My reaction to the article "The Art of College: Cheating", by Rebekah Nathan, was one of ABSOLUTE HORROR. Why would anyone want to be interviewed or admit to having habits of cheating that will be recorded and obviously published? The obvious answer: they wouldn't. So, in her other strategy, she decides to tape a paper to a wall in a general education class and hope that her classmates will give serious thoughtful responses. Really? The last time someone asked me to give an anonymous response to a serious question through a mandatory online survey, let's just say my friends and I have been laughing about it every time the subject comes up. People don't take things like that seriously. You are basically putting thought and time into a project you don't even get any sort of credit for. It's like spending four hours hitting on a chick then discovering she has a boyfriend. Tartar sauce!
Anyway, when it comes to cheating, I feel that if you truly do not understand the subject matter in the course, or feel that you are disadvantaged in any way, you are probably better off cheating to make it through the course as long as you make an effort to improve your skills in that subject or to drop it altogether. Essentially, cheating has to be your last possible option when it comes to anything you do. You're basically going for broke. I think the whole idea of studying cheating in college was a good idea originally, but when you see articles in the news about how students get so stressed out they overdose on drugs or jump off the roofs of buildings, I can honestly see how cheating would be a great way to squeak by a certain course you would normally bomb.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I agree with you, the way she conducted her research was a little naive. She was a kid herself, she should know that when anonymous surveys come about, students are more than likely to answer them in a humorous way.
ReplyDelete