Thornbrugh: For good grades or for new knowledge?
Is it OK to cheat in classes that have nothing to do with what you’re majoring in?
Thursday, April 24th, 2008
After completing a test, I was sitting on a bench at the bus stop in front of Snow Hall. The test was just 20 multiple choice questions, some of which were identical to the ones from the practice test my professor put on blackboard, and went over in class. The girls sitting two benches away from mine apparently thought that I was reading a book, which rendered me temporarily deaf, because one of them proceeded to retell in detail the ways in which she cheated on the test we had just taken.
In her candid description she used her own name, and said she felt like her TA was “asking her to cheat.” She also felt she trusted the guy in front of her more than she did herself, so she just went ahead and copied down all of his answers.
The way she talked about cheating was nonchalant, and she must have felt pretty secure about it because she’s talking freely in front of all the other students at the bus stop.
But what about the guy sitting in front of her she cheated off of? He obviously had no idea what was going on, and yet if she had been caught the consequences for him could have been just as severe.
Hearing this one girl talk about cheating isn’t an isolated incident. Cheating has become an epidemic, and it made me start to wonder if anyone thinks cheating is wrong anymore. When I actually started talking to people about it, what I believed to be a strictly right-or -wrong issue turned out to be more complex than I thought.
“I don’t feel the need to learn in classes that don’t directly affect me or my major because I’m being forced to take them in order to get my degree,” Fletcher Farley, South Dakota junior, said. “I’m never going to use the information in my actual life. There’s so much pressure to get good grades you don’t worry about learning the information.”
Farley’s opinion raises several questions. Is it OK to cheat in classes that have nothing to do with what you’re majoring in?
George Tsoflias, assistant professor of geophysics gives a teacher’s standpoint. “Consider those questions: Is the prospect of a slightly higher grade worth the risk of ruining your academic career and any future opportunities that depend on it? Do you come to college to get a grade or gain knowledge? Is it a good investment of your time and money if you cheat yourself from learning? I think the answer is obvious, and students that cheat simply have not contemplated those questions.”
Tsoflias is teaching a class this semester with more than 500 students in it. During this class’s exams he has a minimum of 10 proctors and hands out different versions of the test.
I haven’t had a teacher make me put up folder tents like we did in grade school, but I did have a professor require us leave our jackets, hoodies, hats, bags, purses and backpacks at the front of the classroom to avoid cheating, yet it still happened (and people’s jackets were stolen). I’ve even had teachers become paranoid about any form of the ‘Live Strong’ bracelets, because answers could be written on the underside.
There needs to be a balance between harsh paranoia and complete disregard for academic standards. Our primary goal should be to learn, and the primary goal of the University and the professors teaching here should be to create an environment conducive to learning, not memorization — no matter the subject or size of the class.
Thornbrugh is a Lenexa sophomore in women’s studies and creative writing.
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