The Miami Herald's Sunday, December 5th's Issues & Ideas Section includes an article, "Cheating 101," (see link above and below) which relates a recent incident that ocurred at the University of Central Florida. After reading the article and summarizing it, cite specifics about the UCF case and comment on some of the opinions quoted, in addition to stating your own opinon on the matter. Be ready to discuss the article and your posting in class during the week of Dec. 6th.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/12/04/1957442/ucf-cheating-incident-sparks-debate.html
Sunday, December 5, 2010
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I believe that students ought to be more responsible in their decision makings and more loyal. Instead of waiting to be given an ultimatum by the professor to turn yourself in or suffer the consequences. Those students who received the email argued that they didn't know that the email they received was the actual test especially since, Quinn, their professor clearly stated that he was going to write out the mid-term exam. If one student or a hand full of students send an email that they perceive to be an answer key to the exam to a bunch of students as many as 200, then possibly that exam is something truly special insight on what’s going to be on the exam. I’m sure the person or group of people that sent the email knew for sure that was on the test. And being that they sent it to that many people goes to show that not only did they know it was a cheat sheet, but they used it because of the number of people the email was sent to and the word got around within that 200 people that that’s what was going to be on the test. Cheating goes way back, and those who have cheated and gotten away with it know the different excuses and lies to come up with to get themselves out of the line of fire.
ReplyDeleteProfessors and students have very different views on what cheating is.What the students at UCF did should not be considered cheating they simply did their reasearch and were able to get something to help them study for their midterm. The professor told the class he would be hand writing the exam , who are they to know it would be so easily obtained. I dont think the students wanted to intentionally "cheat". As stated in the article “This same information could have most likely been found in their textbook or course material".The students were simply studying, now a days anything can be found online so the students finding the exam was inevitable.Ihink that the professor handled the situation well , allowing the students to come forward without being penalized but i do think he was a tad dramatic saying that the situation made him "physically ill". I daont think that what these students did should be classified as cheating , simply looked at as intense reasearch and studying.
ReplyDeleteJanely Santi
Cheating has and will always be around, now the fact that cheating has evolved to a whole different level is inevitable. This article states "that hundreds of University of Central Florida students in a senior-level business class received an advance version of a mid-term exam" but the students argument against the accusations were very valid. Students claimed to "simply making use of available resources". They also noted that the Professor himself said to be responsible for hand writing the test therefore the students didn't think the prefab version they were using to study was going to be the test. Also the students that actually "studied" could of easily found all of the information from the test on the text book or from internet research. Either way if it was cheating or not the professor did right by having all of his students retake the test and letting them confess and admit to what they had done wrong. In my opinion he did go a bit over board because most students cheat and will continue to cheat to get where they need to get, students now a days are more concern about passing than actually learning the material to help them pass.
ReplyDeleteYunis Curbelo
The recent cheating scandal at the University of Central Florida cannot be categorized as a typical cheating incident. Over 200 students admitted to having advance copies of questions published by the publisher of the textbook used in an advanced management course. The students were resourceful enough to acquire questions created by the publisher of the textbook. The professor had informed the students that he was going to write the test himself therefore the students had no way of knowing that the questions they had acquired would be on the test. I agree with Professor Donald McCabe when he says that "We need to be more explicit in instructions". If Professor Quinn did not want the students to use the questions from the publisher, he should have informed the students. After all isn't this a case of the pot calling the kettle black, Professor Quinn told the students that he would be creating/writing the test. Instead he copied questions from the publisher and claimed them as his own. This sounds like cheating or plagiarism to me. In my opinion Professor Quinn over dramatized the incident, perhaps he was overcompensating for having been exposed. Had the students stolen an actual exam created by Professor Quinn then my opinion would be completely different and i would have agreed with the students being punished.
ReplyDelete-Michelle Rodriguez
I think that the reported cheating incident at the university of central Florida is and everyday or shall I say every test incident. Cheating happens on every campus in the world I would say, even though the universities try to build classes with cameras and other sources and methods to reduce cheating i personally think that it is never going to stop. Do not get me wrong now I do not condone cheating but if a student is determined to do it I do not there is no way of stopping them. Now days teachers send out sample/practice exams all the time so how could those students at ucf know that the test they received was the actual test? Maybe the teacher could have just been being extra nice. I agree with the 200 students for owning up to their wrong doing in order to not be expelled that is admirable but not even this big blow up is going to stop cheating trust me.
ReplyDelete-Robert Parker-
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ReplyDeleteIn this blog they are talking about how more than 200 students cheated on a mid-term exam and all 600 students were told to take over the exam or else they could face expulsion or failing the class. My opinion i think its the pressure of the student they may have wanting to pass the class to keep up their GPA and complete the course; but also there needs to be rules and regulations enforced to make sure students don't have a high chance of cheating.
ReplyDelete-George Cruickshank
The mere though that cheating continuously occurs at our beloved post-secondary institutions surely leaves a bitter taste in the mouths of Americans. For a moment, consider the notion that as a student our entire education is at the mercy of our professors and the institution that we hand over so much of our hard earned money to. As paying customers of our preferred college, we expect and demand nothing less than 100% dedication from the professors whom are paid using our tuition. The fact that a highly qualified individual such as Professor Richard Quinn used a pre-fabricated exam by the publisher after explicitly stating that he would be solely responsible for creating the mid-term's questions is unacceptable. The ends may not always justify the means, but in this here case it seems that they do. The students acquired the test in-question for the sole purpose of studying for the original Professor created exam they were expected to receive on the day of their mid-term, which was apparently never developed. The University of Central Florida should consequently recognize that the students are not at fault, and instead should credit them with being resourceful enough to use an exam created by their textbook's publisher as a study guide. Where does that constitute as cheating? As for Professor Quinn, he should in-turn be evaluated by the university for his inability to create his own exam after explicitly verbalizing to his students that he would be creating the questions for their Business mid-term.
ReplyDeleteNow a day’s cheating has become a huge part of student’s school lives and I have seen other people, of course not I, take part in that action. The thought of cheating has definitely changed throughout years because I feel as if this generation has been babied and carried along through high school so they will let anything slide therefore they just continue to do it. Now the fact that the students have video proof of the professor stating that he makes his own tests helps their case. I believe that the students had every right to use the test they were given to study. Professors now a day are stressing to study more and these students found a study guide provided by their textbook that just happened to be the exact same questions. I do not believe it is fair to punish someone for gaining an advantage. For example you’re not going to make Shaq play basketball on his knees because he is to tall are you? So what would you punish these kids for finding a good study guide that helps them? Although I do believe that many of the students had no idea that it was the exact test that they were studying from I do know that someone at least one of them had to know or else they would not send it to 200 students. All in all I believe that this falls on the professor because he stated to the class one thing and did another, also he should have made sure that the test was not available to be seen online. And I feel that you cannot punish the students for using their resources.
ReplyDelete