Student cheating

[Oatmeel]

Here's a bleak and depressing article written by a man who was paid to write custom essays for students:
http://chronicle.com/article/article-content/125329/

Who is to blame for this phenomenon of decreasing academic integrity?
Have you cheated in school before?
What do you consider "cheating?"

 

[smearyllama]

I consider cheating to be a bad thing to do.
I you can't answer something to the best of your ability, whatever that is, then you really shouldn't be doing the assignment.

Also, you might no want to ask people if they've cheated before.
School honor codes and stuff.
You never know who's watching....

 

[insaneHoshi]

Yes, but all you have to do is cite him in very small print, if they catch you they cant expel you, only give you a zero

 

[Broady Brio]

I have once on my 1st GCSE exam. In Food Technology. On one question, you had to remember 10 points on a flowchart.

I wrote them down on the sticky note, stuck it on my hand and put them down on the inevitable question that would come up. Most of the people around me saw me do it. But not the examiners, I decided it too risky to cheat in any other test ever. I got a 'B' in the end counting my A/B coursework as well as the exam, which otherwise I think I did relatively well in.

I'll admit now, I far from deserve it, but I haven't pursued education in that area because I know I won't succeed in it.

 

[Artina89]

I haven't cheated on an exam and I have got into an excellent university. I like to turn in work that is mine and mine alone and I like the sense of achievement that comes with turning in a piece of work that is mine and mine alone and getting a good grade.

 

[Jasper Jeffs]

I've cheated on a lot of exams, because I don't think I should be examined on my ability to withhold useless information, it proves nothing. That was in high school though, in college I took the subjects I enjoyed so I didn't really need to cheat, I actively took an interest and the stuff went in, although I do disagree still with regurgitating it on some paper. I haven't cheated since then. I never cheated on coursework either, because that actually was my input for the most part, and now that I'm in University taking my favourite subject, I've come to enjoy writing assignments, especially when the topics are varied so I can pick something of interest to me.

I wrote shit on my arm, I wouldn't have passed Maths or Science without doing that. One class was so shit that the majority of students finished within 5 minutes and had the examiner tell stories for the remainder of the exam whilst the other 4/5 students were working. I thought that was pretty ridiculous, and summed up GCSE's in a nutshell for me; a fucking joke.

 

[Lem0nade Inlay]

That's very sad, I feel bad for those second-language kids. The lazy rich kids can kiss my ass though

I haven't cheated before, although since I'm still in High School my essays/assignments have never been of utmost importance.


I couldn't help laughing at that last line:

"So, of course, you can imagine my excitement when I received the good news:

"thanx so much for uhelp ican going to graduate to now"."

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

Cheating is the reason companies pick up "highly qualified" people when looking for workers. It sucks when these people get a job that a legitimate person was applying for but generally their lack of knowledge proves their downfall.

I still think cheating is a horrible thing though. People are always going to try and beat the system however.

 

[Numb1lp]

Cheating is the reason companies pick up "highly qualified" people when looking for workers. It sucks when these people get a job that a legitimate person was applying for but generally their lack of knowledge proves their downfall.

Look, I'm sure that happens (not sarcism), but please give an example of someone you know that had that happened to them.

 

[stormtrooper9091]

i never cheated, and if i tried i'd fail anyway

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

Cheating is the reason companies pick up "highly qualified" people when looking for workers. It sucks when these people get a job that a legitimate person was applying for but generally their lack of knowledge proves their downfall.

Look, I'm sure that happens (not sarcism), but please give an example of someone you know that had that happened to them.

A friend of mine who is a mechanic hired a guy who was straight out of college. Kicked him out the next day because he was failing at a basic level. You can't fake knowledge when its a hands on trade.

 

[SomeLameStuff]

I have cheated yes. Years ago that is. I had the answers on a bit of paper that I brought into the exam. I later ate the paper to get rid of it.

It did NOT taste good.

 

[TehCookie]

I will admit I've cheated several times. I often reuse old work or do one project that I can turn in for different assignments in different classes. I didn't know that was considered cheating, but apparently it is.

 

[crimsonshrouds]

I dropped out of college so no ive never cheated

 

[Amethyst Wind]

Is this not 'ghostwriting'? A practice that happens in the professional writing world without complaint?

I never cheated during my studies, even though I was wrongly accused of such and stripped of marks during university.

 

[AfterAscon]

The first comment on that article summed on my thoughts: wow.

I recently graduated from Uni with an amazing degree result and receiving my results was probably one of the best days of my life. All that work (mainly in my final year) culminating in a result that exceeded my wildest expectations. Nothing quite beats that satisfaction and, being glad that I never cheated during it, I feel that in the end those people are only cheating themselves of that experience. Someday it'll come back and bite them in the ass, because once they start applying for jobs, and even when they get one, recruiters/managers will notice their obvious deficiencies. Or at least I like to think so...

Who is to blame? For me, it's got to be the students. They are the ones driving demand for the service, the writers are merely delivering. The writer's tale of how he got into this is the perfect example: he was asked by lazy frat boys. If he wasn't asked he may never of ended up doing it. Students are the ones trying to buy essays, copy them, take notes into exams etc. It doesn't matter how strong the system is, people will always try and break it. However, universities should still try and make more robust systems.

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

No, I do not cheat. I don't consider it "wrong", but it does call into question just what I'm getting out of the ordeal. All cheating does is waste my time. If I'm not going to do the work myself, why bother doing it at all?

As far as what I consider cheating, it is simple enough: submitting work that is not my own without giving proper credit where it is due.

 

[Dango]

Unfortunately there are tons of kids in my school who cheat, and I'm usually one of the people they're trying to cheat off of.

The time I ever cheated on a test was in 4th grade math...

 

[Stoic raptor]

No, I never cheat.
All my grades come from effort.
(Yes, I have good grades)