tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post1289133312099282540..comments2023-10-15T04:23:50.187-04:00Comments on College Misery: Harvard Says 125 Students May Have Cheated on a Final Exam. NYTimes.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger34125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-34541561347443314682012-09-04T08:39:29.130-04:002012-09-04T08:39:29.130-04:00@ahistoricality: I was kidding.
My favorite two...@ahistoricality: I was kidding. <br /><br />My favorite two sentences in the exam:<br /><i>"Please place your last name in the file name. For example, 'Platt Exam.docx'."</i><br /><br />I rolled my eyes when I saw that. I once did something like that and had lots of students submit exams that were labeled "Bubba Exam" instead of "Susie Q Exam." As if I donSouthern Bubba, Ph.D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/12050992903794385204noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-63507217408019176472012-09-03T23:33:30.424-04:002012-09-03T23:33:30.424-04:00Can't help you with the file stuff. But you...Can't help you with the file stuff. But you're saying that this is a legitimate, coherent set of questions for Intro to Congress or something similar? It makes sense? It looked pretty weak to me....Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-62784967934948994542012-09-03T00:07:07.804-04:002012-09-03T00:07:07.804-04:00Thanks.
Now if I could just figure out how to sav...Thanks. <br />Now if I could just figure out how to save it as a .doc file. This would be a great exam to use in my <i>Intro to Hamster Legislative Fur</i> class next semester. That would save me a lot of time.Southern Bubba, Ph.D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/12050992903794385204noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-84252579030701236702012-09-02T15:48:43.611-04:002012-09-02T15:48:43.611-04:00The good news is that there's real (as in scie...The good news is that there's real (as in scientific) evidence to suggest that the kid is internalizing your voice as part of hir own conscience, no matter how improbable that may seem. As we all know from dealing with students whose political and/or religious beliefs are pretty extreme (and often quite different from our own), a surprising number even of late adolescents will, at least whenContingent Cassandrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08161652083031423415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-22316699209664677432012-09-02T14:34:55.815-04:002012-09-02T14:34:55.815-04:00I *completely* agree.
Plus, 125 students have bee...I *completely* agree.<br /><br />Plus, 125 students have been ACCUSED, not found guilty. Is this still accurate?<br /><br />And what exactly is "inappropriate collaboration" in this case? If they just discussed the questions with one another to see what the instructor meant, I would not count that as cheating. To me, cheating would entail similar answers, especially similar wrong The_Mythhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10621186404597424842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-53884156204312502432012-09-02T14:24:24.356-04:002012-09-02T14:24:24.356-04:00I also put D, but I looked at Ahistoricality's...I also put D, but I looked at Ahistoricality's paper to make sure it was right. Edna Expathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11438002061912782295noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-41498577712539157542012-09-02T14:11:03.810-04:002012-09-02T14:11:03.810-04:00I should have linked it before: lazy, sorry. It...I should have linked it before: lazy, sorry. It's here: <a href="http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/specials/harvard-final-exam" rel="nofollow">http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/specials/harvard-final-exam</a>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-51325602965538128832012-09-02T10:10:38.407-04:002012-09-02T10:10:38.407-04:00Here's the thing I can't wrap my brain aro...Here's the thing I can't wrap my brain around: cheating is cheating is cheating. You can have a bad instructor, a bad exam, etc., but that doesn't excuse dishonesty. Why not go en masse to the department chair? And then, if you get no traction, the Dean? And then the media? Or a lawyer? Why not organize a class boycott of the exam? A lot of this smacks of excuse-making.<br /><brFrog and Toadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06377542172335502858noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-5404767160608111102012-09-02T01:11:05.215-04:002012-09-02T01:11:05.215-04:00@ahistoricality: Can you share a link to the exam...@ahistoricality: Can you share a link to the exam? I didn't see it in the Globe.Southern Bubba, Ph.D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/12050992903794385204noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-48335101700719390032012-09-01T23:52:13.091-04:002012-09-01T23:52:13.091-04:00I'm not a political scientist, so perhaps I...I'm not a political scientist, so perhaps I'm not qualified to judge, but I read the exam (the Boston Globe has it, among others) and it looked like pseudoscientific crap from end to end, including several questions that seem to assume a certain faux-moderate political perspective and blithely unwarranted assumptions. <br /><br />I wonder how much of the "cheating" comes from Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-1728710585080696912012-09-01T13:36:21.226-04:002012-09-01T13:36:21.226-04:00The students have begun giving interviews, discuss...The students have begun giving interviews, discussing the wildly inconsistent exam instructions, variations from TA to Lecturer, and terrible question design.<br /><br />I agree that plagiarism needs to be openly rebuked, punished, and prevented whenever possible. But when about half your class is accused of plagiarism, there is something wrong with the instructions. Especially when the Academic Monkeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07086078244493768565noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-19715397979846475252012-09-01T10:07:31.820-04:002012-09-01T10:07:31.820-04:00D. All of the above.D. All of the above.Ahistoricalityhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04004964192885891003noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-77628426068519747612012-09-01T09:05:43.108-04:002012-09-01T09:05:43.108-04:00"Summers will be forged to carry a lead box w..."Summers will be forged to carry a lead box with the remains of Ayn Rand. Happy now?"