Academic culture breeds cheating

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I’ve always been of the mind that education is about understanding. A student takes the materials provided and seeks to understand their application and meaning. One strives to understand the “why” and “how” not only to grasp the subject matter, but also see how it fits with the world in general.

School, on the other hand, is about results. A student gets the grades to move on to the next grade. It isn’t about understanding so much as memorization. The minute the test or the paper is done, all information is purged from the brain. Tests, even though they are meant to show understanding, really aren’t all that great at showing who is the best of the best.

I think the approach to educating students has become so influenced by school — results — that it is unsurprising students have turned to cheating. The New York Times published an article highlighting the lengths to which universities such as Central Florida University have gone to catch cheaters.

In my opinion, Central Florida’s measures are the reasonable end product of putting results before education: “No gum is allowed during an exam: Chewing could disguise a student’s speaking into a hands-free cellphone to an accomplice outside. The 228 computers that students use are recessed into desktops so that anyone trying to photograph the screen — using, say, a pen with a hidden camera, in order to help a friend who will take the test later — is easy to spot. Scratch paper is allowed — but it is stamped with the date and must be turned in later. When a proctor sees something suspicious, he records the student’s real-time work at the computer and directs an overhead camera to zoom in, and both sets of images are burned onto a CD for evidence.”

Boom, “1984” in ya’ face. In my personal dealings with cheating, it has been about passing classes people have to take that are outside of their main focus.

So I’m clear, I should say I haven’t cheated on anything since middle school. That’s not because I’m a person who cares about upholding the sanctity of the classroom, but because I like the feeling of succeeding based on what I’ve learned. It isn’t about the results for me. On some level I actually believe I don’t deserve to pass a class unless I’ve understood the material. My kind of thinking usually is not rewarded, nor is it particularly wise, but it works for me.

Despite my views on academic integrity, I don’t pass judgment on those who cheat. In fact it seems perfectly reasonable, though I understand that is not the prevailing sentiment. For example, The New York Times reported last month that Cornell University added pages to its student website to bring attention to academic integrity. Part of that included a statement that read, “Other
generations may not have had as many temptations to cheat or plagiarize as yours.”

The point, apparently, is to urge “students to view (academic integrity) as a character test.” I don’t think that is necessarily true. It might be the case that a student isn’t getting the most out of their education, but I don’t think that has much to do with his or her character. I would say within the scope of treating education as a means to an end — as opposed to an end in and of itself — cheating embraces the results-based culture. It is getting through the class that is important, not what was learned. By the way, it is this type of thinking that is employed whenever someone says, “I can’t think of one time I will ever use this in real life.”

I’m not entirely sure how to go about creating a society where education is not viewed simply as a way to get a better job. I feel universities try to drive that point home by offering minors and cognates. That is, they offer educational experiences that can be understood and then applied to a major. In the end, I think it will take an explicit return to one simple idea: “Knowledge is power.”

David Barker is the State News Opinion Editor. Reach him at barkerd@msu.edu.

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