break after High School, that he must go straight to college, while she can pay for it. Since if he takes a break, he may never get back to it. So I told her about this women in my class, who took a break and now feels justified in cheating. She said that’s a horrible thing, and the women is cheating herself. I of course agree!

4. Recently I started taking driving lessons. I took 2 to be exact and it was really fun. I don’t know why I waited till now to start. In any case, I went to this “5 hour class” and at the end the guy says he’s going to ask us a question and that will determine if we will pass or fail the road test. He says, if I tell you that 1+1=6, then how much is 1+1? I said 2, because I remembered my tax professor giving us a similar scenario, where he said that if he calls a tail a leg, then how many legs does a dog have? He told us the correct answer is 4, because no matter what you want to call the tail, it’s still not a leg. So I was thinking of this same scenario. So then the guy says I’m going to fail my road test for that, because no matter what you think is right, you have to listen to the driving inspector, and do what they say. To me that sounded like cheating. I’m still in the mentality, that you can’t change the absolute truth.

15 comments:

Moshe said...

Funny you should say that about 4 when it's actually a Torah idea and one you have wrote about before. If a voice from heavens says one thing and the rabbis, not talking about the ban everything for no reason ones, say the opposite, who do you follow? Likewise if you know right is right and left is left and the rabbis say right is left and left is right.

Regarding cheating on tests. You're paying for the education and while it may be detrimental to yourself, it is your money. Even more so for subject outside of your major.

Recent blog:=- Being Jewish

Jewish Side of Babysitter said...

Your absolutely right, I didn't think of that. Thanks for pointing that out.

That's true, that your paying for your education, so you don't want it to be a waste of money. But in the long run it wouldn't be worth it.



Recent blog:=- Academic Cheating

lvnsm said...

In regards to your test, a student 'helping' is diff than a teacher helping. The teacher doesn't give the answer, just clears up the question.

shalom

Recent blog:=- Using time wisley

Jewish Side of Babysitter said...

True, I had only been concerned since I already knew the answer, if I was still allowed to do the question.

Recent blog:=- Academic Cheating

Lion of Zion said...

"You're paying for the education and while it may be detrimental to yourself, it is your money."

1) so if you are on scholarship or going to a city school where you only pay a fraction of the real cost then it isn't ok. right?
2) when you enroll in a class in an academic environment you are agreeing not to cheat. (check you student handbook.) you might be paying, but by enrolling you still agree to play by their rules.
3) when you use your degree to apply for a job, grad school, etc., they assume you got that degree honestly. if you cheat, it's גניבת דעת
4) the quality of workers in many jobs is based on their mastery of a body of knowledge. do you really want that guy from brooklyn college who cheated his way through school to be operating on you?

Recent blog:=- Calling a Sinner for an Aliyah

Moshe said...

Brooklyn College became a medical school?! No way!

Don't know about you, but I don't think I know any people who use what they learned in college at work. College for learning general principals.

One of the recruiters at my college's career fair said that they have to retrain and reeducate college grads because they don't know anything and because they're being taught wrong and that's why internships are important, so that they can start the retraining early enough.
The college is Poly, a computers/engineering school and the recruiters was, I think, from Lucent.

Recent blog:=- Being Jewish

Lion of Zion said...

also consider the חלול השם.
i took core music at night. every class was a hillul hashem, but especially during the midterm.
all the jews sat together in the back and take a guess what happened. for the final the teacher made the last 2 rows and font 2 rows switch places before she handed out the exam.

Recent blog:=- Calling a Sinner for an Aliyah

Auror said...

Wow that really is a chilul Hashem. Which professor was this? I think it's also a chilul Hashem when they do it by Jewish professors and think the teacher will overlook it because they're all Jewish (gentlemen's agreement).

Jewish Side: That's something you made in robotics? Lol this is college?! (I find myself having to say it over and over these days haha) Congrats on having the fastest robot, I can almost hear the guys whining lol. But I remember you telling me about this final... that's pretty bad. It's hard to say no because then you look selfish but I always end up upset. Recently someone *joked* about sitting next to me for the final and cheating off me (he hadn't done a stitch of work all semester), and I just about blew up because I was so fed up. It hurts more when it's a supposed friend doing it to you, especially of the opposite sex then it seems like you're getting played for your help. Idk if I'm the only one who has this problem but since I take my work seriously I tend to have a lot of 'followers'.

What you learned from your tax professor is really invaluable, I think I'm going to remember that one too. The guy at the driving test was just being a wise guy, they like making the road test more terrorizing than it actually is.

Auror said...

Wait so what's the deal with test banks, homework manuals, and old 'stuff'?

Auror said...

Brooklyn College isn't a medical school but if you come out with a 4.0 because you cheated your way through college you have great chances of getting into medical school without actually deserving the spot. A BA these days is only a stepping stone so people treat it accordingly.

Auror said...

That's really honest of you.. admirable! I always wondered if there's a difference between cheating on a Jewish/nonJewish professor's exam-?

Jewish Side of Babysitter said...

Yea, it's made out of lego, actually building the robot was the hardest part. That's what I think guys are better at, building. Although some had a hard time with that too.

Thanks! they also called me teacher's pet, so it was funny.

True, I know what you mean. Same by me.

Yea, I thought it was smart too. Yea, and after wards I went over to the guy and told him what my tax professor said, and he's like yea that's right.

I went practice driving today for an hour, I really love it, I didn't feel scared at all.

Recent blog:=- Academic Cheating

Jewish Side of Babysitter said...

I'm not sure, it seems to be that if their aware its out there then you can use it. Some professors will make up their own tests, or be careful to collect the tests and not let them circulate, in that case it might be cheating. But if it's a bank, and they know its accessible then it's okay to use as a way of studying.

Recent blog:=- Academic Cheating

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