<br /><br />Having attended a few funerals of late, I believe the neologism in current usage is "cremains."Lucy, Countess of Bedfordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07181713706519539554noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-91406988502317976632012-09-01T03:02:29.379-04:002012-09-01T03:02:29.379-04:00A couple of students cheating is something you can...A couple of students cheating is something you can blame on the students. 125 students cheating is about something else; whether it is institutional attitudes, grade grubbing gone wild, or bad instructions from the prof. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15363641542778620276noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-28735043731948425032012-08-31T21:58:58.564-04:002012-08-31T21:58:58.564-04:00Well, either I'm balanced and realistic about ...Well, either I'm balanced and realistic about doing my best in a less-than-ideal situation, or I'm lazy, insufficiently dedicated to my students' educations and/or the general welfare of society, and skilled at coming up for justifications of same. My own opinion varies considerably over time. Contingent Cassandrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08161652083031423415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-89269903601638650622012-08-31T20:40:14.797-04:002012-08-31T20:40:14.797-04:00You're right: I get cynical about the few who ...You're right: I get cynical about the few who outright lie and cheat with no regard for honor and then paint them all with the same shame-smeared brush. I do have a few students I'd deem honorable, but don't only deem "honesty" a characteristic that makes one honorable. <br /><br />I need to remember that when they cheat, they are really cheating themselves, and most likely,The Contemplative Cynichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02088570661592922436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-30209815125547820042012-08-31T20:28:53.011-04:002012-08-31T20:28:53.011-04:00Surely this could not have happened at Harvard, al...Surely this could not have happened at Harvard, alma mater of the young woman who plagiarized a novel.Frog and Toadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06377542172335502858noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-23768891406725135142012-08-31T18:45:39.851-04:002012-08-31T18:45:39.851-04:00Sounds like a plan. I'd join you, but I'm...Sounds like a plan. I'd join you, but I'm busy running my own required-comp-course forced-labor camp (or so some of my students seem to think. I think it was that business of actually doing some work the first day of class). Contingent Cassandrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08161652083031423415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-27148566964413457442012-08-31T18:44:00.332-04:002012-08-31T18:44:00.332-04:00Indeed. It also means they have proctored exams (w...Indeed. It also means they have proctored exams (with paid proctors, I'm pretty sure, so the prof really had no excuse). It's not my favorite system, but it does mean the professor had the option to administer a much more trustworthy exam. Of course, I'm also wondering why he didn't assign some actual papers, and who knows who would have actually written those. But the students Contingent Cassandrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08161652083031423415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-47796672912241162062012-08-31T18:40:23.144-04:002012-08-31T18:40:23.144-04:00I suspect that a fairly high percentage of mine do...I suspect that a fairly high percentage of mine do, though some of them do stupid/dishonorable things when feeling overwhelmed, and they do tend to get/feel overwhelmed. An ever larger percentage are pragmatic enough to be afraid of being caught, so brandishing threats like plagiarism checkers (however primitive those may be) often helps prevent cheating. <br /><br />The next question, at leastContingent Cassandrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08161652083031423415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-82084762799790181292012-08-31T18:31:42.507-04:002012-08-31T18:31:42.507-04:00Actually, I'd say that students take to follow...Actually, I'd say that students take to following the code better themselves than they do to turning each other in. That seems to be the sticking point for many of them (even, in one case I encountered, a student whose work was stolen; she "didn't want to get anyone in trouble.") <br /><br />Your approach would be hard to follow in the upper-level writing classes I teach. But Contingent Cassandrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08161652083031423415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-68020311195567270992012-08-31T18:12:21.538-04:002012-08-31T18:12:21.538-04:00Doesn't an Honor Code only work if students ha...Doesn't an Honor Code only work if students have honor? How many students do we know who have what we would call real honor?The Contemplative Cynichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02088570661592922436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-14780902435321722272012-08-31T17:29:56.892-04:002012-08-31T17:29:56.892-04:00Shocking news, students cheat.
I am exceedingly sk...Shocking news, students cheat.<br />I am exceedingly skeptical about honor codes. They may work in the sense of students snitching on each other, not really making anyone not cheat if the opportunity presents and he is sure he's not going to get caught.<br />After a couple of bad experiences, I decided never to grade anything not done in front of me -- I do give credit for completion, thou. French Professeurhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08062264385792788503noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-89911577250398244882012-08-31T16:25:38.591-04:002012-08-31T16:25:38.591-04:00Harvard is not an "honor code" school. T...Harvard is not an "honor code" school. They've got the same quasi-legal CYA handbook everyone else does, plus several layers of judicial mumbo-jumbo to insulate income generating investments (aka "undergraduates") from consequences (and the university from students' parent's lawyers.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-9518042504454704702012-08-31T14:50:09.821-04:002012-08-31T14:50:09.821-04:00"You'll need a crane for the school masco..."You'll need a crane for the school mascot; to the best of my knowledge, it's the multi-ton statue of John Harvard sitting in Harvard Yard."<br /><br />Then we will hack it to pieces and rebuild it as a giant statue of Antonio Gramsci, like how Y. Belopolsky took the ruins of the Neue Reichskanzlerei and built from them the Soviet War Memorial at Treptower Park.<br /><br />Strelnikovhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12660962615198939441noreply@blogger.com